Indo-Trinidadians’ position today

For example, do we have an accurate picture of the place occupied by Indo-Trinidadians today in business and the professions? Do we know the average income levels today of the vast majority of Indo-Trinidadians outside of these two groups and how do they compare to those of the majority of Afro- Trinidadians? Do we have a statistical appreciation of the level of poverty and destitution among Indo-Trinidadians as compared to Afro-Trinidadians? Do we know the current position with respect to gender and family issues in the Indo-Trinidadian community and the evolution of its social and cultural perspectives and the convergence thereof with those of Creole society? My view is that we do not know a great deal about the Indo-Trinidadians’ presence in the society today because not much relevant and informative research has been done .

To argue for such a programme is to run the risk of being accused as having an obsession with race and of engaging in race rhetoric. In polite society it is considered taboo to talk openly about race .

Then there are the self-proclaimed non-racial patriots perched on a moral pedestal who are quick to denounce those who seek to examine the validity of perceptions regarding race categories as being racist or racial and of manufacturing categories and differences where none exist .

To some social scientists race is regarded as an arbitrary and false construct. It is deemed not to exist in reality. This is not to deny that there are individuals who seek to use race to stigmatise other groups and as a mechanism for dominance, superiority and suppression .

My own position is that group consciousness and solidarity are a social reality and a worldwide phenomenon whether based on race, ethnicity, religion, culture, language, class, caste, status, gender or region. These of course are not exclusive categories .

While people may think and act as individuals in certain circumstances, they are generally conscious of belonging to a group. It has been said that man by nature is a social animal. It is largely true that people’s outlooks, perspectives, prejudices, beliefs and aspirations are shaped to a considerable degree by intra-group intercourse .

Nearer to home, for example, it seems reasonable to conclude that a great deal of the success of the Syrian community in business has been due to the ethnic solidarity among members and their acute awareness of their common culture and heritage which even extends to significant marriages within the group .

Such group consciousness inspires emotive responses on some issues, particularly of a political nature as is evidenced in the polity and society of many countries of the world, both developed and socalled underdeveloped. This is the reality and as Naipaul said, “The world is what it is.” It is when such consciousness evokes antagonism, hostility, violence, aggression and exclusion against other groups and thus threatens the integrity of the social order that it becomes pathological .

Thus we need to understand the bases of this phenomenon of group solidarity, its antecedents, currency and possible consequences .

I therefore make no apology for commenting periodically on the issue of race and ethnicity in Trinidad and Tobago because it is important to search for the truth about our existence, especially with regard to the presence of the various ethnic groups and inter- ethnic relations .

There has been not too much but too little dispassionate, objective and evidence- based dialogue .