Dear Editor,
The Christmas season heralded discussions on “Massive” Gosein’s controversial chutney soca hit “Rowlee Mudda Count” dominating the media.
In the midst of this bacchanal came Keith Subero’s eye-opening New Year’s advice to the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago (T&T). Subero advised Dr Keith Rowley: “I have written before that you are the Prime Minister, but there is need to acknowledge your role as the titular leader of the scattered and disoriented African tribe…” (Express 01/01/18).
This is a view Subero has repeated in his columns. It is a position echoed by Drs Selwyn Cudjoe and Theodore Lewis, Express columnist and guest columnist respectively. Subero, Cudjoe and Lewis have been advising Rowley that he should run the affairs of the Government in the interest of Afro-Trinbagonians.
The irony is that the People’s National Movement (PNM) has been doing that since 1956, when it assumed control of the Government under the leadership of Dr Eric Williams. Williams and his successor, George Chambers, ruled the country for 30 uninterrupted years (1956-1986). The PNM was first defeated in 1986 by a coalition of parties, The National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR), headed by A.N.R. Robinson, a former member of the PNM.
During its 30-year-long reign, the PNM ruled T&T in the interest of its supporters. Their policies and programmes in housing, education, scholarships, culture (Carnival, steel band, calypso), State employment in the public service and State enterprises, security services (Police, Coast Guard, Regiment), etc. were directed towards the advancement of the black supporters of the PNM. Williams’s intention was to create a local black professional middle and upper class to effectively replace the whites.
Most Indians supported the Opposition parties (DLP, ULF), which denied them the benefits of State resources. In 1958, Williams branded Indians a “recalcitrant and divisive minority” and a danger to the black West Indian nation. In 1961, he labelled Indians the “lick spittle” of white minority, because a few prominent whites had supported the DLP to oppose the PNM.
“A few PNM Indians” – a term coined by Williams – joined the PNM and attempted to give the PNM a multi-racial appearance. These PNM Indians were the Saiths, Mohammeds, Mahabirs, Seukerans, Ojah-Maharaj, etc. They were later joined by others. They sought their own self-interests and not that of the Indian community.
Thousands of whites and Indians left the country in the mid-1950s and 1960s to reside abroad, similar to what subsequently occurred under the dictator Forbes Burnham in Guyana. These minority leaders were supported by small islanders in the Caribbean.
After a total of 48+ years under the leadership of Black Prime Ministers: Williams (1956-1981), George Chambers (1981-1986), ANR Robinson (1986-1991), Patrick Manning (1991-1995; 2001-2010) and Dr Keith Rowley (2015 – present), black spokesmen and writers are claiming that the black community is still in a state of crisis.
Why is Subero still appealing to Rowley to assume his real role as “the titular leader of the scattered and disoriented African tribe”? After nearly half a century rule by black Prime Ministers in T&T, why are Subero, Cudjoe, Lewis and others blaming Indians for the troubles of blacks?
There is now the tendency to blame and scape-goat former Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar (2010-2015) for the recurrent ills of the society. In his address to the nation on January 7, 2018, Rowley chanted the same mantra.
In a recent letter to the Express (7/01/18), G.A. Marques wrote: “Any unknowing outsider looking at the profile of the Government administration here would immediately draw the conclusion that Trinidad is made up of citizens of African descent. This is despite the fact the two races here are [demographically] split down the middle.”
Marques highlighted the crime situation among blacks, even among children. He blamed the “one-sided political control and pattern of our politics which now exists, and has been perpetually implemented by the PNM since our independence.”
Subero, Cudjoe, Lewis and others are calling for more PNM State policies and programmes to serve the interests of blacks. This request is not new. It was also the rallying cry of the Black Power spokesmen in 1970. Subero, Cudjoe, Lewis and Kambon (father and son) are really crying out for black totalitarian State rule.
These black ideologues are doing more damage to their black community by making its members more dependent on the State for jobs, houses, scholarships, food grants, etc. Subero and others should instead teach blacks about the value of sacrifice, education, self-reliance, industry, hard work and thrift.
In a modern, civilised world, these ideologues should instead request that Rowley distribute resources equitably to all racial groups. It is hypocrisy of the highest order to condemn President Trump for being a white supremacist while asking Rowley to practise black privilege in T&T.
Kamal Persad
Coordinator, The
Indian Review
Research Center
