Are we Indians, Africans or Trinidadians ?

[admin]

Are we Indians, Africans or Trinidadians ? is the question we should be asking ourselves, this thing about i'm an Indian and i'm an African and racialism exist between the two is troublesome.
People an Indian is a person born in India and African is a person who was born i Africa so if all of us are born in Trinidad does that make up Trinidadians not Africans and Indians so what do people fight each other on racial matters but are we not Trinidadians.
People stop being so narrow minded The same way we does fight and say we are Indians and We are Africans why can't we not fight and say we are Trinidadians our original birth place.
So the next time you say your and Indian or an African remember first that your an Trinidadian and we all are equal and need to help one other in this hard time.

 

[RauCous]

We should deport all those people... and to be honest I have no idea what I is. Apparently to be a Trini you need to know your family history all the way back to the mother land. Half breeds like me have nowhere to go. Technically the native Caribs are the real citizens of this land. So we all screwed.
The racist here dont have the ability to be culturally unique and racially equal at the same time. So just because they have costums, religion, last names or facial features that come from some foreign country (of which they are not even citizens or will ever be accepted as) they are automatically better than the rest of us who content with being here.
The thing that makes it extra bad too was that the cultural brainwashing was uneven. Slavery stamped it down to 10%, the kidnapping and forced labour didn't allow for much cultural retention. Indentureship achieved the same thing with different methods, socioeconomic conditions and pressure in india forced migration to here and Guyana with the illusion that the indians could work for land. "Work" as in SLAVERY without the whip and most of the brutality. What not much people willing to admit is that it was for the SAME people who used slaves. Indians were only viewed as cheap replacements for forced labour. If that offends you thats your problem. Colonialist did not make any distinction between who they used for labour... In purely economic terms it didn't matter who worked for you as long as you didn't have to pay them.
Our ancestors, whoever they were or wherever they came from, would have probably stayed home if they had a choice. The fact that they were concerned about thier future generations , ie Us is the only reason they bothered to work so hard to get out of colonialism in the first place.

 

[admin]

Raucous are you vex at me anyways yes we do need to study about our ancestors and i never said anything about who's better that who so i really don't know where all that explanation about who was brought here for cheap labor and if that offends anyone so on. Your not getting my point and the mere fact that it shows that people are so consumed about our ancestors and what happened to them that its affecting our judgment in our lives today yes i know that Africans has it harder that Indians but as i was saying the way you wrote that raucous its that your too caught up in the past and not to see the present as it is we are Trinidadians. If you continue to blemish your self with that kinda of thinking about how Indians were this and Africans we slaves to the white man then we would not move for the mentality that we have.
They had their lives and i don't think we should still have hate in our hearts for what happened it was the past and this is the present we became independent and this is our country we are one people and we should live as one not as Africans and Indians but as Trinidadians

 

[Tiana P]

To be honest, I think the Politics is to be blamed.
Everybody is ah "Trini to de bone" till the next election bell ring. That's when you start to see the change in people. If yuh hair straight...yuh must be ah UNC, and if it curly....well surely yuh is ah PNM! What crap!
I think it's time that people learn to respect and appreciate people for who they are on the inside and what they represent themselves to be on a daily basis!
Only then we'll put an end to all the dotish race talk and realise we're blessed to be living in our space on this earth.

Proud Trinbagonian!

 

[RauCous]

Are we Indians, Africans or Trinidadians

Noo not yoou Admin!! lol I just generalising.. And Yes... I was thinking about all those politicians lol. We have a right to choose whatever culture we identify with lol. That's what I was going to say we INDEPENDENT!! We are our own people now. We call the shots but we all have equal say and stake. I didn't want to make it sound like I was supporting one race.. I dont see race. I dont see in back and white when it comes to people. I'm more biased in the culture thing but this is Trinidad we dont deny our culture. My point is that we are truly equally screwed. Nobody has a sole claim on anything here. We are a country and a free one too so only we can do anything on our behalf. I just hate that some people presume they have more say..
I dont have problems with white people either lol. I have a problem with cultural elitism which is weird cuz i'm not afrocentric or indocentric... i'm not even trinicentric lol. Thats the beauty of this country you can be whatever you want.

 

[admin]

It was how you where saying it Raucous it sounding the way you posted lol but anyways, i have to remove ourselves from these shackles and become a new people a people who can love our country and how we live, we need to live as people not as dogs fighting over scraps of food. Politicians do break us up and the are making us feel that their are racialism in T&T, but thats another story. This is what i mean if you class your selves as Indians or Africans stop that today class your selves as Trinidadians when you go to the USA what will you call your self if someone ask you what or who are you are you going to say Indian, African or A Trinidadian.

Also The term Trinidadian is a culture of diversity of T&T people, We have a unique style and a way of living and thats out culture

 

[RauCous]

Are we Indians, Africans or Trinidadians

I now understand how I came across. The reason I sounded like that is because those are the very same arguements racist use to keep us divided. I was trying to show how much it DOESNT matter lol not how it affects us to this day. It doesn't affect us to this day, were are a mostly integrated society. But use easiest way to provoke racial tension is to remind people of their history. I was really aiming to show how pointless any overindulgence in race talk is... pointless cuz we all here for legitimate reasons. We all suffered and we all endured hardship. That means we all earned the right to be here. Even those who come up to this day have a right to be Trini. Trinidad and Tobago is free for all who want to be Trinidadian
To reiterate what i was saying before people tend to use race and culture as walls and barriers to make themselves more special. They do that by lowering the value of everyone elses. It is entirely possible to be proud of you roots and heritage and not be an elitist about it. It is very easy to do as long as we embrace or at least accept or acknowledge that everyone else has a culture too and that they have the right feel proud too.
And yeah it is true the world doesn't see us as indian or african.. they see us Trinbagonian. It doesn't matter how much of your genetic integrity you retained or if you now come. Its not strictly a nationality either. Once you partake in our collective culture, thats what I was trying to say! Yeah as long as you tasted a piece of here yousa trini. It kinda hard to come here and not find something to like or something you wish you could take with you. lol Some people cant live without the confusing cultural curry chow mein callaloo thing we have. Thats a good thing.

 

[LadyDeath]

TO RAUCOUS- In slavery days you would of been called a "coloured" which is an outkast in long time society that had been scorned of their brown colour and in them days they had no right to vote and most of them was in the local militia but ENOUGH ABOUT HISTORY THAT EXAM DONE PAST AND GAWN LOL

I say long ago everyone fight for one reason and that was emancipation...Now why can everyone of every class and colour fight for one thing too and that is justice to be brought amongst us. i doh understand really the racism in our society althou it was brought in the early days of slavery starting from 1846 of the Sugar Duties Act lol enough of history ..but all i am saying i had best friends who were negros and douglas and indians..some people are racist and they are true believers in god or their religion. but they are just contradicting themselves..why people can just be indifferent to this racisim thing gosh

 

[bluefete]

People who call themselves Indo- and Afro - Trinidadians (ever notice there are no Indo- or Afro- Tobagonians?) have a serious self-esteem and identity problem, in my view.

While it is important to understand your heritage, the land in which your were born is where God put you. Deal with it!!!!!!!!!!!! That makes us Trinbagonians in the whole.

Putting another country before your own is a sad thing.

Most people do not understand that this Indo and Afro thing is a subtle means devised by the Americans to keep the divide and rule mentality. Politicians (especially the PNM & UNC) use it to keep people apart at elections.

Once we continue to import the American system, we will create racial problems in the long run.

 

[LadyDeath]

yup..America holds the sport for the top racist society...do you notice canadians are not so racial only some....All i am saying we grew up in a strong society with alot of inspired cultural backround and everyone fought for the same things together so why can't we fight for that now again ..

But i realise the problem with that...remember long time everyone was of same status which was poor but now there are rich people and poor people now and some feel that they to high to fight for what is right and some feel they have to little to make a stand when it comes to politics

 

[RauCous]

As much as we like to kid ourselves I still see racism occuring quite frequently. We're just so used to it we cant tell anymore. Its so institutionalised into our culture. We like to pretend we dont have problems but we do..

 

[LadyDeath]

People in Trini sometimes are racist of another race but little do they know in trini all races are linked. i have dougla and negro and chinee family

 

[admin]

Hence i made this topic to show people stop studying about diversity consider that we born and grow up in Trinidad and Tobago that makes us Trinidadians, Make the term Trinidadian our race and culture

 

[LadyDeath]

i am a proud trinidadian ..sometimes not so proud when i listen the news