I am not living in the Caribbean so I have to be careful about opinions. In order to be as safe as possible and to be as objective as possible I engaged the local people about certain observations; race and class continue to be issues that affect people's lives. To pretend they are not seems to beg the consequences of denial.
It has become obvious to me that certain topics are not welcome and not the kind of thing that an audience wants to see or read. Ironically, the same topics that populate academic papers are sometimes the same ones that academics find irritating in real life conversations; race and class are sometimes not popular real time conversations. And, they are challenging to identities and national pride.
I understand it; I am Guyanese and I feel a reaction when I listen to how Guyanese steal jobs; Guyana is filthy; and Guyanese race issues between Indian and Black are stark compared to Trinidad. Of course, it grinds, but I can't hide from what seems to be the outward appearance of things. And the truth is that these are real issues.
Barbados is a quiet and pretty island. As a matter of fact, one of the first thoughts that came to mind as I drove around the island was that it appeared very clean. My Bajan friend let me know that Christmas was a big deal and it was a time for cleaning up the place. But, it was not my first visit and I did notice the last time that it was a clean place compared to other places. I remember thinking that Bajans seem to take a little and make a lot; there was pride in appearance. It is impossible if one travels and pays attention not to notice certain extremes; those who have compared to those who have not.
The word "ghetto" seems to be popular for some and poverty is very obvious in certain areas of the Caribbean unless one plans to purposely ignore it or not make it a part of the discussion. Wealth and the lack of it also seems interwoven with the issue of color/race. This discussion is not welcome in certain circles, but if one listens to others the awareness of how this impacts lives is there.
It seems politically incorrect now to speak about issues of race and class when it comes to people of European and African descent, but it is very "in" to discuss the raging race relations between Indians and blacks in Trinidad and Guyana. This has been my experience.
I will have to be unpopular because just as I object to the idea that slavery is passe and cannot be seen as affecting people's lives today, I can't see how a heavy dependence on people who are a part of "power" and "oppression" in some form or the other does not affect the forming and shaping of identities and outcomes.
No comments:
Post a Comment