A Caribbean Plural Society

By Henry Srebrnik. [Summerside, PEI] Journal Pioneer

Rather than being what used to be called a “melting pot,” the Caribbean island nation of Trinidad and Tobago constitutes a “plural society,” that is, a place where two distinct ethnic groups live largely separate lives. 

Tthe population of some 1.36 million comprises Indo-Trinidadians at 35.4 per cent, Afro-Trinidadians at 34.2 per cent, and “mixed” at 22.8 per cent. 

The population also includes smaller groups of Whites, Chinese, Syrian-Lebanese and Amerindians.

Trinidad and Tobago’s plural society encompasses a multitude of religions such as Roman Catholicism, Hinduism, Islam, the Anglican and Baptist faiths, Pentecostals, Seventh Day Adventists and others. All this is reflected in its politics.

The 41 members of the House of Representatives are elected by first-past-the-post voting in single-member constituencies.

The People’s National Movement (PNM) is one of the two main parties. Founded by Dr. Eric Williams in 1956, it is the oldest political party in the country. Most of its supporters are Afro-Trinidadian, the descendants of people who were brought as slaves.

The Indo-Trinidadians, originally indentured labourers from South Asia, have voted for a number of parties through the years, most recently for the United National Congress (UNC), established in 1988 by the party’s former leader, Basdeo Panday.

Both parties have governed the country. The only other party to gain power through elections was the National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR), under the stewardship of Arthur Robinson.

It was voted into office in 1986 with a landslide victory over the ruling PNM by 33-3 seats. But the party only served one term and never won another mandate.

An election is scheduled to take place next year. Prime Minister Keith Rowley’s PNM currently holds 23 seats, while former UNC prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissesar has 17. Carolyn Seepersad-Bachan of the Congress of the People, an offshoot of the UNC, also sits in parliament.  

The nationalist movement aimed to unify the population into a singular mixed nation; however, it was exclusionary of Indo-Trinidadians due to the rivalry between the PNM and the Indian-Hindu opposition. 

Furthermore, Indo-Trinidadians were viewed as strong adherents to their culture, which made them more resistant to racial mixture and creolization. Conversely, Afro-Trinidadians were considered more likely to adopt creolization.

In fact Indo-Trinidadians feel they were systematically oppressed by the PNM, which has ruled the state for the majority of its history after independence from Great Britain in 1962.

So the postcolonial multicultural movement did not succeed since the two main parties were divided along ethnic and religious lines -- largely Hindu Indians and Christian Africans. They remained largely rooted in inter-racial animosity.

This was the product of a colonial “divide and rule” strategy and the effect of inbred competition in labour that British colonialism created. It was designed to prevent unity between the colonized groups.

Afro-Trinidadians worked in urban centres, whereas Indo-Trinidadians worked in rural areas. the Indians were given better living conditions and wages. The historical divide continues to shape the community today and creates geographic segregation.

However, there has been the rise of a “douglarization” ideal, where a racial and cultural mixture is seen as a possible solution to end interracial issues and jealousy. But it will not be easy to overcome the mistrust that exists.