Racism and Cultural Identity in Trinidad and Tobago

Fr Stephan Alexander, a Catholic priest serving in the cluster of La Horquetta and San Rafael, shared his insights on racism, cultural identity, and the Church’s role in addressing these issues in Trinidad and Tobago, during an appearance on Altos last Friday.

Fr Alexander, who previously worked as an attorney in Port of Spain before joining the priesthood, reflected on his 2020 statement about racism in T&T. He affirmed that his view remains unchanged not only for T&T, “but for the world at large.” He emphasised the need for greater awareness and action, urging, “I think it’s something that we in Trinidad and Tobago need to become very more open to, to the existence of it, and to start putting things in place to deal with the reality of how people are seen and how we respond to them.”

Fr Alexander highlighted the dual nature of racism, addressing both external perceptions of individuals of African heritage and their self-perception. He stressed the importance of self-value and understanding one’s cultural richness. He  also observed a tendency to align more with African-American culture rather than embracing Pan-Africanism or continental African culture.

Commenting on the Prime Minister’s recent statement about not being afraid to claim African heritage, he expressed caution in using the word “afraid” but noted, “Myself, only just a few years, would be able to acknowledge the reality of what takes place within me when drums are played or when a certain type of music is used.” The tendency to adopt Western understandings of identity, Fr Alexander pinpointed, can “limit, lessen, or devalue the heritage that we have.”

Fr Alexander also drew attention to the impact of Western cultural influences on Trinidad and Tobago’s youth, particularly in their speech patterns. He observed, “They are educated via tablet and internet and this and that. And we have a lot of children who sound as if they were brought up in the UK or in the US.”

He acknowledged the benefits he has received from Western society but asserted the importance of appreciating one’s own cultural heritage. He referenced a popular Catholic comic, Keevo, who advocated for naming a street Chadon Beni. He questioned, “Why not empower people to be Trinbagonian, and to use a Trinbagonian accent? Why not value who we are? Because I think that’s at the heart of the issue, the fact that we value other things. And this is not to say that those other things are bad enough in and of themselves, it’s just to say that we, in using those realities for the benefit of what they are, also need to give evidence to the wealth of who we intrinsically are.”

Fr Alexander supported the idea of reparations, viewing them not as a handout, but as a necessary acknowledgment of historical wrongs and their ongoing impact. When asked if reparations would assist in the process of emancipation, Fr Alexander responded, “My off-the-cuff answer would be yes.”

He elaborated on this point, stating, “I think to see reparations as a handout is incorrect. I think anyone who understands history, anyone who understands geopolitics, economics, etc, and I can take you through a range of topics, would understand the impact of chattel slavery on the world and the benefit that the UK and other areas in the world would have reaped from that.”

He made a careful distinction in his language, avoiding the term “sacrifice” when referring to the ancestors’ experiences as it involved forced relocation rather than voluntary acts. “You and I, we live in a forced cultural context because we didn’t choose to come here.”

Fr Alexander highlighted the current inequalities resulting from historical injustices, saying, “Now we have a situation where there are persons who are the progeny of that reality being disadvantaged. And how about those persons benefitting from the sweat? And I don’t say sacrifice of their ancestors, because a sacrifice is something that I make myself. These ancestors were robbed. They were taken away.”

While acknowledging that some measures have been taken to address these historical injustices such as the Government Assistance for Tuition Expenses Programme (GATE) in Trinidad and affirmative action in the US, Fr Alexander argued more needs to be done.

When discussing the Catholic Church’s role in addressing issues of racism and cultural identity, he touched on the relevance of synodality—the concept of journeying together as a community. He suggested that the Church needs to broaden its approach to synodality, moving beyond just becoming a synodal Church to fostering a synodal people.

Fr Alexander proposed that the Church should lead in asking deeper questions about unity and mutual understanding in Trinidad and Tobago. He noted, “How do we, as Trinidad and Tobago, understand unity? How do we see the worth and the value in each other?”

The priest expressed concern about the growing tendency to categorise national celebrations along ethnic lines, such as the shift from ‘Arrival Day’ to ‘Indian Arrival Day’ and ‘Emancipation Day’ to ‘African Emancipation Day’. While acknowledging the factual basis for these changes, he reminisced about a time when such explicit categorisations weren’t necessary, referencing Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s description of Trinidad and Tobago as a “rainbow nation”.

He advocated for the Church to focus on the integral human development of all people: “We are embodied souls, embodied spirits. We need to understand that within ourselves. We need to understand the role of our ancestors. We need to understand how our story impacts the stories of others.”

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