In celebrating Arrival Day, notwithstanding the critical importance of commemorating the contributions of all of our ancestors to the building of our nation – still a work in progress – we run the risk, as is recognised by some, of emphasising our differences rather than focusing on our similarities.
Trinidadian Brother Marvin’s 1996 hit, “Jahaji Bhai (Brotherhood of the Boat),” apart from being a catchy tune based on a fusion of soca and chutney harmonies, contains a powerful message of racial unity, based on the common heritage of suffering of both Indians and Africans: “The indentureship and the slavery/Bind together two races in unity…” Our African and Indian forebears may not have come across the great Atlantic or kala pani in the same boat literally, but they were, as we are, indissolubly bound by the crossing and their suffering. Indeed, the message of “Brotherhood of the Boat” is, in essence, one of our common humanity.
Now, the debate about our past, present and future, more often than not framed by ethno-political considerations, is unsurprisingly one that can arouse strong emotions, especially when it comes to the relativism of suffering and the sacrifice of our ancestors. But in a letter to this newspaper, ‘We cannot cling to past memories of hurt and live in harmony at the same time’ (May 7), Sandra Khan posits that we need to put the suffering behind us and “find our own unique answers” to the challenges facing us.
In this respect, Ms Khan challenges the notion that “there can possibly be a supremacy of suffering” and makes an eloquent plea for mutual understanding and harmony to deliver us to the promised land:
“There is much common ground in our efforts to rediscover aspects of our identity, to reconnect with our ancestry and ancestral continents, and generally to construct an identity for ourselves. We are all doing this – herein lies common ground and with this recognition comes that thing finally: our Arrival. Our mutual understanding of each other’s plight is part of our competitive advantage. We can relate to the entire globe with the full force of our diversity and our heritage.”
In spite of the argument that no people’s suffering should be privileged over another’s, let us be clear that the decimation of the Amerindian peoples in various parts of the Americas, through the disease, warfare and exploitation of conquest, and the colonial institution of slavery were, in today’s terms, nothing less than crimes against humanity. Indeed, no one can reasonably make light of the horrors suffered by any of our forebears but it is of little benefit to use the respective, ancestral narratives of abuse and pain to claim ascendancy for one race over another.
In a nation such as ours, which has still not fully come to terms with its colonial trauma and post-colonial heritage of dislocation and division, it is more important than ever to focus on that which binds us together, if we are to build a united nation. We are all in the same boat, as it were.
Our founding fathers have given us the symbols and trappings of nationhood – our Golden Arrowhead, Coat of Arms, National Anthem and National Motto, ‘One People, One Nation, One Destiny’ – but how many of us actually strive to give meaning to the unifying myth of nationhood?
Perhaps, we are still too young a nation to appreciate that the fruits of independence do not fall easily from the low-hanging branches of self-government. We have to climb higher. We, moreover, have to persuade our politicians that we will no longer stand for the preaching of divisiveness that occurs every five years and the intervening bouts of finger-pointing and name-calling.
As Barack Obama counsels, we should be cognisant of the lessons of history whilst looking more to the future to effect change for our common advancement. We have a collective heritage of much suffering, but must we continue to suffer?
