Connecting With Our Roots

Over the space of the period May 21 to June 1, Vincentians have been experiencing the privilege of making connections with the roots of their African and Indian ancestors. In the case of the former, there was the historic first celebration of Spiritual Baptists Day, to be followed by African Liberation Day activities four days later. Then this Sunday, June 1, our Indian community has extended an invitation to the rest of us to join them in the commemoration of Indian Arrival Day at Indian Bay.

These are important milestones in our history to which we must connect those of two months ago when we engaged in national activities to commemorate National Heroes Day, and the heroic defence of our country by the Kalinagu and Garifuna people against European invaders.

We can only encourage the descendants of the other major sections of our populace, those of the Portuguese, Scottish and Irish “indentured servants”, as they were called, to take the initiative to organise in a similar manner so that we can complete the Vincentian nationality circle.

These events are not merely commemorative, they arise from the need to affirm our nationality, to recognize not just the struggles and sacrifices that we and our forebears have endured in the formation of the Vincentian society, but also the respective contributions which have been made over the years in building the society we have today.

These have been made in spite of the efforts of the colonisers, primarily British colonialists and their enforcers, not only to subjugate us but to sow divisions which supported their efforts to divide and conquer. When we reflect on the Spiritual Baptists we cannot forget that among the same people who introduced a different form of worship, up until the 20th century, ensured the suppression of the Spiritual Baptists as a means of denying their right to worship the same God in their own unique style.

However, it was not just legal suppression, for concerted efforts were made to keep us as a people socially separated and in their subjugation, to imbue in us a false sense of superiority over the other suppressed groups. They inculcated the myth that the ex-slaves were ‘lazy’ because many refused to work on the estates for sub- human wages after emancipation. Even among the African descendants, religion was used to instil a negative mindset about the Spiritual Baptists. To this day there are those among us who still entertain negative images of the “Shakers” and their “Pointers”, images which are yet to be erased.

Just as blacks were stymied as “wutless” niggers, so too were negative images of Indians and European indentured servants spread and perpetuated. Those old enough would know that even as early as at the primary school level, derogatory terms were used to refer to Indians and Portuguese descendants who make up the colourful fabric of our society.

We also had the still lingering negative images of the ‘Carib’ descendants and their women who were often viewed as objects for sexual exploitation.

All these serve to undermine our growth as a united society. It is comforting to note that we have begun the process of national healing, and to recognize our equal participation in the process of nation building. That process must continue so that we can recognize each other as equal partners building our nation.

We therefore extend best wishes to our Indian community in the celebration of their Arrival Day on Sunday.