Our political leaders and the death of discourse

Orin Gordon

The 50-year-old friendship between Dr Keith Rowley and Dr Tim Gopeesingh survived their clashes in parliament when Rowley was Opposition Leader and Gopeesingh was Minister of Education. Dr Gopeesingh, an obstetrician, helped to deliver the Rowleys eldest daughter close to 40 years ago.

When Basdeo Panday died on New Year’s Day, 2024, his family found the then Foreign and Caricom Affairs Minister Dr Amery Browne to be a great source of help and comfort. The circumstances of fittingly honouring Panday’s memory drew them close.

I wonder what the two gents on the PNM side made of comments at a party rally by MP Kareem Marcelle that they (the UNC government) “hate African people, they hate black people, they hate people from Beetham” and other places, and that social media references the PNM are the new N-word.

Those were contemptible remarks by Marcelle. Broad-brushing the Government as being driven by racial animus (and saying that he doesn’t like them either) gets him out of thoughtfully critiquing their policies. If he’d said that policies such as their handling of CEPEP have hit low-income Afro-Trinidadians – the overwhelming majority of his constituents – disproportionately hard, that’d be fair.

If Marcelle were to engage Education Minister Dr Michael Dowlath on improving outcomes in low-performing schools in his area, he would not find a racist. What he’d likely find is a policy-maker who wants to row the boat in the same direction as he does. Part of Marcelle’s job is to get the best outcomes possible for Laventille West. In that, he has to engage the people across the aisle who can deliver them.

This isn’t some utopian screed. Racial divisions exist. Some conversations – crime, crime fighting and opportunity – bring them out into the open, and expose feelings that are raw. We can’t kumbaya them away, but all of the parties have got to navigate ethnically combustible issues with a degree of sensitivity.

Attorney General John Jeremie is known to choose his words carefully. When I grilled him at a news conference last January about the T&T Government’s legally-shaky support for the US Navy’s summary executions of drug suspects at sea, he wouldn’t even say whether he had briefed the Prime Minister on the legal advice he received.

In Parliament just over a week ago, Jeremie stated that the Government would be engaging in equal-opportunity pursuit of people involved in criminal activity – regardless of level of wealth. He said the days of protections afforded by money and closeness to the previous government were over. Then he said this, when talking about criminal gangs: “If your designation happens to be within the one percent, it happens to be six, seven or eight – Tetron awaits.”

Jeremie’s comments were received with dismay by a number of prominent Arab-Trinidadian business people. People on the Government side said that “one percent” refers to the income bracket, not ethnicity.

In global economics, the term “one percent” is often used to illustrate sharp wealth distribution inequality. In T&T, it is received as and understood to be a clear reference to its Arab citizens, particularly its business class. Does anyone here hear “one percent” and think of the famous and wealthy Indo-Trinidadian families in retail and construction, or the Afro-Trinidadian president of one of its largest public/private conglomerates?

Let’s get real. The term is often applied to specific T&T citizens, with derogatory intent. Wealth, real or perceived, doesn’t insulate anyone from the sting of that. It’s important that our leaders avoid the language of division. What is red meat to one’s base can be seen as divisive by other sections of the country. “The one percent.” “Beyond the lighthouse.” The Government should ditch such talk. They govern everyone, including those they don’t view as natural supporters.

The Prime Minister herself is to blame for some of the degraded discourse. In contrast to how she engages religious leaders and her national holiday addresses, her comments are some of the most vituperative in the public space. Can you think of a head of government/state who refers to his/her fellow citizens as “filth?” Not even Donald Trump has. Measuredness in disagreement and criticism too often evades the PM.

Trinidad and Tobago needs a rhetorical reset at all levels. It should start at the top. With you, Madame Prime Minister.

Orin Gordon is a Communications Consultant.