# data[].attributes.body
In the Caribbean region, we are lucky to not face some of the problems other black men and women face on a daily basis. In recent years with the increasing police brutality in other countries like the United States of America, we know that those black people being killed could be our sister, brother, cousins, fathers, mothers and friends, so we band together and support. We post on our social media in solidarity with the rest of the world. This being said, I will not be naive and assume that everything is peachy in the Caribbean. Race, ethnicity, gender and sexuality are some of the ways we identify ourselves in the Caribbean. The Caribbean is diverse of a reason, we do not come from one area, our family trees extend to the European countries, Asian and Indigenous people. Many of us can track our ancestors throughout history to slavery, the indenture-ship program and many more. Someone may ask “is there really mistrust and intolerance in the Caribbean? We seem to all get along fine. We don’t have the problems that black people in the U.S. and other parts of the world are facing.” This statement may be true to some extent, however, I believe due to our history, society and who we are as people, it is evident that there is a level of mistrust and intolerance still present.

# data[].attributes.body
The meaning of mistrust and intolerance sets the tone for this argument. Gruing (1999) as cited by Resnick, Sawyer and Huddleston (8) defines and explains distrust as "distrust has two dimensions: lack of credibility, the belief a person or organization is not accountable, is unethical, or does not respect laws or policies; and malevolence, a person or organizations willingness to lie to increase profits, to deceive members of the public, or to take more than is given." The Council of Europe defines intolerance as "Intolerance is a lack of respect for practices or beliefs other than one's own. It also involves the rejection of people whom we perceive as different, for example, members of a social or ethnic group other than ours, or people who are different in political or sexual orientation."

# data[].attributes.body
The first instance of distrust can be traced to slavery. During the slavery period, the Plantation system that was introduced, it was a closed system of stratification dictated by race and colour, essentially meaning that members in society could not move up. They would be stuck in that position for generations. But what does this have to do with distrust? Well, this system placed the whites on top of the hierarchy, meaning that everyone was below the whites and took orders from them. The coloured and blacks especially were subjected to unimaginable, dehumanizing beatings, scolding and treatment to maintain control over them. The Africans were forced to leave their country to travel to the Caribbean to work in the plantations, they were not paid, they were treated in a dehumanising manner, the voyage from Africa to the Caribbean was far more dangerous and deadly than that voyage from India and they were not permitted to practice their religion or culture (Brereton). This treatment continued even after slavery was abolished, black ex-slaves were declined loans, paid low wages, opportunities were taken away and they were not given or allowed to have good facilities. This brief introduction into the plantation system was the shaping of a mentality that would cause many Caribbean people to remove their faith in coloured groups. In contrast, the Indentureship program which employed Indians and other Asians were different from what the slaves had gone through. The Indentured labour had the option to come to the Caribbean to work, they were paid wages (low wages), after their contract they were allowed to leave to go back to their country and there were laws in place to protect the indentured labourers (Brereton).

# data[].attributes.body
Colonialism was one of the biggest influences in the Caribbean. Under European influence, the Caribbean was moulded to be replicas of the mother countries. Institutions throughout the region had similarities of Great Britain, France, Spain and the Dutch. Our laws, education, family and religion were all part of the assimilation process. Right here in St. Lucia, there was the battle between the French and the English for the ownership of the island. St. Lucia was ruled by the British seven times and the French seven times. Morne Fortune Castries was one of the lookout points chosen by the French in 1768. It provided a vantage point for incoming ships. The following images were taken on November 25th 2019, they are the remaining ruins of buildings during the European reign which are now being used as facilities for the Sir Arthur Lewis Community College. Like St. Lucia, the other countries did go through similar and different phases of colonialism. To this day, we can see the influence in dance, festivals, cuisine, culture and so much more. In countries like Suriname, the colourful buildings and structure are similar to that of the Netherlands. The education system is structured on the British education system and until recently, it was the only system in English speaking Caribbean.

# data[].attributes.body
The previous posts were necessary to establish the historical value of the events that occurred. These events were stepping stones, without understanding what happened before, we cannot understand why we have these feelings today. Since race has been the heading of the recent posts and I have laid out the historical value, I can begin explaining the distrust. As I said in the introduction, St. Lucia does not have much of an issue when it comes to the colour of skin and race, however many Caribbean Countries such as Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Jamaica and others face this issue. The different treatment of the Indians an Africans caused a rift, Henriques (210) indicates that “There is a traditional dislike by African element for the East Indian in part based on the circumstance of his arrival in the West Indies — as substitute for labour on the estates which the newly emancipated slaves refused to perform — and in part on envy of their commercial success.” Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana have significant East Indians and Afro-Caribbean populations, which means there have been issues that both ethnicities have faced. The political parties in Trinidad were formed based on race and ethnicity, there was a predominantly black political party called West Indian National Party (WINP), Urial Butler created his party, Butler Party, the East Indians were not satisfied with their political presentation thus the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) was created and this threatened the Afro-Trinidadians so they too formed a political party, People’s National Movement (PNM) (Hookumchand). The political climate in Trinidad was fuel by race. The formation of all these political parties shows that each ethnical group in the country was not satisfied with the level of representation, did not feel that the parties were looking out for their best interest or were just threatened that a unified front of one ethnicity could trample another ethnic group.

# data[].attributes.body
Sexuality had become a very sensitive, widely talked about topic. The LGBTQ+ community have been seen fighting for their rights such as same-sex marriage. They have been pleading for more gender-neutral cartoons, video games and more. If we zoom into the Caribbean, we can see a long-standing intolerance for homosexuality and different sexual orientation. In the region, the ideology of homosexuality is considered illegal and unnatural, heterosexuality is seen as the only legitimate sexuality. Kempadoo (9) observes that “Caribbean sexuality then regularly appears as rigidly heterosexual and intolerant of sexual difference.” The history of anti-gay comes from the British when they colonized the islands. In order to protect the British morality, they imposed various anti-sodomy laws to aid in reducing the possibility of corruption. Jackman explains that the reason for anti-gay bias is tied in with traditional gender roles. The male is seen as powerful, promiscuous, his various relationships with multiple women allude to his fertility and his lack of domestic responsibility (Kempadoo, 9). So that means if a man wants to be with another man, this undermines or threatens the established belief of masculinity. In women, heterosexuality is an indicator of maturity and fertility (the characteristics of a "real" woman).

# data[].attributes.headline
Intolerance in Sexuality and Governments

# data[].attributes.subject
Intolerance in Sexuality and Governments

# data[].attributes.body
Many Caribbean people do not have and open-minded perspective for being gay, lesbian or transgender. Take for example my mother, a woman born in 1965. When I brought up this topic to ask her opinion, she stated that when she was a young child growing up, there was little to no gay or lesbian people around. She was taught that heterosexuality was right and anything else will not be accepted and tolerated. She told me about instances where homosexual men would be hunted and killed, they were afraid to be themselves in public because of fear of being attacked and killed. She has her thoughts on lesbian and gay people just like everyone else. Countries like Jamaica, Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines have laws against consenting men and women who part take in “buggery”. Trinidad and Tobago also had punishable laws for buggery, with up to twenty-five years in jail; it has been removed in 2018 when the act was decriminalized. The countries listed all have varying years of imprisonment for anyone caught committing the crime. Barrow (64) concluded that “‘Dissident’ sexual identities and practices are condemned by the State and Church as signs of social chaos, sinful degeneracy and family breakdown, and have triggered periodic moral crises and interventions to regulate sex for the control of fertility and disease, and for nation-building and modernization.”

# data[].attributes.body
Vantage view point at Morne Fortune, Castries.

# data[].attributes.body
The Caribbean region does show signs of intolerance and distrust with sexuality, race, ethnicity and gender. Many Caribbean folks have mentalities that are supported by the historical event in the region such as colonialism, slavery and the indentureship program. Colonialism brought forth the mentality of white supremacy and the difference between the treatment of African slaves and Indians indentured labourers further increased tension between ethnicities. This tension led to the creation of political parties that were based on colour and ethnicity in countries such as Trinidad and Guyana. Sexuality has gotten a lot of attention worldwide, however, in the Caribbean, there is still a rigid mentality towards anything that is not heterosexual. The basis of homosexuality threatens the norm of masculinity and feminism. It is even a punishable crime in many Caribbean countries today. With the following points that were stated, I believe that there is still intolerance and distrust in the Caribbean region.