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Throughout the history of the Caribbean there has been several incidents of discrimination such; racism, sexism, political and religious persecution and many other things. Remnants of this toxic waste to society still exist today, and members of this new and upcoming generation are still being subjected to face these scourges. These forms of intolerance have to some extent left our society divided, but we as a people have made great movements to curb this disease which was left by colonialism. During colonialism, demographic diversification was introduced to quench the thirst for cheap and manual labour. It began with the first people (Neo Indians) and was later joined by the enslavement of Africans. After slavery had collapsed the induction of Asians and other Europeans in the plantation labour force later led to the cultural diversification that we enjoy in today’s society. However, during the colonial period there was great discrimination particularly towards the people who were of the afro-persuasion. In today’s society we still see examples of this, particularly in the work force. In some cases, such as in Jamaica people are fixated with the desire to bleach their skin. This stems from life on the plantation where slaves who were of a lighter complexion were move favored when applying for a job. The slaves who were darker in complexion were seen as being more suited to perform more strenuous tasks and occupied “Blue Collar” jobs. This also stemmed from the fact that the children of slaves were unable to access higher education other than agriculture. Usually the children of plantation owners received education other than agriculture and they were able to secure better paying job and were able to be on the more favorable end of social stratification and had more social mobility. In the modern Caribbean society, the education system was modified to facilitate equal rights to education for all person no matter their ethnicity or racial background, however subliminally persons of African descent are being held back from wanting to pursue an education which would enable then to secure “White Collar” jobs. Hence the economy of the West Indies is based of tourism and agriculture rather than industrialization with the exception of mineral rich islands such as Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana. Even in these two countries the extraction, refining and distribution is controlled by North American and European Multi-National Corporations. Though there is still such a great influence by foreigners in our industrial sector, we as a people are making stride to better ourselves in taking charge of all our affairs and having our voice heard in global decision making. When compared to the colonial era the people of the Caribbean still face several biases particularly when it comes to complexion however this is being overcame and will lead to a more unified and stronger society.

The Caribbean has also suffered intolerance in our religious hierarchies. In today’s society, persons whose religious beliefs which are not of European original are not considered to have a true religion and are pagan worshipers. During the colonial period particularly during enslavement of Africans the religions that were brought from Africa were outlawed by the plantation owners. This form of oppression to a small extent was brought from the colonial era into modern society. Persons who are either Roman Catholic or Anglican are considered to be apart of society’s elite. Persons who hold positions of prestige in today’s society similarly to the colonial period are apart of a European religion. Society still frowns upon syncretic religions such as shouterism (Trinidad and Tobago) and shakerism (St. Vincent and the Grenadines). During the colonial era laws were put in place to curb the practice of these religions in an attempt to completely “Christianize” our society. This was done in attempt to control the behaviors and mannerisms of the people who they were trying to control. The ideology has been so successfully engraved into the thought processes of persons that laws have changed to allow the free practice of all religions and discrimination is still active. In the Caribbean region the religion of Voodoo which is mainly practiced in Haiti is still considered the religion of society’s undesirables. Similarly to slavery several derogatory terms were directed to the people who practice these religions but since that time to now persons are becoming more accepting to the practice and practioneers of these religions. An example of this is the abolition of the 1917 Shouter Prohibition Ordinance that prohibited the activities of the Shouter or Spiritual Baptist faith. This was the beginning of the open practice of this religion which was commemorated by a special holiday which is celebrated annually on March 30th in Trinidad and Tobago. Our society has also made several strides in accepting the different non-European religions by facilitating charity events geared to assisting these religious organizations. Also, the celebration of religious festivals such as Divali and Eid-ul-Fitr has facilitated the unification of our society. When we compare the tolerance of society towards religion in this modern era to the colonial period, they share a similar constitution, however due to the advent of legislation there is a considerable amount of tolerance when it comes to religion in Caribbean society.

The political and judicial system in the modern-day society of the Caribbean is under scrutiny, similarly to the time of slavery and indentureship. The judicial system was mainly to benefit planters and the enslaved or the indentured workers. In early slavery there were no laws as to the treatment of slaves. This almost led to the genocide of the Neo-Indians and the decimation of West Africans. After a period of time humanitarian law was introduced pertaining to the treatment of the enslaved, however these laws were nothing more than official transcript as there was not a committee to enforce these laws. Also, the laws that followed were influenced by the very owners of the plantations across the Caribbean. In 1833 the process for the abolition of slavery had commenced and finally completed in 1838. Plantation owners were no longer able to have slaves on their plantations and not give them wages as this was now made into law. After slavery the society’s political structure was then modelled after the West Minster system in Great Britain. This made the way for a democracy. Though this was seen a means to give former slaves control over their own affairs there was a catch. Males who were above the age of twenty-one and had owned land were able to cast a voting ballet, and females who were above the age of thirty and had owned land were able to vote. This posed another challenge for persons because the majority of newly freed people were not making wages that would allow then to afford any land. This meant that the voting population consisted mostly of plantation owners and other high-ranking members of society. These people were accused of serving their own self-interests and not those of the people. This can be seen in today’s society where most Politians are being accused of corruption and under-handedness. Similarly in today’s society there are several laws that are not being enforced particularly in terms of environmental law. MNCs are allowed to commence operations for the extraction of our natural mineral reservoirs and resources leaving being toxic wastes and chemicals even though there are several environmental laws in place to prevent such atrocities. Even though there is a high level of mistrust in the political and judiciary systems there has been a serious crack down on offences in recent years and now faith in these systems is being restored. This is helping to contribute to the better functioning of society.

It can be said that in the Caribbean there is still a considerable amount of intolerance and mistrust at all level. This statement has proven to be true when taken from a social perspective, there is still stigmatization and discrimination against persons who do not subscribe to the lifestyle and practices which is deemed sociable by the society which was long time created and  influenced by European plantocracy which stem from as far as the early 1500’s after Columbus’ arrival to the West Indies, which marked the era of turmoil in the Caribbean. There has been several movements towards tolerance and equality in the West Indies despite the variance of ethnic backgrounds, culture, language and social status and this is what will drive the region further away from this backward thinking mentality which was created so many years ago.