The first infiltration occurred in the year 1482 when the Spaniards found their way to the Caribbean in search of gold. What they found instead was land occupied by the neo-indian civilization. The Spaniards destroyed the neo-indians’ civilization and culture. They forced the neo-indian people to change their way of life or die. The rest were forced to change their religion, the way they dressed and the way they spoke. These Spaniards were so intolerant and ignorant that they considered this invasion to be a gift to the neo-indian people who later died at the hands of the very Spaniards who invaded their land. The African people suffered a similar fate as they too were forced to change their way of life because of the grave intolerance demonstrated by their colonizers. The east Indian people who migrated to the Caribbean after slavery also faced their fair share of intolerance. They suffered the same way the neo-indians and the Africans did but they also experienced intolerance from the African people who worked on the plantations. Since the Africans were forced to change their ways of life, they believed to a certain extent, in the way of the white man- the way they dressed, spoke and worshiped. This meant that the very Africans who were raped of their culture now judged the East Indians in the same way the white men judged them. They also discriminated against the East Indians because they believed that they came to take their jobs and lower their wages.

There was also extreme mistrust in these times. This was as a result of the very same Spanish, British, French and Dutch colonizers. They spread many rumors about the people whose land they took and the ones they enslaved. Rumors such as these; the Taino people were cannibals and the Africans had no souls and were less than people. Though these statements were untrue and founded on Eurocentric views, they still had lasting effects on the Caribbean. These effects show themselves in places such as the education system where the rumor about the Taino people is still taught as part of the curriculum today.

Another instance of intolerance and mistrust is the case of homophobia which, according to combined definitions from planned parenthood and Britannica, is the fear, hatred, discomfort with, mistrust or prejudice against homosexuals that sometimes manifests itself in legal restrictions or, in extreme cases, bullying or even violence against homosexuals. The Caribbean is one of the most homophobic regions in the world. This homophobia is rooted in the gender ideals and norms created by the society and the separation set between men and women. This separation, as mentioned before, means that no man should have what is deemed as feminine qualities and vice versa. The crossing over of these two spheres lead to the actualizing of many people’s intolerance and mistrust leading to abuse in many forms. Some forms of abuse are physical abuse and verbal abuse. In terms of mistrust, it can be said that homosexual people are deemed by the public as unfit to parent or have a family. It is significantly harder for a homosexual couple to adopt a child than it is for a heterosexual couple. Homosexual people are also put at a disadvantage in the workplace- for many of them their sexual orientation prevents them from getting a job. This translates across the board. Many homosexual people are refused simple things like housing or even service in certain business places. 

In the Caribbean, homosexuality is illegal in nine countries. Trinidad was once a country in which homosexuality was illegal but the 25-year-old law was removed as of April 2018.

 

Along with the mistrust in the education system there is the intolerance. There are many rules in schools, some more blatant than others, that demonstrate intolerance in some way. Some examples are as follows; students of African descent are not allowed to wear their hair out in an afro, many schools even go as far as banning certain hair styles and placing restrictions on hair styles- braids must not pass a certain length and hair must always be in one. These rules are, in many cases, only implemented when it comes to black people while people of other races are left alone because their hair is considered to be ‘neat’. There are also rules that restrict students from wearing religious symbol. There are many primary schools in Trinidad that prohibit the wearing of henna in school even though the wearing of henna is a big part of religion and Caribbean culture.

 

Since our Caribbean was built on colonization the main religion is Christianity and many adaptations of it. Though Christianity is at the top of the hierarchical order of religion in the Caribbean, it is still criticized along with the other religions in the region whether they be syncretic religions or religions brought from one region to the other. 

For some religions, there is an undertone of mistrust from all directions. To demonstrate this, we can consider the Divali festival. For many it is perfectly fine to participate in the cultural celebrations of Divali, however, the problems begin when you try to indulge in the sweets prepared by Hindus. Many do not part take in these treats because “they pray dover these so we can’t eat it.” Many even go as far as not participating in the celebrations in any way, shape, or form. 

There is also mistrust in the sales industry of the Caribbean. This mistrust came to be during the time periods of the plantation society and industrialization. Caribbean countries have been forced into a state of dependency during these periods. This is because of the fact that the Caribbean was only used as a place to reap the raw material which was always sent away to be made into a product that would later be purchased by the same Caribbean islands that provided them with the raw materials. Examples of these products are chocolate and oil.