The Caribbean: A Changed Region by Conrad Taitt https://padlet.com/conradjtaitt/yss0188fd92y 816016083 - Conrad Taitt en-us 2019-11-25 21:33:58 UTC 2019-11-30 03:03:37 UTC hello@padlet.com conradjtaitt https://padlet.com/conradjtaitt/yss0188fd92y/wish/416977378 Intolerance and mistrust first became defining characteristics of the Caribbean during the days of slavery. At that time, Caribbean society was stratified such that the white planters were living in comfort at the apex of society at the expense of the other groups (far) below them, particularly the indigenous peoples, African slaves and indentured Indians. The divisive nature of colonial society and the abuses that occurred within it gave rise to major mistrust between the various ethnic and religious groups, and an intolerance of each other's beliefs and culture. On some level, the wounds from the Caribbean's colonial past continue to plague Caribbean society. This intolerance and mistrust permeated Caribbean life under colonial rule as a virus invades the body, leaving its mark on politics, education and other major components of society. Even the entertainment sector was rife with intolerance, with expressions of local culture being frowned upon (Raymond, 12). However, the presence of intolerance and mistrust in the Caribbean today is no longer as grave as it was during the colonial era. Progress has been made throughout the decades at many levels of society towards creating a unified Caribbean, particularly in the areas of regional integration and Caribbean culture.
 
From the mid-20th century to the present day, the Caribbean has seen many initiatives promoting regional integration. Though the first few that were embarked on in the colonial era failed, there are now numerous successful and long standing Caribbean trade agreements and regional bodies. Caribbean culture is diverse, as it is composed of many individual customs and cultures. No one race or individual is a practitioner of every part of Caribbean culture, but the Caribbean man has made great strides in accepting these differences. He has begun to take ownership of the culture of different groups, making them his own. 
]]> 2019-11-27 02:57:23 UTC https://padlet.com/conradjtaitt/yss0188fd92y/wish/416977378 conradjtaitt https://padlet.com/conradjtaitt/yss0188fd92y/wish/417868501 There came a period of time in the Caribbean's colonial past when its then colonies were interested in the benefits that regional integration would bring to them. Under the eye of the British crown, many initiatives were embarked upon, the first few of which were relatively short-lived. However, some initiatives found success, displaying the region's progress along the path of tackling intolerance and mistrust. 

One of the early stumbling blocks along this path was the West Indies Federation. The Federation was a political union of ten Caribbean territories, established in 1958 by the British Caribbean Federation Act of 1956. It placed its members under a Federal Government, thereby establishing a political union between them (CARICOM Secretariat). The powers of this Federal Government, the rights of its members and the expected member contributions were sources of major disagreement amongst them. The Federation collapsed after its two largest members, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, withdrew. ]]> 2019-11-30 00:32:34 UTC https://padlet.com/conradjtaitt/yss0188fd92y/wish/417868501 conradjtaitt https://padlet.com/conradjtaitt/yss0188fd92y/wish/417868697 The OECS is another example of Caribbean states overcoming mistrust and intolerance. Granted, within the OECS membership there no gap in wealth or territory size as large as the one between Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and the "little eight", as they were called, and this may have played a role in the continued success of the OECS. However not all OECS members are at equal levels of prosperity, and given the willingness of member states to synchronize their policies in many areas to further the goals of the OECS, it is still one of the Caribbean's success stories as it relates to overcoming mistrust and intolerance between states.]]> 2019-11-30 00:35:13 UTC https://padlet.com/conradjtaitt/yss0188fd92y/wish/417868697 conradjtaitt https://padlet.com/conradjtaitt/yss0188fd92y/wish/417868831 Jamaica withdrew following a vote of secession in September of 1961, to which its population narrowly voted in favour. Many Jamaicans felt that the Federation would slow Jamaica's thrust for independence, and that its smaller members would drain Jamaica of its wealth as the former and Trinidad and Tobago would be shouldering most of the Federation's financial burden. With Jamaica gone, Trinidad and Tobago represented 60 percent of the Federation's population, and would have to provide 75 to 80 percent of its revenue. However, it would only receive less than 50 percent of the seats in its parliament. This was enough to cause the Federation's now biggest member to withdraw in January of 1962, and the Federation itself collapsed and was dissolved soon after ("Caribbean Election: West Indies Federation").

The reason for the Federation's collapse can be boiled down to self-interest. The two largest contributors felt that they were not receiving as much benefit as they were provided to the Federation. It was impossible for the smaller island members to shoulder a burden as big as Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago could. Rather than viewing themselves as the 'big brothers' in the relationship, they viewed the smaller territories as leeches with whom they had to share power in the Federation's parliament. Though it was fair for each member to shoulder a burden within their means, these two were not content with such rationale. ]]> 2019-11-30 00:37:20 UTC https://padlet.com/conradjtaitt/yss0188fd92y/wish/417868831 conradjtaitt https://padlet.com/conradjtaitt/yss0188fd92y/wish/417869329 Despite the Federation's collapse, the region's political leaders pressed on and further attempts were made at regional integration. The Caribbean Free Trade Agreement (CARIFTA) was established in 1968. This agreement aimed to increase trade within the region by having member countries remove trade barriers to intra-regional trade such as tariffs. This was a trust exercise, as prior to CARIFA's existence, many of its members relied on tariffs as a sizeable source of revenue. This agreement held, and was eventually extended to become CARICOM, to which all of CARIFTA's members acceded (Mohammed, 289-90). 

On June 18th, 1981, the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) was established. Its 7 initial member countries signed the Treaty of Basseterre, in which they agreed "to cooperate with each other and promote unity and solidarity among the Members" ("About the Organisation of the Eastern Caribbean States"). The treaty was replaced in 2010 with the Revised Treaty of Basseterre. This revised treaty allowed for freedom of movement of people, goods and capital within a single economic space. Members also agreed to coordinate their economic policies and approaches to essential sectors such as health, education and agriculture. ]]> 2019-11-30 00:44:32 UTC https://padlet.com/conradjtaitt/yss0188fd92y/wish/417869329 conradjtaitt https://padlet.com/conradjtaitt/yss0188fd92y/wish/417869982 The term 'Caribbean culture' describes a blend of the unique culture of numerous ethnic groups. Expressions of Caribbean culture vary wildly within Caribbean nations themselves, and even more so from island to island. This is due to the Europeans bringing numerous groups of people to the Caribbean as slaves and labourers. During the colonial era, the Europeans employed various techniques to make their workforce more pliable and less likely to revolt. One such technique was outlawing and/or suppressing of all forms of their workforce's culture, be it music, dance, religion or language. The degree to which the Europeans employed this tactic depended on the nature of their workforces. The indigenous and African slaves were oppressed to a greater degree than the indentured labourers. As such, it took many decades for the Caribbean to see the value of the indigenous peoples' culture, and for African culture to be accepted rather than scorned. One of the clearest indicators that the grave intolerance and mistrust do not characterize today's Caribbean society is that Caribbean citizens are more readily accepting of each other's culture, and are also getting involved in both practicing and preserving the culture of their fellow men. Such is the case with the culture of the indigenous peoples, with religion, and with music.]]> 2019-11-30 00:53:17 UTC https://padlet.com/conradjtaitt/yss0188fd92y/wish/417869982 conradjtaitt https://padlet.com/conradjtaitt/yss0188fd92y/wish/417870099 The indigenous peoples were decimated in many Caribbean islands, and this placed their culture in jeopardy. Recognizing their plight, some countries have developed initiatives to preserve what remains of their culture. In Dominica, for example, there is a Kalinago reserve on the North East coast of the island, covering an area of approximately 4.5 square miles (Joseph). The Kalinago within the reserve are represented in parliament by an elected representative, and afforded the same rights as other Dominicans. There is also an institution established purely to preserve and promote Kalinago culture, namely the Kalinago Barana Aute. Other Caribbean countries observe holidays celebrating the indigenous peoples. Suriname observes Indigenous Peoples' Day annually on August 9th (Rojas, 2019) and Trinidad and Tobago observed a one-time First Peoples' Day in October of 2017. This shows that the first peoples are slowly but surely becoming accepted as a valuable contributor to Caribbean society and culture.]]> 2019-11-30 00:55:02 UTC https://padlet.com/conradjtaitt/yss0188fd92y/wish/417870099 conradjtaitt https://padlet.com/conradjtaitt/yss0188fd92y/wish/417870155 Caribbean people have also grown to accept the right of those of a different faith to practice their religion. A prime example of this occurred with the Spiritual Baptists. In colonial era Trinidad and Tobago, the Shouters Prohibition Ordinance of 1917 made it illegal for Spiritual Baptists to practice their religion. The legal reason for the ban was that the Baptists disturbed the peace during worship, with their loud shouting and bell-ringing, hence their derogatory labelling as "Shouter Baptists". In reality, the Baptists were antagonised due to the African origin of their practices, which reminded many of the shame of slavery ("Spiritual Baptist Liberation Day"). The ordinance was repealed in 1951, and in 1996, the Baptists were granted a national Holiday.]]> 2019-11-30 00:56:00 UTC https://padlet.com/conradjtaitt/yss0188fd92y/wish/417870155 conradjtaitt https://padlet.com/conradjtaitt/yss0188fd92y/wish/417870265 The Caribbean music industry stands out as an example of how culture from one Caribbean ethnic group or island has been embraced by the wider region. Indigenous genres such as soca, dub, reggae, and chutney have enjoyed widespread popularity throughout the Caribbean. These art forms have found such large audiences in lands far from their birthplaces that artists from other islands have begun making these art forms their own, even going so far as to compete in competitions in the birthplaces of these art forms. For example, Skinny Fabulous, a Vincentian soca artist and five-time (Vincentian) Soca Monarch winner, collaborated with Trinidadian soca artists Machel Montano and Bunji Garlin to win the 2019 (Trinidad) Road March ("Famalay cops Road March title"). This was the first time a non-Trinidad and Tobago citizen won the title. This embracing of the culture of other islands shows that the Caribbean is becoming less intolerant and mistrustful of those of different cultures or races.]]> 2019-11-30 00:57:32 UTC https://padlet.com/conradjtaitt/yss0188fd92y/wish/417870265 conradjtaitt https://padlet.com/conradjtaitt/yss0188fd92y/wish/417870315 Progressively, the Caribbean has begun to recognize and accept people of different ethnic groups and cultures living within it as a part of the Caribbean community. Through preserving indigenous peoples' culture, in abandoning the days of religious oppression, and in the region-wide embracing of certain indigenous music genres, it is clear that the Caribbean today is no longer as gravely intolerant and mistrustful as before.]]> 2019-11-30 00:58:08 UTC https://padlet.com/conradjtaitt/yss0188fd92y/wish/417870315 conradjtaitt https://padlet.com/conradjtaitt/yss0188fd92y/wish/417870503 The progress that the Caribbean has made in the areas of regional integration and the acceptance and ownership of the diversity that is Caribbean culture indicates that grave intolerance and mistrust have been overcome at some levels of Caribbean society, and that these qualities no longer define Caribbean society today.
 
]]> 2019-11-30 01:00:36 UTC https://padlet.com/conradjtaitt/yss0188fd92y/wish/417870503 conradjtaitt https://padlet.com/conradjtaitt/yss0188fd92y/wish/417871106 Many other regional bodies were formed since the Federation's dissolution, providing a catalyst for Caribbean unification in fields such as disaster management and relief (through CDEMA) and education (through CXC). The creation of these bodies involved the interaction of member governments through political and diplomatic channels, and amongst these members are the former participants of the dissolved West Indies Federation. Some of these efforts at regional integration did come at a time when the Caribbean was more prosperous overall, which would have facilitated easier compromising from member states. Nevertheless, the progress made since the Federation clearly displays the Caribbean's growth in overcoming the grave intolerance and mistrust which gripped the regional political landscape.]]> 2019-11-30 01:09:19 UTC https://padlet.com/conradjtaitt/yss0188fd92y/wish/417871106 Bibliography conradjtaitt https://padlet.com/conradjtaitt/yss0188fd92y/wish/417872598
“About the Organisation of the Eastern Caribbean States.” OECS, https://oecs.org/en/homepage/about-us.
 
“Caribbean Elections: West Indies Federation.” Caribbean Elections | West Indies Federation, http://www.caribbeanelections.com/education/integration/federation.asp.
 
CARICOM Secretariat. The West Indies Federation - Caribbean Community (CARICOM), https://caricom.org/community/the-west-indies-federation/.
 
“Famalay Cops Road March Title.” Trinidad Guardian, 6 Mar. 2019, https://www.guardian.co.tt/news/famalay-cops-road-march-title-6.2.795151.d6494c5be6.
 
Joseph, Garnette. “The Kalinago Territory Today.” Home - The Division of Culture, http://divisionofculture.gov.dm/indigenous-people/19-the-carib-territory-today.
 
Mohammed, Jeniffer. "Chapter 12 The Integration Movement". Caribbean Studies for CAPE Examinations. 2nd ed., Macmillan Education, pp 289-290.
 
Raymond, Judy. Beryl McBurnie. The University of the West Indies Press, 2018, pp 12.
 
Rojas, Don. “Suriname Indigenous People's Day.” Caribbean Reparations Commission, 1 Oct. 2016, http://caricomreparations.org/suriname-indigenous-peoples-day/.
 
“Spiritual Baptist Liberation Day." NALIS, https://www.nalis.gov.tt/Research/Subject-Guide/Baptist-Liberation-Day#tabposition_22422.
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