Dr Kirk Meighoo

Lazy academics and analysts have pushed a simplistic, empirically deficient notion that politics in TT is driven by ethnic and racial rivalry between Africans and Indians, who are represented by the PNM and UNC respectively.

This has become so commonly repeated that most people have wrongly taken it as a fact.

However, a look at hard data shows that this is simply not true, and unable to predict our political behaviour.

I am not saying that there is no ethnic rivalry and no ethnic tension. Racism exists in our politics, and so does discrimination.

What I am saying is that this rivalry, tension, racism and discrimination do not define our politics solely.

Believing this seriously distorts our perspective. Our politics is far more complicated.

While ethnicity plays an important role in our politics, it also co-exists with other drivers of politics such as region, ideology, class, religion, policy issues and perceptions of corruption.

As we will see, other factors very often override ethnic concerns. Ethnic rivalry between Africans and Indians does not define TT, nor our politics.

Major events in our political history

Let us start by taking a look at some of the major events in our political history:

1. The Black Power Movement of 1970: this was a major watershed movement of young people of African descent, opposed to the PNM's neo-colonialist ideology, proclaiming 'Africans and Indians Unite!'

It was suppressed by the African-led PNM government. The NUFF guerrilla movement was against the PNM government, not against Indians.

2. The coming to power of the NAR in 1986: The Afro-Tobagonian DAC and Afro-Trinidadian-led ONR and Tapia parties joined with the ULF to form the NAR and defeat the PNM.

This was a major historical event, putting the PNM out of power after 30 continuous years. Africans did not unite to keep the Indians out.

3. The 1990 attempted coup: The Afro-Islamic Jamaat al-Muslimeen overthrew the Afro-Tobagonian prime minister and requested that the Hindu, Indo-Trinidadian Winston Dookeran, led the proposed government of national unity.

This also was a major, unprecedented, watershed political event in our history.

4. The formation of the UNC-NAR government in 1995: the Afro-Tobagonian NAR joined with the UNC and not the PNM to form the government.

This was also a watershed moment, making an Indo-Trinidadian - Basdeo Panday - prime minister for the first time. Once again, the Africans did not unite to keep the Indians out of power.

5. The formation of the People's Partnership in 2010: the Afro-Tobagonian TOP, and Afro-Trinidadian-led NJAC and MSJ joined with the UNC and COP to defeat the PNM. This major moment saw the first female prime minister in our history, of Indian descent. Africans did not unite to keep the Indians out.

These events go precisely against what the 'African vs Indian' model would predict. Importantly, these aren't minor events, but the major turning points of our history. Clearly, the 'African vs