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“It is clear that R De Verteuil was referring to Afro Trinbagonians when she criticised Laventillians. Not once did she mention the contributions of Africans to the development of Trinidad and Tobago.
“She praised the Indians, the Chinese, the Syrian/Lebanese community and, of course, her people the Europeans. The contempt for people of African descent is palpable.”
The following Letter to the Editor was penned by Cecil Paul and Gerry Kangalee and first published by the National Workers Union:
Jabloteh won 4-2.
(Courtesy Sean Morrison/Wired868)
We refer to a letter to the editor in the Express of October 27, 2016 in which one R De Verteuil is “sick and tired” of Laventillians complaining “about how neglected and disadvantaged they are, and how much more money the government should throw in their direction.”
She said “we all came from different parts of the world without a penny and a lot of hard work was required from the first settlers who cleared land and planted.” She continued that “those who settled in Central Trinidad worked hard, ate flour and water, channa, pumpkin, potato and bodi—to educate their children etc.”
De Verteuil then wrote that “the Chinese came with a sack on their back, opened shops etc; worked hard and made their way in the world.” She then praised the Middle Easterners who “came and started off on bicycles, with suitcases of fabric. Look where they are today.”
Ms De Verteuil then stated that “Some of us of European stock started out without a penny” and said that her ancestors were killed by republican revolutionaries during the French Revolution over 200 years ago and mentioned reimbursement if her relatives were to demand reparation.
She revealed her work history from the age of 17 starting with a typist job and small salaries and described herself as a descendant of French Creoles. She went on that she had neither government housing nor any of the assisted peoples’ programmes except for paying her NIS and other statutory payments which are mandatory and paid for her mortgage and never used the general hospital.
(Courtesy Frenchcreole.com)
The only freeness she said she got from the government was two years of A-Level education.
De Verteuil finally called on the “lazy touts to get off your butts, get an education, get trained and start working like everyone else, stop waiting for hand-outs which only encourage laziness!”
It is clear that R De Verteuil was referring to Afro Trinbagonians when she criticized Laventillians. Not once did she mention the contributions of Africans to the development of Trinidad and Tobago.
She praised the Indians, the Chinese, the Syrian/Lebanese community and, of course, her people the Europeans. The contempt for people of African descent is palpable. It’s nothing new and it isn’t going away any time soon.
Enslaved Africans came to this country in chains far less “without a penny.” The French creoles came here, fleeing the Haitian and the French revolutions and the British military, which was seizing French–held territories in the Americas. They came from, among other places, Grenada, Guadeloupe Haiti, Louisiana, St Lucia, Acadia in Canada in the latter third of the seventeenth century. They came with their slaves.
Nationality: Trinidad/Martinique Rank: Surgeon Regiment/Service: Royal Navy Unit (Her Majesty’s Service).
They got free land in proportion to the number of slaves they brought and had the protection of the state in the form of colonial rule based on military force and the protectionist policy of the British government toward the trade in sugar. The French creoles exploited a brutal slave regime based on the exploitation of free, co-erced labour under the worst form of violent barbarism.
According to Besson and Brereton’s Book of Trinidad: “They were white, Catholic, of legitimate birth, and an aristocratic family… These families lived in large estate houses, with many servants and ornate furnishings. They dressed formally for dinner, and strict manners were observed… It became accepted for the French planters to have colored mistresses. The resulting offspring were sometimes legitimized and educated…”
The De Verteuil family, unlike most of the other French Creole slave-owning refugees, did not come to Trinidad as a slave owning planter. The first De Verteuil came as an officer in the British navy that established British colonial rule. He fought against his own country.
The De Verteuils were large land and estate owners, even owning oil lands, benefitting from the labour of oil workers who laboured under primitive conditions to produce the black gold that enriched the elites.
Ms De Verteuil states “lot of hard work was required from the first settlers who cleared land and planted.”
Yes a lot of hard work was required, but by enslaved Africans who planted and reaped the crops and produced the finished products that enriched the ancestors of our letter writer: all for free and with the violence typical of plantation societies. Now we are being called lazy!
When the free Merikin and the Portuguese, Indian, Chinese, American, West Indian and West African indentureds came to Trinidad they met thriving estates of sugar cane and other crops controlled by the French Creoles and the British.
Ms De Verteuil should be aware that her ancestors were not the “first settlers” as she put it. The French Creoles were given the lands of the First Peoples for free by the Spanish cedula; lands the Spanish seized by sword and cannon over the two hundred and seventy five years it took them to subdue and ethnically cleanse those who had lived here for thousands of years. Even the Spanish pre-settled the French creoles.
When slavery was forced to be abolished, the French and British Europeans got compensation (reparations) for enslaving Africans, yet Ms De Verteuil tries to trivialise Africans’ international struggle for reparations. De Verteuil yells “get off your butts” when we were off our butts enriching her European ancestors for hundreds of years.
Post-emancipation Africans became agriculturists, artisans, trades men, service providers of all kinds, industrial workers, business people, unionists, civil rights activists, revolutionary intellectuals and revolutionaries; professionals, musicians, sports people and artists, among other things.
Integral to the colonial economy was that the financial/banking system, jobs in the public service and the private sector and land were controlled by the elites. The then-colonial state, which has always been, and still is, the largest landholder and the arbiter of who gets land and who doesn’t, enacted laws to discourage former enslaved people from owning land.
(Copyright Django Unchained)
The ridiculous situation, then, developed whereby after emancipation, though Trinidad was a virgin territory and there was an abundance of land, you had the phenomenon of squatting.
The shape of all societies is historically determined; the interacting social groups in the society did not fall from the sky just so! We are what we have become. As the inequality in the relations between dominant and subordinate groups in the society increases, as it must in the logic of capitalism, the stridency in the tone of the class conflict increases.
Opposing perspectives emanating from different narratives of History lock horns in the arena of class conflict which in the Caribbean is heavily influenced and coloured by race and ethnicity.
Individual effort is all well and good and is to be admired. But once the power relations between social groups are not shifted to serve the interest of all the people, then economic and social inequality will continue their rapid growth and will inevitably lead to social and political eruptions such as we have not seen since 1970.
(Courtesy Embau Moheni/NJAC)
Editor’s Note: Below is R De Verteuil’s Letter to the Trinidad Express:
I am sick and tired of hearing Laventillians complain about how neglected and disadvantaged they are, and how much more money the Government should throw in their direction.
For heaven’s sake, we all came here from different parts of the world, many of us without a penny; some, from other islands, with a few dollars. Trinidad was a wilderness, an undeveloped land. A lot of hard work was required from the first settlers—the pioneers who cleared the land and planted.
Those who came here later and settled in Central and South Trinidad worked hard, ate flour and water, channa, pumpkin, potato and bodi—to educate their children and teach them the value of hard work and sacrifice. The Chinese came with a sack on their back, opened shops and laundries and restaurants, mostly in country towns and villages. They worked hard and made their way in the world.
The Middle Easterners came and started off on bicycles, with suitcases of fabric. Look where they are today.
Some of us of European stock, despite popular belief, started out without a penny. My great, great grandfather lost his entire family (his parents and all his siblings were killed by revolutionaries) and all his possessions to French republicans.
If my relatives were to demand reparation for what happened during the French Revolution, over 200 years ago, the French government would have to reimburse us for what was unlawfully taken. As a descendant of French Creoles, at age 17, armed with a good education and good family values, with no money from my parents, I set out in the world. I have worked ever since, apart from a few years, to provide for my needs and those of my family.
No Government housing, no CEPEP dollars for an hour’s work, no food card, no stolen vehicle. I paid for my car, helped pay for my mortgage, fed myself, have never used the general hospital—although I paid national insurance, health surcharge, unemployment levy, income tax—and educated myself (no GATE). The only freeness I ever got from the government was two years of A-Level education.
On my first day at work, despite having three A-Levels, I typed envelopes in a typing pool. I did not complain. I was happy to have a job and a salary at the end of the month—$180 or $220, I can’t remember. Six years later, after getting a degree, I was earning $350 per month. I thought I was a millionaire!
But I digress. To come back to my original point… many of us have had to work hard to get where we are today. So I say to those lazy louts who soot me from every street corner (“Pssst”, Darlin’”, “Family”, “You lookin’ nice today”, “I must make a white chile”, etc), get off your butts, get an education (offered to you free by the Government), get trained in a trade or do OTJ training (not only offered free, but with a stipend!), and start working like everyone else.
Whether it be washing cars, planting a garden or being a handyman—get a job so you can gain experience, which is what employers look for. Stop waiting for handouts which only encourage laziness!
There, I’ve said it. I don’t care how politically incorrect this is, it is the truth. And, actually, what I love most about this blessed, lawless country is its political incorrectness. I am grateful I can express myself without fear of being arrested or shot.
R De Verteuil
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Madam De verteuil is a product of generations of white privilege via her ancestry her comments are disingenuous and lacks historical facts…. she has the unmitigated gall to state afro Trinidadians are lazy when her ancestors gain their wealth from the blood and sweat of slave labour……. talk about misrepresentation of history
Wait wait wait….a de Verteuil penned a letter in praise of white oppression and privilege? #GTFOH? In the year of our Lord 2016?
Well said.
Wow ! Got to blame de PNM here. They should have done a better job of instilling the truth in the school curriculum after independence. Dr. Williams was a Historian. The writer of the book, “From Columbus to Castro”. He knew better and should have known the importance of building the nation on our true history
Not a “PNM education”. That comment undermines the seriousness of my argument and puts a political spin that’s not needed. PNM were the party in power after independence for about 25 years. For good reason, Dr. Williams is often referred to as “The father of the nation”. Therefore, if the school curriculum was implemented to teach us the history of our country, we all would have been better off. Thus, De Verteuil position would have meant “white noise”. Hope I have better explained.
I didn’t mean to make it political. Because of her age, her education would have come under the PNM and I know that term is widespread.
In any case, she has a very strong sense of history–as flawed as it is–and I suspect that came from her family. It isn’t easy to pierce such a bubble unless the person is actually looking for knowledge.
You think a PNM education could have saved De Verteuil? I’m not so sure.
The curriculum DID teach us our history. From since primary school I knew who Cipriani and Butler were. And the then-CXC syllabus featured History which included European and West Indian history.
Ah, Colin, but she probably had a private tutor. And if she went to a convent or other catholic school to de her A-levels, there would have been in those days nothing like WEST INDIAN HISTORY.
Dr Williams didn’t visualize the need or importance of putting our history into the school curriculum. ..I was taught about Columbus in school. ..I only got “some”of our history informally from a history teacher in Fourth form….so this is indeed their fault. ..but coming fresh out of colonialism. ……..
The issue of the education system and our text books is critical… You see some of the misinformation people were spouting about the origins of Carnival (not to mention the “Caribs and Arawaks”) this week? At least some is courtesy our education system. I had to relearn a great deal of it as an adult researcher. But a lot of people aren’t even aware of the limitations of what they’ve learned. They parrot it like gospel. The other area where the state has failed us is the make work programs. While partly intended to temporarily alleviate unemployment and create opportunity, they’ve essentially been utilised by multiple governments as means to buy and reward party loyalty, and to create a dependency and entitlement culture. And that’s reinforced some of these stereotypes, entrenching myopic perceptions. While each of us has a responsibility to search for truth (not cultural bias) and check our privilege (whatever it may be), the state has largely engineered the frame within which we do those things. And the frame lil off.
Touche Caroline. I think that temporary employment thing might be a wee bit more complex. Because the Gov’t might also need to do more to protect citizens from unfair treatment by employers.
There is more than one reason why some of those CEPEP workers don’t want to leave.
It certainly is complex. As is the education system issue. One of the hardest working people I know was a CEPEP forewoman. And I also had a friend who boasted of showing up to day 1 of 10, singing while others worked, never showing up for the remainder of the contract, and collecting her money anyway. She was a performer, and just used URP to plug the hole between gigs. To your point, though, yes, labour laws and conditions always stand to be improved, and we have a vigorous union culture here that helps lobby that. If only there were at least one in the creative industries, but I digress. Our industrial relations structure is also fairly robust. At the same time, the pay at CEPEP and URP is not a living wage. People can and should be able to enter the workforce and earn more in permanent positions. Government needs to work with the private sector to ensure training and a positive transition into the workforce. It *should* be win-win. I just came across this as well, authored by the PNM: http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/2016-10-30/vision-2030-draft-blames-cepep-urp-crime
I know one national footballer who once worked URP to get the pair of boots he used to represent Trinidad and Tobago at national youth level.
I bet there are actually some wonderfully inspiring URP/CEPEP stories that never get out. Bunji Garlin was once a URP worker for instance…
Maybe I will touch on that in the interview we have been talking about doing for about two years or so! Lol.
(My second published story ever as a journalist–back in about 1995 or 96–was on Bunji Garlin!)
Nice! 🙂 And yes, without a doubt, there are countless hard-working, honest people working in CEPEP and URP…and those are exactly the folks that are needed and should be valued in the workforce. Government and the private sector have to create an enabling environment where workers can transition to positions (even as entrepeneurs or freelancers) with a certain amount of job security where they can earn a decent living, and companies can get the skilled labour they need. That’s the problem with both those programmes and our education system… they’ve become bogged down with things that are ineffective and counter-productive, and there seems never to have been the vision and commitment to reforming them…and the plethora of other systems that need major reform.
I suspect “vision” is definitely the keyword here. And that is fixable.
is it ?
I think so. If the leaders are well-intentioned, then it is matter of listening to how the thing can be tweaked to serve a better purpose.
Lasana, I stayed with this thread because our educational system is my pet peeve. I went to Jr sec and Sr. Comprehensive schools. Therefore, I might not be as bright as you all who went to the elite high schools. Nevertheless, I learned more about my self and my country when I migrated and attended universities in the US. Most of our leaders went the universities in England or the U S so they know better, or as much as I do.
Since Dr. Williams, “Vision” is not something any of our leaders have have embraced. Protecting the status quo or “my turn to run tings” is more like it. I have supported several politicians, both in the PNM, NAR and UNC, only to see them get elected and morphed into the standard “dem bad, we good” mantra.
When you identify that transformational leader with a “vision”, please let me know. I’m willing to sign up for the heavy lifting to change the direction of our beloved island. As Stalin would say, ” ….wholeheartedly fuh meh country”
Eric A St Bernard it is untrue to say the PNM did nothing in terms of teaching history – as Williams in the 50s and 60s went around from Woodford Square to communities talking about our nationhood and need for self-determination. He published ‘The History of T&T’ in August 1962 when we became a nation. Indeed the lack of a deep sense history was political – that this history has been diluted over time but political in a different way – denominational schools had greater influence on what is taught through the Concordatt and well I suppose various education ministers over the years left their mark… also recall our public service which had its colonial elements well into the 1970s designed curriculum, and may have wanted certain ‘standards’ or maintain deep colonial roots – who challenged the public sector in these days to deliberately incorporate a social studies or history curriculum early on? For Williams teaching history was informal and was hardly institutionalised and standardised across the board. In my day history was optional from fourth form. We were taught ancient history in form 2 and social studies from form 1 at QRC. I imagined this varied across different schools – because of the denominational schools. Many people still do not know who CLR James is partly because of Williams fallout with James in the late 50s, and Williams’ disdain for anything socialist, and his disassociation with the labour movement – so in part Williams was a contradictory figure – his politics and his scholarship were very very different and it’s something we ought to know about the man.
And one thing we know too is that the “De Verteuils” of this land never ever accept State contracts, State lands or States briefs right… Or is it that “handouts” are limited to just CEPEP contracts?
The ‘De Verteuils’ got free lands stolen from the first peoples they were not criminalize as squatters.
Garcon, 17th Century Landouts were not “handouts;” they were “investment incentives.”
Do not draw any connections between this, the Cazabon Mas (#notCallingThatAssName) and the list of top T&T Whachelors.
I wonder what section in Cazabon she jumping in?
Hahaha. You wondering if there is a garçon in that maison?
I wanna vomit!
Hahahaha
And seeing that Ms De Verteuil is in such high support of work ethic in Laventillians, I’d have to assume that she is wearing a “Team Thema” jersey as we speak eh.
What I want to know is how it got published.
So anyone can email their hearts out and get it published.
Sometimes I think it is good for us to know and address it. You definitely won’t fix ignorance if it stays hidden. Not that you can ever save everybody eh.
Ahhhhhhh the age old filter, “create and tell a legend, and when the legend becomes fact…print the fact”
Well said.
Borrowed a quote that fits
You know there was a huge debate raging last week over why some people were offended by McFarlane’s romanticized rendering of slavery in his 2017 band, Cazabon. De Verteuil’s revisionist history regarding the contributions of Afro-Trinidadians, their exploitation and the denial of their humanity by their European masters explains why.
And they even let Laventillians play in a section too. #knowyourplace
I wish I hadn’t read that.
I could imagine the types of fallacies that are perpetuated about Afro-Trinis behind closed doors.
I’d expect lots of stuff like we deserve where we are otherwise we wouldn’t be there. Which makes sense when you don’t think about it.
I remember a story in the Business Express or Guardian about Dominic Hadeed the self-made millionaire. All he got was a $600,000 start up from his dad plus his name, contact list and access to favours from high places. Bless him. 🙂
De ooman say the settlers who clear d land oui…
Onika you must be wondering like me what the hell secondary school or even primary school she went to?
Clearly some private school – she may have been home schooled or had a tutor – since she only enjoyed “A-level” freeness unlike so many of us who had to depend on the government for our primary and secondary schooling as well.
May God bless her monied soul.
As with Columbus and the pilgrims, history started after they got there.
Nah. I actually don’t mind the letter at all Vernal. Nice to have a little reality check now and again. I’m happy the Express published.
And that ignorance is a helluva drug.
I’m shocked that the Express would run such an overtly racist letter to the editor.
I would ask what MATT’s position will be on this but ….
But we always say we want freedom of expression. She has a right to also have her view heard! Some of the other stuff I see on Facebook as free expression is also offensive to some. Freedom of expression cannot be conveniently turned off. I’m glad the express published it
It smacked of racism.
She never made any reference about meeting the first settlers who were the slaves and they had already labored on the land. They came after.
This emphasizes the point of why we need to have a factual museum which narrates the story of our nation so everyone knows the facts and can make their objective decisions on various matters.
Hmmm. What reparation for the French Creole she talking about????
Hahaha. Just know that she is first in line. You know how “we Laventillians” like to try and jump the queue!
(The “haves” don’t… As they often don’t line up in the first place)
I certainly agree that De Verteuil’s view is share by many of different races including people of Afro ethnicity.
Someone can walk into Laventille tonight and shoot any man, woman and child dead in cold blood.
What would people say here? That they probably deserved it right? They had it coming?
But if that some gunman entered a gated community… Not so Brian Harry?
I agree and We are not in disagreement which is not point that there is some truth in many stereotypes etc.
Yes. That’s what makes stereotypes sticky and durable.
That letter full of stereotypes boy!
As I read her letter, a few thoughts came to mind (1) she’s using Laventille broadly (probably referring to the east-west corridor and a few other areas) which frankly is more offensive because it lumps ALL of a certain group (poorly defined). She properly juxtaposed her true meaning and declared her deep race pathology when she referred to those who ate flour and water and channa etc and sacrificed to send their children to school. In many stereotypes there is often some truth ! The Laventille proper (my home since is was six having moved there from Tobago and with a hart stop in between) does indeed have its share of anti-social behavior. But we have our many successes too and they out number the failures.
(2) she’s not the only one who shares these misunderstandings as they are more widespread than we are willing to admit. Laventille is the surest political seat in the country yet as a community has received less than any other from any government except platitudes like “you are my people” etc. Thus the fact that we’ve succeeded as abundantly as we have is credit to us because most of us weren’t raised on cepep/dewd/urp/10-days. (The laventillians in the geographical sense have worked hard and made major contributions! ). She is though correct in that these programs fostered a type of entitlement amongst a small percentage of the narrowly or more broadly defined Laventille . Her broad generalization is therefore insulting and illustrates her rank ignorance!
(3). Let’s not kid ourselves though her views are widely held by even some people of the more broadly defined Laventille. Which is why it’s easy for her to hold on so tight because she may often get reinforcement from a few people who look like me.
(4) this article once more supports an assertion I made in an interview in 2006 that there will be no Developed Nation status in TT until we care, as a nation for the development of all our peoples – including the broadly defined Laventille.
And development is much more than big buildings, highways, shopping malls. Development is about real and true stepping outside of some dark, place where we can hold private and unchallenged views of each other and live in a state of “tolerance” ( oh how I hate that word). Real development is going to be about harnessing all of the talents and capabilities of all TT toward one set of common goals. To get there requires political risks, a more relevant constitutional framework, a more useful governance framework and a society where collaboration and real thought and intellectual discourse is supported and fostered. I’ve spoken a lot publicly about this and I’m passionate about a true TT development. Ms de Verteuil doesn’t bother me she simply reminded me that a deep seated cancer exists amongst us
Anyway, when it is time to hand out reparations… Please remember Mrs R De Verteuil said she is first in line! 🙂
Tell her to talk to Francois Hollande bout dat! And once she get those, her family’s former “property” should get their unpaid wages.
Lol. She might declare those “unpaid wages” as a write off due to their “non-voluntary internship” programme.
You mean “apprenticeship”. Hahahahaha!
Hahahha
Hahaha. Yeah. Don’t forget the supervisors are always the ones who do the “real” work. Bless them.
Whenever I read the words ” cleared land and planted” the first people that come to mind is African slaves. Who did she think did the hard work? The European settlers??? It must have been hard work sharing all that licks!
It isn’t ignorance that scares me you now. Just unshakeable and unrepentant ignorance.
Sigh…
Do you know how many people firmly believe that TnT should have never gained independence? They loved the way it used to be…when people who looked like me could not work in banks insurance etc….when their parents were captains of industry. I was born to make life great/better for them….I suppose.
Rose-Marie Ingrid Lemessy-Forde did he say these were good old days?
Yes Brian Harry. That was a quote from him pretty near exactly. He said it was a beautiful time i think. I can tag you in story on it.
Your comment make my mind run on Mac Farlane production. He was reminiscing about the good ole slavery days in his mas production. Apparently to him it was a lovely period.
Don’t forget that when Bishop Anstey High School was being founded a “high society” woman complained that educating black women would decrease the supply of maids for her and her ilk.
And look what happened! Now we have people who do not see the importance of educating their children. Very sad.
What people don’t see the importance of educating their children?
Lasana Liburd placed in the context of his Mas i wasn’t sure what he meant – did he mean fashion, did he mean social structure? I read the statements but I was unclear about a lot of them. I also think he was a bit lazy to not have been clearer about – plot, intent etc
It was a dangerous statement even if lazy Brian. And it most likely was lazy. It isn’t as if he was alive then after all.
But it was a pretty stupid thing to say. At best!
Lasana Liburd well we all interpret history and as an artist even more liberty is taken. I’m not ready to throw the sink at him yet did that. And I’m waiting fir some ass to tell me not black
Brian, I’d love to hear more about what he loved about that era. Trust me. Ignorance doesn’t get emotional responses from me though.
Spite, malice and contempt perhaps. Not ignorance. And even a brilliant artist can be ignorant. I remain a huge VS Naipaul fan. I think his work is inspiring. But I can’t say I’m as fond of the person.
Lasana Liburd and I think that’s our right to chose what and who we like. Because he was not clear I suggested that he was intellectually lazy. I’m not sure I want to rush to the racist , malintended label yet is my comment. We’ve never seen this from Mac before as such my question is “what did he mean/intend?”
Unfortunately Mac Farlane capitulated and pulled the section. I too would have appreciated some insight into his interpretation of the era and what was so romantic about it. His costumes were beautiful but bore no resemblance to Cazabon’s beautiful and colorful art. So yes discourse was needed. Maybe he’s not as articulate as say Minshall who I figure would have given us an earful to defend ” the mas”. Maybe Mac Farlane was lazy..maybe he was uninformed in romantisizing such a painful period for the majority of the population. What ever it warranted a detailed explanation which was not forthcoming.
Rose-Marie Ingrid Lemessy-Forde I agree with yiu because I do think it was a conversation worth having. We do not have a properly prepared media because an astute media practitioner would have generated a really insightful discussion. That’s what TT lacks because these teachable moments elude us. I am equally sorry that he just pulled the section . But then again we not really about learning in the broader sense
I think you are reading too much into her letter. That generally happens when people specifically mention persons from Laventille in a negative way.
Laventille is a metaphor. Like Yankees.
Yup. I was going to say that. Laventille is really a euphemism for “black people”.
I think it is more than ‘black people’ but I will leave it there.
Judy-ann out of curiosity why do you think it’s more than “black people”? In her letter she mentioned (not all by name) Indians, Chinese, Syrian/Lebanese, European. I think the only settlers missing is Africans. She never named the Africans..Never acknowledged their contribution to the society like she alluded to with the other settlers. Her saying Lazy Laventillians was her clumsy attempt to be politically correct in not shouting Lazy Africans or lazy black people.
I say Judy has inside knowledge there. Lol.
I see your point Rose-Marie Ingrid Lemessy-Forde but I feel that the group of people that she labelled “Laventillians” are not only from that area and are not only ‘black’. She certainly skirted the issue, as I probably am. Perhaps I am giving her too much benefit of the doubt in her somewhat emotional letter.
We certainly agree that she didn’t mean only from that area Judy. That I agree with. I’m sure that I’d pass for a Laventillian at a glance too.
There are not many other races left as Rose pointed out though.
Lasana Liburd I don’t know the lady! The points she is making are getting lost in the language used.
What do you see as her points though Judy? And are those points especially relevant for Laventille as opposed to other areas?
I think the letter was born in deep-seated ignorance. It is hard to start with such a flawed premise and get much that is worthwhile, even though there would surely be a truth or two interwoven in that hot mess.
Judy-ann I think I get you now. There is a case to be made for people to get up and get and stop waiting for handouts. Unfortunately this lady’s letter is not really about that per se. Remember she trying to give us a history lesson but she leave out the most important point in that history. Not to mention she didn’t know her ancestors were historically privileged because they got free land. So if anybody lost is Ms. De Verteuil.
So she pauses her life of privilege to hurl some insults at “Laventillians” to pull themselves together. She probably can’t wait to tell the parish priest about her good turn this week…
There are so many ways that she could help if she really wanted to. No doubt if she was doing any of them, she would have told us in minute detail. And she didn’t.
Doubtful.
I just read this and the responses. Was anything more heard from Ms de Verteuil?
Don’t hold your breathe
Maybe she thought the cedula of population was a candy brand. Absolutely foolishness. Dont mind me working myself through grad school because according to her people who look like me are lazy and only looking for government handout. Dont mind the fact that i am paying 100% for my schooling.
I doubt it. I’ve heard this talk before.
What is sad is that the De Verteuils I am friendly with don’t think like this at all.
I know right! I know a few De Verteuil’s myself and found myself wondering who name start with R.
I’m never presumptuous as to what someone thinks eh. Especially if we have not discussed a particular topic at length.
I remember one time speaking to someone I thought to be quite progressive and being more than a little surprised at his view regarding child marriages. He is Muslim and very well educated from a family that is very well educated–both the boys and girls of his household.
So I’m careful not to guess people’s inner thoughts.
True you have a point Lasana. For instance I have quite a few friends who really surprised me during the last general election. Educated people who I thought were independent thinkers, yet the election brought out some questionable views that would have never come up in discussion.
I hope some of these responses pierce her bubble.
My favorite part:
‘Ms. De Verteuil states “lot of hard work was required from the first settlers who cleared land and planted”. Yes a lot of hard work was required, but by enslaved Africans who planted and reaped the crops and produced the finished products that enriched the ancestors of our letter writer: all for free and with the violence typical of plantation societies. Now we are being called lazy! ‘
Wow. This person claims to be educated but clearly she never read about the Cedula of Population which my 10 year old standard 4 daughter knows all about. Sigh…it is appalling and sad that after 200 years the historically privileged are of this mindset.
This person obviously does not travel past the lighthouse.
Hmmmm so maybe we should take all our money away from other groups who see us as lazy and start trading/working among ourselves. Take away our money and they all will go broke and then you see that nasty scornful tongue of theirs against us turn sweet as honey. I dont know when my africa. People will take note of the fact that we are not liked in a country that loves to fool us into believing “all ah we is one”.
@kelisha yuh seeing dat!
And here’s another:
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/20161028/letters-to-the-editor/a-lesson-in-real-tt-history
Well said Lennox!
Always lovely when the “haves” take take time to inspire the “have-nots” with that lovely “get off your lazy asses and pull yourself up by your bootstraps” story… Often delivered without handing them bootstraps to pull themselves up with. 😉
Yuh feel Bootstrap’s free owah!?
Hahaha! Had to laugh at the one!
Amery you think she doesn’t know?
This letter was simply penned as a means to publish her contempt for an entire ethnic group.
Larrd. Say it ain’t so.
Of course she got a job when the ads specifically said ‘Whites only’ in those days.
To think we have to even have this conversation.
Have to get it in most people conscious apparently they not aware of their past or just want to play d ass
A sad mixture of contemptible ignorance and snobbish arrogance. If the letter’s author did some research on the Cedula of population she might well find evidence of much greater and far-reaching state largess than “2 years of A’levels”.
..In colonial Trinidad white people had invaluable commodities – political power, land and their race. Other peoples may have fought their way forward, as peoples, but whites didn’t have to fight. They were “in control” of all aspects of economic, political and social life. For black people, Emancipation exchanged the bondage of wage slavery of under-developed colonial capitalism for the bondage of chattel slavery. Indians got land and/or money after indentureship. Chinese and Middle Easterners relied on family and community support, and the psychology and drive of the immigrant, to carve out their place in society. The one tool of social advancement made available to black people was education. For this reason Dr. Eric Williams made education free and made his famous dictum, “the future of the nation is in the children’s book bags”. Yes, black people – as a people – have work to do to (all over the world) but to lay blame for historically enforced limitations on racial or personal weakness or incapacity is beneath contempt..
With permission, I quote this response from Nicholas Westmaas, whose grandmother happens to be from “behind the bridge”:
While i understand some of Ms. De Verteuil’s frustrations regarding people’s work ethic and her having experienced derogatory comments targeting her “ethnicity”, it seems to me that her analysis was a bit superficial. Such retrograde and problematic attitudes that she has described do exist in our society in general and very correctly ought to be condemned and addressed by means of well thought out programs which identify the root cause of the problem and addresses them by means of humane intervention as well as being exposed to exemplars in society The attitudes identified by her ,in my opinion, cannot be attributed to one’s racial grouping but one’s upbringing, the environment in which one lives and the value systems that influence people. It can be perceived, based on her use of the term “Laventillians” that she was unfairly targeting the Afro-Trini population, a group that is largely represented in the Communities of Laventille . I Have always held the view that Afro Trinis are a soft target because they comprise a relatively large percentage of the population that traditionally dwells in more visible and congested settlements fringing urban centres as opposed to Indo-Trinis, and to a lesser extent, the “Cocoa Panyols” who arrived as a post emancipation replacement labour force on plantations in sparsely populated and remote rural settlements . I would hesitate to lump The Afro-Trini population together as one group since within each “racial grouping” there exists other subdivisions such as social class, level of educational attainment and religious affiliation.
I must admit however that it is difficult to agree with one aspect of Mr. Lennox McLeod’s response where he asserts that “class, wealth, contacts and colour are more important than drive and ambition in Trinidad and Tobago”. While this may be so in some instances, assertions like these help to create a defeatist mind set in people, a mind set that can only encourage dependency and laziness- the same accusations made by Ms. De Verteuil about “Laventillians”.
In my opinion, hard work, drive, honesty and ambition coupled with love and respect for all are the essential ingredients for bettering our wounded and divided Nation!
One grandmother was East Indian from Rose Hill, the other French Creole. So he is speaking as a descendant both of a “Laventillian” (albeit not black, which is what I believe Ms de Vertueil really trying to say) and of French Creoles.
To add to his comment, I want to say: Besides her racist rhetoric already dealt with by others’ responses, I need to point out that she does in fact benefit a great deal from government hand outs that she condemn “Laventillians” for accepting. Do you know anyone who does not benefit from the gas subsidy because I don’t. She drives on roads, correct? She therefore ALSO benefits from government largesse which taxes alone do not pay for. She is also lucky that she has never had a medical emergency in her family, because most doctors I know tell me once its critical head for the General Hospital not a private one.
I am also a descendant of French Creoles. I know my history. This woman clearly doesn’t. Rest assured she must be of an almost gone generation who were accustomed to privilege not always earned. My generation has learned that in Trinidad, while to some extent who you know still holds, your education, your ability and your experience is what gets the job, not your last name. The days of Mum and Dad organizing for you to get into oilfield are largely gone, as many of my peers have learned. Who you know may still get you in the door, but judging from my own experience and those of my peers and family members, the same group she disparages now ALSO have the Bsc and Msc to keep them in the job. So, in my humble opinion, this original letter is a lash out not only at what she considers “laziness” or whatever she put, but more so a desperate reaction to a way of life that has forever gone.
I am certain that those under 60, and more pointedly those under 30 who are living in debt and overpriced townhouses or renting and cannot afford the areas and neighbourhoods of their parents and grandparents, do not share these views. I feel sorry for this person, it is clear that she needs a dose of reality. Maybe she will get it in this recession.
This is precisely why I was explaining last week why Afro-Trinis MUST never allow the history of their dehumanization and exploitation to be minimalized, diminished, romanticized or white washed by ANYONE.
Those are the very tools that would be used to soften us up before condemnation. What pissed me off is that so many still don’t understand.
Vernal they don’t and sadly they are almost contemptuous with it
Last week it was quite sad to sit back and read some of it
The besotted rantings of a locally assembled ‘white’ person. #”white”priveledgeineffect
great response!