Afra Raymond gave a guest lecture to Cultural Studies Post-Graduate students at UWI St. Augustine in their course, “Debates in Caribbean Cultural Identity”. His presentation concerned race and racism, in relation to the Course theme of Identity. This lecture grew out of Mr. Raymond’s TEDxPortofSpain 2015 talk: “Is it only white people who can be racist?”
- Programme Length: 01:00:13
- Programme Date: Thursday, 5 November, 2020
AfraRaymond.net 
I will listen tommorow
Let me give you a real particular situation
In 2009, I was hired by an English / UAE company in Dubai.
I was hired as a western expat, and so the problems began
The whites, most of who was lower rank that me never accepted me and made my life miserable. Not because I was not competent, but because I was Indian and they will not let an Indian be their boss. So I even had problem recruiting junior staff.
The Indians, which constitute 85% of the workers, from labourers to Engineers, did not like the idea that I had the benefits of the whites and really shun me, more than the whites. It was OK for them to take instructions from a white man, but not another Indian.
Racism is not a white people thing.
Kenrick,
I reach further into history and see discrimination, but with imperialism came the enslavement of Africans who enriched their captors beyond their expectations and fed their greed to inhumane heights. That culture has ripened until it is currently rotten to the core, so violence, drugs and psychology are combined to sustain that mostly mythic status quo.
Unfortunately many of us (non-whites) have imbibed those toxic principles as being divinely inspired and practice them against us. I believe in love, but I am described as a risible and archaic romantic.
Great work Afra,so coherently and brilliantly presented.Off the top of my head,(therefore unscientific)you quoted CLICO FINANCIAL to dispel the myth of blacks (in T&T) being less business oriented.But is it?
By way of comparison,culturally,the East Indian’s penchant and mindset for entrepeneurship is almost all encompassing transmitting through generations.If you drive through typical ‘Indian’ communities,the majority of homes are built off the top of the ground to facilitate businesses on the ground floor.Children are nurtured/groomed/schooled to take over from their parents in many,many fields of endeavour.
Blacks tend to gravitate to activities which promise instant gratification,IMHO.