Sean Major-Campbell | Celebration time or arrival of colonial legacy?

THE MONTH of May sees various areas of the Caribbean celebrating Indian Arrival Day. There is lovely Indian music and curries and rotis and samosas and dhal, various masalas, and such delights. I absolutely love from my childhood, the smell of parched dhania, gera, methi, and ground cardamom. However, I will not be blinded by the history of colonial brutality and oppression!

I “observe” Indian Arrival Day in honour of ancestors. I believe we should, however, beware of the fallacy of any grand migration from India to posh expatriate contracts in the western world. The destructive and debilitating legacies of colonialism have been so oppressive that the region saw the ongoing tools of prejudice, poverty, exploitation, and dependence all in the mix of a post-slavery and colonial world in which the divide and conquer schema dictated. Many still do not realise that many Indians came from promises of impending wealth to realities of measly wages, loss of family life, and some attendant mental health challenges, soon to be soothed by rum and later alcoholism.

Maybe indentureship was slavery by permission when one considers the harsh realities on plantations. Women were particularly challenged since they worked the fields by day and did the domestic obligations into the night. Indian arrival saw fertile ground for misogyny, family violence, and shattered dreams of returning to India with financial independence.

Christianity interestingly offered a new paradigm for many of African, Indian, and Chinese descent as the kingdom of God is not partial to colour nor ethnicity. Never mind the colonial vehicle through which the Bible and Christianity were transported. Today, the chance is ours, through scholarship, to critically reflect upon the history of politics, religion, slavery, indentureship, and the ills with which the 21st century has been bequeathed.

If we ever understood how the evils of colonialism have set in motion racial tensions, prejudices, and colourism, our people would be less prone to stupid quarrels, bleaching, and tribal political ways of being. Just remember that the Africans and the Indians were both warned to beware of getting diseases from the other side.

Sadly, Christianity has also been used as a vehicle for misogyny, homophobia, and narrowminded approaches to self-governance. There remains contempt for self and each other, so much so that some still think it is necessary for the UK Privy Council to be our final appellate court. Some would even still take pride in having the British monarch as head of our Jamaican state.

As we continue to grapple with the colonial legacy of the Caribbean melting pot, we do well to draw on insights from Caribbean theology, inspired by liberation theology, which recognises that only oppressed people should interpret their history and their spirituality for themselves. When they do this, they understand that God is on the side of the oppressed, and God wants the pharaohs of the word to let people go from being possessed.

When people are possessed by evil powers, they take on their names, values, culture, and seek to become like the evil powers through bleaching, teaching, and following the traditions of the evil powers. No wonder we are still not sure how to affirm the royal and stately presentation of African hairstyles and in particular afro and locks in school.

The choice is ours now to ensure that even our praxis of Christian theology is more affirming of the once condemned spiritualities of our forebears. We should not be surprised that many of our Caribbean folks are not naturally comfortable with, for example, a tie. I still wonder why so many sensible people start their day with a noose around their necks. I do not even like the clerical collar which is common for the wardrobe of the ordained.

On this Indian Arrival Day, I remember the elders. I even remember my great grandmother from India, Manraji Sergu. I remember that whenever we wanted to find some spirit weed (used in green mango chutney) in her yard, we would just walk in the bush until we smell its refreshing aroma. This herb is known as shadow benny in Trinidad and Tobago. In some places it is known as culantro. There is also the cilantro variety. It is also great in salsas and curries.

While we reflect on history, however, we should learn from it. I never make a trifle without a good splash of white rum. However, I have never been drunk. I must be in control of me. I recall some old Indian men who were so given to alcohol, that they were hardly ever seen sober. Alcoholism is one of the legacies of colonialism.

Reparatory justice is indeed a must. In the meanwhile, let us look critically at our historical realities, even the religious inheritances. And let us continue to work together for our Caribbean identity with its many beautiful shades and accents and songs and dances and foods. Indian Arrival Day presents us with another opportunity to consciously examine our past, celebrate our present, and build our common Caribbean future together.

Fr Sean Major-Campbell is an Anglican priest and advocate for human dignity and human rights. Send feedback to seanmajorcampbell@yahoo.com or columns@gleanerjm.com.