Letter: Race talk didn't start with PP government; time to stop the race talk

Dear Trinidad and Tobago,

Is it paranoia on my part, or, has racy stuff taken hold of us in recent times? 

I'm asking because everywhere I turn the bogey of racialism seems suddenly to be a big issue and it is the sort of thing which, if not quickly fixed or halted, could derange and derail our fragile rainbow democracy permanently. 

I will mince no words in saying the circumstantial evidence strongly suggests the disturbing developments do not stem from the present government as well as stem from it. 

I formed that opinion because the ones who seem to be fanning the flames belong to groupings who no longer hold official political power or cannot come to terms with losing such power. You all know to whom I'm referring, so no need for me to spell it out in black and white.

If our beautiful republic should ever make the horrible, backward step towards open racial intolerance and warring, it is they and they alone I would blame and who must be blamed. 

For their corrosive tactics are deliberate and subliminal and also attempts to turn back the clock, for if we look at how our youths associate and lime, we'd realize their future belongs to and is being shaped by an outlook that's cosmopolitan, not xenophobic or divisive. So why try to throw spanners in their harmonious works?

Our nation's patriarch gave us the watchwords of tolerance, discipline and production as the three-pronged key to our nation's good health and prosperity. 

The present Prime Minister further reinforced and crystallized it when she established the "Serve the people!" arch. 

I am urging all our leaders, in every sphere, from the humblest home to President's House, to renew their commitment to those guidelines so that we can again breathe easy as one happy family in the melting pot called Trinidad and Tobago.

Trinbago, I love you!

Jacqueline George | Bon Air Gdns, Arouca.