In Sam Selvon’s epic novel, A Brighter Sun, the main character is told by his father to “…try and make Indian fren,” a piece of advice handed down from generation to generation encouraging the youth of the Indian diaspora to fraternise with their “own kind.”
Has this concept of supporting your “own kind” changed over the years? I think it is safe to say that those divisive lines, seemingly invisible to the naked eye but inherently understood by those of voting age, are well established and still very much apparent in 2016.
Is this simply because we have all been brainwashed over the years by respected elders and community leaders to “make Indian fren?” Have historical occurrences tainted this landscape so much that younger generations are unable to break this unspoken yet implied sentiment of “own kind?”
Has “bad mind” soaked into the veins of our citizens so much that it forms part of our physical being and is passed genetically onto our offspring? Or are we just afraid to open our mouths and say “No—I have another opinion.” How much longer will citizens of this country hold on to the concept of being part of a persecuted race?
How much more media coverage will be allowed to those who seek to fulfill their own agenda under the guise of “equality?” It seems as though the past cannot simply be learned from. Historical influence has apparently afforded persons the right to award contracts to their friends, or to get their child into a prestige school, or to acquire a couple HDC houses, or to be publicly disrespectful to those in authority.
As recent international events have proven, there is still much to be done on a global scale to uphold the rights of all humans. Civil rights activists of the past have laid a foundation for the activists of the present and future to build on. In our own society though, pot calling kettle black may be relegated to a good laugh over beers, or a fleeting comment overheard in a taxi. The true proprietors of hate are left to run their mouths while we remain too scared to break tradition.
Sam Selvon’s insightful and provoking literature remains more relevant today than ever before. Will there ever be a day when we stop focusing on “own kind” and create a society based purely on “kind?”
S Hosein
St Augustine