The Final Call

'Gangster' profiling, Black males and Afro-Trinidad's future

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(FinalCall.com) - The recent visit of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan to the Southern Caribbean nation of Trinidad was more than just a historic occasion that featured a number of monumental meetings and events. Pertinent, unanswered questions resurfaced regarding follow-up to the arrest of thousands of young Black males who were the victims of a suspension of constitutional rights a little less than one year ago.

     COMMENTARY    

A State of Emergency was declared in Trinidad & Tobago on August 21, 2011 by the government in an attempt to deal with an escalating crime problem. But the declaration raised concerns about racial profiling of young Black males from economically depressed residential areas, particularly in East Port of Spain, a section of the country’s capital city.

Within the first 15 days of the State of Emergency approximately 1,500 young Black males were arrested and detained for a wide range of alleged offences.

Within three months over 4,000 young Black males had been arrested.

At the end of the State of Emergency, the prime minister announced there were about 7,500 arrests made. This number, 7,500, is approximately a half percent of the country’s entire national population of 1.3 million. The great majority of those arrested were young Black males.

Out of 1.2 million people in Trinidad & Tobago, according to the CIA World Fact Book July 2011, approximately 37.5 percent are persons of African descent, which gives us an approximate population of 460,300. Out of this number approximately half would be male or 230,150 people. Out of this estimated total population of Black males, the majority of those arrested and detained during the State of Emergency were ages 18 to 35. The CIA World Fact Book estimates 68 percent of Trinidad’s male population is between the ages of 15 and 64 years, and we can estimate that the 18 to 35 year age group is around 35 percent of Black males. When these numbers are calculated, nearly nine percent of Black males between the ages of 18 and 35 were arrested and put in jail in a three and a half month period ending on December 5, 2011.

During a March 23 meeting at Port of Spain City Hall with Min. Farrakhan, elected officials expressed concerns about high unemployment, low minimum wages and a lack of opportunities for self-development to allow Black youth to escape many of the snares and traps of “ghetto life.” These conditions add to the vulnerability and haphazard profiling of youth of African descent.

Later it was revealed that the vast majority of the men arrested were completely innocent of all charges but fit a profile for “typical gang member.” On the first day of the State of Emergency, 22 young men were arrested outside their homes, exactly three weeks later these men were released because there was no evidence of any crime committed. But this particular raid was televised on the TV6 News and the “Crime Watch” program where police officers were seen literally “herding up” young men like cattle, handcuffing them and placing them into police vehicles apparently due to their presence rather than any credible information about any crimes.

Within less than three months, just about every single individual arrested under the newly introduced “anti-gang legislation bill” was released due to lack of evidence. The director of public prosecutions was later forced to criticize the bill based on its assumption of draconian powers to make arrests and detentions based on speculation and suspicion.

It was felt that due to physical appearance, area of residence and assumed socio-economic status these young men were the victims of prejudice and presumed guilty without consideration of innocence. Various media reports highlighted alleged cases of racial bias against Black youth on the part of the government and the protective services.

Min. Farrakhan in a March 25 address at National Auditorium for the Performing Arts in Port of Spain made comparisons between the treatment of Black men in Trinidad and the targeting of Black men in other countries sparked days of debate on Trinidad radio stations about whether or not there is an international global plot creating unfavorable living conditions in Black communities.

In the Express newspaper, August 27, 2011, a back page story read, “Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar was greeted with angry jeers from East POS residents who feel that Afro-Trinidadians are being unfairly targeted under the State of Emergency.” On Aug. 31, the Express newspaper featured a report headlined, “They Were Arrested Because They Are Black.” It quoted lawyer Cecil Pope saying to a judge, “Your Worship, I could have been in their position because I am black just like these men ... the only evidence against them is the colour of their skin ... .” He referred to his clients as being “arrested at the ‘whim and fancy’ of the police.”

In response to these charges, the government released statistics specific to the involvement of youth of African descent in criminal behavior.

A September 2, 2011 Express newspaper report headlined “Blacks Killing Blacks” quoted Minister of National Security John Sandy’s response to criticisms of government and the protective services for racial profiling. He said, “the majority of crimes in Trinidad and Tobago are committed by Afro-Trinidadians against other Afro-Trinidadians. And this race also comprises the majority of the prison population.” These remarks were made during a parliamentary debate on the State of Emergency.

The National Security minister, using police statistics, revealed of the 2,307 persons murdered in Trinidad since 2006, 1,668 or 72.3 per cent were of African descent. On December 6, 2011 in the lower house of the T&T Parliament Senator Farris Al-Wari made reference to profiling by ethnicity and the Islamic faith in arrests and detentions during the State of Emergency.

What was also of interest was September 3, 2011 in the parliament, Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar directed comments at Opposition Leader Keith Rowley, referring to a program he had recommended in 2003 to help young Black males that the then-People’s National Movement government decided not to implement because of objections of racism by the then-opposition United National Congress, an Indian dominated party. She said Mr. Rowley should have had “the strength of conviction” back then to launch the program (despite United National Congress disagreement with it) but she now realizes the relevance of such programs and she will develop a similar program for the benefit of young males of African descent.

A major concern was that while Black teenagers were being arrested wholesale so-called “big-fish” criminals who are responsible for importing guns and drugs were not being caught and allowed to continue to have their illegal business flourish. For example it was reported September 15, 2011 that a quantity of marijuana weighing 2,000-pounds was discovered at the Point Lisas Port in Trinidad. It was valued at $34.6 million, sent from the United States and addressed to a businessman in Central Trinidad who merely told the police it did not belong to him and was allowed to go free.

Minister Farrakhan, in proposing solutions to problems in the Black community, called for unity, pooling resources economically to buy land, enter into food production and acquire knowledge to control our own destiny. The Nation of Islam minister also quoted chapter 13 verse 11 in the Qur’an, which says “God does not change the condition of a people until they change themselves.” He added, “If you are not the architect of your own freedom, then you are unaware of your own self-interest.”

With the 50th Anniversary of Independence for Trinidad & Tobago coming up August 31, we have but a short time to act on the Minister’s valuable advice as this historic anniversary approaches. It is time for us to think and act. The targeting and vulnerability of young Black men is a major example of how far we must go to enjoy a full and complete freedom and secure a future for ourselves.

(David Muhammad is the Trinidad representative of the Nation of Islam.)