I was born Indian. But I self identify as Vulcan. My friends and
family though have never accepted me as a Vulcan. They tell me hurtful
things like, “fictitious alien races from Star Trek aren't a real
identity, you idiot. ” As you can probably tell they are as
closed-minded as Klingons.
Of course I know for some people the question of self-identity is a
bit more complicated. Take for example Caitlyn Jenner. Being
transgender, she has chosen to self-identify as a woman despite being
born a man. Most people saw her story as a symbol of courage and
honesty. Two words no one ever thought they would use to identify
someone associated with the Kardashians.
Then there's Rachel A Dolezal. The white American woman who has
chosen to self-identify as black. Dolezal spray-tanned her skin brown
and braided her hair to look African American. Just in case this didn't
work she also concocted an elaborate back-story of lies. Some of which
included being a victim of white racism and even asking her adopted
brother who is black to tell people she was biracial. Despite this she
insists she doesn't self-identify as a sociopath.
And of course there's Mr Jack Warner. A former FIFA vice-president
under indictment by the FBI for alleged corruption. Mr Warner has
recently transitioned from self-identifying as Robin Hood to a now
hilarious version of Edward Snowden.
Of course the way humans view themselves has always been complicated.
In Latin, the word
“identity” means “sameness”. Throughout history
humans have devised hundreds of ways in which to express their sameness
with some groups while differentiating their sameness from others. Be it
race, religion, or whether you think John Oliver is funny.
There is no doubt that questioning old assumptions about identity is a
good thing. It helped discredit established ideas like sexism and
racism. It's spearheading the advancement of rights for the LGBT
community and marginalised groups in general. Part of the Trinbagonaian
identity though is being pretty comfortable in not questioning anything.
Unless it's whether TV6 should have sold airtime to John Oliver.
A great example of the indifference we have to the way our identity
is represented can be seen by watching the “unity dance”. The unity
dance is what I call that horrendously lazy collection of clichés that
make up what is known here as a “cultural item”.
Making a unity dance is pretty straightforward. Get some moko
jumbies, a tassa group, an African dance group, the Shiv Shakti dance
group and maybe a belly dancer, and just put them on a stage.
Truly
daring cultural items can feature a duet of Mungal Patasar and a
steelpan soloist. The finale is of course everyone dancing together
awkwardly while Rudder's “Ganges come meet the Nile” plays in the back
ground.
This is what we tell ourselves our identity is. A collection of crude
cultural stereotypes and unimaginative dance moves. For Trinbagonians,
Identify isn't about ideas. It isn't the Ganges or the Nile, a river
with tributaries of thought constantly flowing in and out. Rather it's a
swamp. A stagnant place where new ideas never enter and old ones aren't
allowed to leave.
In T&T you can have your “Trininess” questioned from just the
slightest deviation away from this narrow version of identity. Value
reason over race? Support gay rights despite the feelings of the IRO? Or
believe in physics and not the Charlie, Charlie demon? Then you might
not be a real Trini.
If identity is really all about dressing up in fancy costumes and
doing odd rituals, then self-identifying as a Vulcan is certainly valid
an identity as anything else we have locally.
The exception being that apart from having pointy ears and the
ability to do a nerve pinch, being a Vulcan is all about viewing the
universe through the lens of logic and reason. It's the idea that
beliefs need to be supported by evidence.
As the 2015 general election heats up, and the politics of identity
played out. There is perhaps a lot Trinbagoniains can learn from
Vulcans. Until then, as my people say, “live long and prosper”.
