Does Williams need airport also?

THE EDITOR: Replacing Columbus’s ships with the steelpan arguably would present for an emblem that is more nationally well-rounded. But does this mean that the other colonial elements, such as the helmet and ship wheel, of the coat of arms will also be replaced?

We should not pick and choose the history we want represented. Let the colonial relics, statues, images and the like remain as a reminder of how far we have come since the days of imperialism and exploitation.

Of similar import is the call to rename Piarco International Airport the Eric Williams International Airport. “Piarco” is an indigenous word. Trinidad’s airport is the last in the Caribbean, to my knowledge, that is indigenously named.

Why are we willing to change the coat of arms from the ships that brought the slavers that tortured and killed our indigenous peoples (before the arrival of the Africans), but we are so ready to change an indigenous name? Doesn’t Dr Williams already have the Eric Williams Financial Complex and the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex? Does he need an airport, too?

TRENT ALI

via e-mail

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