The importance of correcting historical wrongs

Generations of schoolchildren in this country have been fed a whitewashed, sanitised narrative about Italian explorer Christopher Columbus “discovering” our islands. Part of that historic inaccuracy had to do with his arrival on these shores with a fleet of three ships—the Santa Maria, the Nina and the Pinta.

That historic misinformation has been validated for the past 62 years by the representation of those three vessels on T&T’s Coat of Arms.

The truth is that Columbus took eight ships on that third voyage when he visited Trinidad, Venezuela and started the exploration of mainland South America and none of them were the vessels depicted on this country’s national emblem.

Therefore, removing those three ships and replacing them with the steelpan, a musical instrument invented in this country, may prove an important step. Hopefully, it is also the first in a series of efforts to erase longstanding misrepresentations of T&T’s early history.

The importance of the Coat of Arms redesign has to do with much more than the removal of three vessels that never landed in T&T. It is also about ending the practice of giving prominence and honour to historical figures and events that brought tyranny, exploitation and oppression, not only to our shores but across the Americas.

The move, announced by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley on Sunday, has been welcomed by many but there have been some dissenting voices who see it as an attempt to erase critical aspects of T&T’s history.

However, the fact that some citizens choose to hold on to a romanticised, untrue version of T&T’s “discovery” in 1498, is all the more reason, not only to effect the necessary changes, but to ensure every exercise of expunging inaccuracies from the story of our nation is supported by programmes of sensitisation and education.

There are still too many accounts that gloss over the oppression, corruption, mass murder and rape that the four voyages of Columbus unleashed on this region.

His arrival more than 500 years ago, portrayed for years as journeys of discovery that dramatically changed the world, kicked off centuries of exploitation, starting with the enslavement of native populations and extending into the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

What was fed to us over hundreds of years as authentic accounts, have now been exposed as narratives in which the crimes of the colonists were redacted.

Dr Rowley described the change to the Coat of Arms as “our way to removing the colonial vestiges that we have in our Constitution.” It is necessary to accurately present the elements that make us who we are and the steelpan is an essential component in any depiction of T&T.

However, there is much more to be done. A statue of Columbus still stands in Tamarind Square, a square in the heart of Port-of-Spain that bears the name of a tyrannical former governor and too many streets and towns are named for oppressive historical figures.

Still pending is long-promised action to ensure the placement of statues, monuments and signage that accurately represent this country’s history.

It is time for centuries of wrong to be made right. The plan to redesign the Coat of Arms is an important first step in that direction.

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