Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar has addressed the Prime Minister’s plan to remove the Niña, Pinta and Santa Maria from the national emblem and replace them with the steelpan.
In a statement yesterday, she believes that while some of the history behind Christopher Columbus has to be revisited, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley’s promise to remove his ships from this country’s Coat of Arms needs to be carefully thought out.
She believes if not handled properly, it can ignite racial tensions in Trinidad and Tobago.
Persad-Bissessar acknowledged that Columbus was wrongfully celebrated for some time, however, she is of the belief that “sanitising history, truth, and free speech in the modern era of wokeness, virtue signalling, and cancel culture will only promote ignorance and foster the repetition of evil acts in the future that can be preventable.”
She said erasing history by removing symbols will not improve or change citizens’ understanding of history, adding that, “the nation’s true history should be taught in our schools, one that provides the good and bad of all our historical figures.”
“The truth of our past and present is bitter and harsh and should not be manipulated to serve any singular agenda. Instead, it should be used to enlighten successive generations so they will not repeat the mistakes and misdeeds of the past,” Persad-Bissessar said.