Culturepulse ron ramdin special issue 44

the fact that Tassa was influential in the making of Pan, the artefactual elements of the Tassa, it was argued, is still visible in certain characteristics, features such as the steelbands’ two sticks; metal cylinder; heat to provide tonal quality; posture of the musicians; and the thong around the neck. The steelband is related, but does not belong to the family of African or Indian drums. It is essentially a product of Trinidad of which both Afro and Indo-Trinidadians should be proud. The connection of Trinidad Carnival and steelband music with India is therefore clear and, it is in this context that we should view the timely and beautifully made film “Din Shuru.” Importantly, we should also bear in mind that it was the mutual influences of the Africans and Indians and their descendants who were instrumental in creating the steelband and carnival in Trinidad.’

Predictably, a lively discussion followed my Talk.

Soon after the ‘Mela,’ I was contacted by Ms H, a relatively new Senior British Library Consultant Manager. As a direct result of my appointment as Commissioner on the Mayor’s Commission on African and Asian Heritage, Ms H informed me that the Library was planning to hold an ‘Event.’ Given that I was regarded by many as the foremost historian of both Blacks and Asians in Britain, she suggested that we should meet. We did and during the brain-picking discussion that ensued, to the various questions put to me, I responded positively. To hear officially that the British Library was considering holding a Conference on ‘diversity’ I was moved immeasureably! Why? Largely because after two decades of working in a variety of ways towards greater inclusiveness particularly in the Libraries, Museums and Galleries sector, now there was more than just a glimmer of hope. Furthermore, I learned that the focus of the Conference would be not on an ‘Exhibition’ but on the theme of ‘Exhibiting Diversity.’ Having long held dear the true meaning of the words Difference, Diversity and Inclusiveness, when Ms H said: ‘We are looking for a high-profile person from the black community to introduce and present the Conference,’ it was clear she was looking for a person from a particular ethnic background. In the conversation that followed, either knowing (or not knowing) that I’d been living, working and writing about ‘diversity’ in Britain for a long time, Ms H (an unusually young ‘Consultant’) not merely inferred, but made it quite clear that I was a relatively new immigrant (even though I’d been in England for 42 years!) whose presence in Britain was preceded by other groups. In her view, immigrants from East Europe or the former Soviet Union and AfroCaribbeans were much longer settled and therefore more integral to Britain (more British) than an ‘Indianlooking person’ like me from Trinidad. Oh dear! I thought. This was the first time that I’d experienced the undisguised privileging of one minority over another in a major British institution! More broadly, in terms of ‘race’ and racial superiority, this positioning and ‘privileging’ was indeed the very approach used so wilfully and callously by Europeans to initiate, justify, consolidate and perpetuate the all-too familiar effect of racial oppression and the consequent horrors of slavery.

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