ex-l, while we wait wait for an 'on-the-spot' response from exbtt, i'd like to share some bits and pieces about my experience of the part of the world from which exbktt shares his experience. Hope you do not mind.
You may already know that of the collection of former colonised nations found in the Caribbean Sea (and for historical reasons i include Guyana in this grouping although it is on mainland South America), Trinidad & Tobago and Guyana are the two countries in the region with the largest ethnic Indian populations. In the main, these population groups comprise of people that worship either as Hindus, Muslims or Christians.
The next ethnically prolific group is of those who are descendant from various parts of Africa, arrived in the region via slavery etc. If i recall my History lessons well, the peoples of the Indian sub-continent arrived in the region en masse via indentureship after slavery was more or less abolished.
In the main, these 2 groupings co-exist peacefully, blending and borrowing many, many things from their respective traditions, including food, fashion, entertainment, sport etc. There are many souls of Indian descent who worship according to Christian principles and many souls of African descent who worship in non-Christian faiths.
The Caribbean region is indeed a melting pot of the races. In some parts of Guyana and Trinidad & Tobago, there are black people who are very familiar with the symbols and the personalities of Bhakti that are part and parcel of the East Indian's religious traditions (it is common in both the aforementioned nations that Indian's are referred to as East Indians while those of African descent are referred to as black with no offence meant and none taken because when all is said and done both groups see themselves very much as being either Guyanese or Trinidadian, or more globally as West Indians).
With the advent of mass migration one can see that the peoples of both ethnic groups have spread out of the Caribbean to reside the world over. (I am restricting this post to these 2 ethnic groups but really there are many, many more ethnic groups proliferating the West Indies including Chinese, Europeans, Native South American Indians etc, etc, etc).
As for racism in the Caribbean, well yes, it does exist.
Over the centuries since indentureship - and slavery - there are certain cultural traditions that East Indians have managed to hold onto, especially in the areas of worship and family life and structure. Any imported SS Sister would be able to recognise and possibly feel more at home in certain parts of these 2 nations than would be the case were they sent to serve in many countries of Europe. However, it would still be the case that: BK Raja Yoga
is the real thing; Bhakti is limited blah, blah, blah ...
A fact of life that may have to be considered, if we are to seriously explore your question deeply, is this; in both Trinidad & Tobago and Guyana it has been the case for decades that political power has been wielded by Blacks, assorted Brownies and/or even white looking folk. While
economic power, including such areas as farming, the trading of goods etc etc has largely been the preserve of the East Indians. And the Indians have been very, very, very good these things. Education is highly valued by both groups but again some of the East Indian traditions ensure that they are able to more visibly capitalise on the opportunities presented them in this area.
Additionally, the influence that Christianity has on the black mind-set, especially in the country areas, can not be underestimated. Sometimes I wonder how on earth the BKs can ever expect to spread the Gospel according to Gyan amongst those people whose religious beliefs place people such as BKs squarely in the court of the Devill! Why so, you may ask?
That's simple. In some parts of the Caribbean, any person claiming to believe in God but not in Christ is NOT to be TRUSTED. They would say prayers day and night for a poor misguided soul who takes in vain the name of God by declaring that they are believers but do not believe that Jesus is the Son of God.
So we can imagine that for the BK modus operandi to work they will be heavily reliant on seeding themselves amongst "liberal minded", "well educated", "middle classes" and "VIP types" who may be attracted to the various bolt-ons that the BKs offer as "pathways to Highest Consciousness".
Otherwise, the congregation would be swelled-out by people who are genuinely seeking some form of upliftment, be they black, brown or indifferent. But it can not be underestimated how much the appearance of a "black body amongst dem Hindu people" can be used to as a 'lure' to others of similar colour! Indians tend to stick together anyway, so one question that a black person may always have to deal with (even quietly to her or himself) is whether he or she is really a bona fide 'member of the family' or just some sort of window dressing, pack mule/errand boy or whatever. I guess that a lot of this comes down to each individuals personal experience. Looking at my experience, I have never felt any inferiority in the presence of a white or brown person be they Gyani or agyani.
It would be interesting to get some BK feedback on the number of BBKs that 'run' Baba's centres in TT? And whether they have any East Indians in class?
ex-l wrote:Can I also ask you a very honest question, do you think there was racism within the centers in the Caribbean? How did the Indians treat the Africans?