Excerpts from 1 of my Carnival History papers:
Kwame Ture on institutional racism: "the collective failure of an organisation to provide an appropriate & professional service to people because of colour, culture or ethnic origin.” This injustice is rooted in Trinidadian history.

(Pre-Emancipation) Conservative whites controlled the governing policies of the island. Free Coloureds held jobs of protection that served the white population such as police officers and security guards, all the while having to provide proof of freedom when it was demanded.

Slaves lacked any sort of substantial wealth & was placed on the lowest rung of the social ladder where their human rights were denied.
After the abolition of slavery, society remained rigidly stratified by race and colour and this was directly correlated with occupational status

The three main classes remained stratified by race. Therefore, there was no real way for upward mobility. The end of slave labour brought about waves of migrants into the Caribbean. Trinidad received indentured labourers from China and India among others.

Still, the white upper class remained dominant, even over the Portuguese and Lebanese-Syrian migrants who appeared just as fair of skin as they did. Plantation society's influence implied whiteness was the epitome of wealth, power and freedom.

Children of mixed parentage in post-emancipation colonial Trinidad was held in higher status than those of black parentage.

After Independence
The removal of European power changed colonial influence & the shifting of Leb-Syr merchants infiltrating the "white" upper-class.

Education has been the black community's "escape" from the lower class. Afro-Trinidadians can now be found in all 3 tiers. Slaves exclusively made up the lower class in colonial Trinidad, but Indo-Trinidadians (who make up roughly 35% of the population) can be included.

Open discrimination and racial tension exist due to the systemic racism built into the very foundation of our society. To move forward, we must have a zero tolerance policy towards it in any form, rooting it out by swift and decisive affirmative action.