Speeches

Independence Day Address (July 4, 2003)

Independence Day Address
Dr. Roy L. Austin
U.S. Ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago
July 4, 2003
The Trinidad Country Club

Honored guests; members of the cabinet; honorable members of the House and the Senate; colleagues of the diplomatic corps; members of the clergy; officers of the uniformed services; members of the media; members of our Mission family; close friends; ladies and gentlemen.

I extend a warm welcome to you this evening and thank you for helping us celebrate the 227th birthday of the United States of America.

This event would not have been possible without the generous support of friends of our country whom we have recognized on a board near the entrance to this building. Contributors, we sincerely thank you and hope that you leave this affair feeling that you made a wise decision.
There are many other persons, too numerous to name, who have contributed or will contribute to your enjoyment this evening. I select a few to thank publicly, and ask that you help us show appreciation with a round of applause when I reach the end of the list of the evening’s entertainers: Mrs. Joyce Davis and Mood Indigo; PCS Starlift, courtesy PCS’s CEO Mr. Ian Welch; Ms. Jeanine Debique; Ms. Parvati Khan; and Ms. Jenllyn Hutchinson.

I shall also like to thank the Management and Staff of the Trinidad Country Club for their hospitality and support.

Finally, I thank Mr. Ali Khan, Manager of the Hilton Hotel, for providing a beautiful birthday cake to the United States. The members of our Embassy Family thoroughly enjoyed this gift.

Now that I have taken care of those important preliminaries, I begin my Independence Day message.
On this day, 227 years ago, our future did not look very bright. Reeling from an invasion on our shores, our forefathers affixed their names to the Declaration of Independence, ensuring that they would be hunted down as traitors. These “traitors” stood for the principles that all men are created equal and that, in the words of Thomas Jefferson and the rest of the framers, a government, for the first time in history, should not be run by a few, but derive its powers from the consent of its own people.

Ideals and lofty principles, by their very nature, live in a rarified atmosphere that humans have difficulty penetrating to make the principles a part of life. We still struggle today to implement the ideas embodied in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States. When the ideals were penned 227 years ago, they did not extend to people of color or women—equality was lacking. Only white, male landowners could vote; and as late as 1857, people of color were considered legally to be but 3/5 of a person.

The reluctance to extend constitutional guarantees to all the people of the U.S. sowed the seeds of the Second American Revolution, the Civil War. The Framers anticipated that this bloodletting was inevitable. Jefferson, remarking on the consequences that would ensue because of the Framers’ inability to deal with the question of slavery, said: "I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that his justice cannot sleep forever; that considering numbers, nature and natural means only, a revolution of the wheel of fortune, an exchange of situation, is among possible events; that it may become probable by supernatural interference! The Almighty has no attribute which can take side with us in such a contest.” Only after our Second American Revolution, our great Civil War, did people of color de jure become equal.

Similar to last year, the theme of this July 4th event is “Celebrating Diversity.” Perhaps one may ask why we are repeating this theme this year. We answer that it is because the value of diversity may be the most important aspect of any democracy-cherishing civil society. How can a democratic nation make optimal progress without the moral, social and intellectual contributions of its entire people? The answer to this question should be obvious. Progress is severely limited when opportunities for full participation are restricted on the basis of physical and other characteristics irrelevant to performance. Yet it took my country 200 years to establish legal mechanisms ensuring that diversity and basic democratic principles formed part of our social compact.
In recent years, we have moved much more rapidly than earlier towards realizing the promise in our nation’s motto: “E Pluribus Unum” – Out of many, one. Citizens of Trinidad and Tobago, your motto also speaks of the value of togetherness in ensuring matchless accomplishments. Your media often comment on your agony over the difficulty of realizing your dream of unity. Our experience with similar problems makes it easy for us to understand the intensity of your pain, although you often seem to deny feeling any. We encourage you to keep struggling for greater racial and cultural unity.

Two hundred and twenty-seven (227) years after the birth of the U.S., our ethnic composition continues to change. According to the 2000 Census, the largest minority group in the United States is now the Hispanic community. This is an important event for the U.S. — an event that presents the opportunity to develop an even more dynamic nation through greater acceptance of the value of utilizing the potential of all citizens.

The demographic changes occurring in our country make us reflect more on the “melting pot” concept that has pervaded our literature. According to one study, by the year 2050, 21 percent of the U.S. population will be of mixed racial or ethnic ancestry, up from an estimate of seven percent today. Consider that among third-generation Hispanic and Asian Americans, exogamy -- marriage outside one's ethnic group or tribe -- is at least 50 percent, according to the report. Exogamy remains much less prevalent among African Americans, but it has increased enormously, from about 1.5 percent in the 1960s to eight to ten percent today.

To view an example of the changing face of America, go to any grocery store in the United States and look at a box of Betty Crocker-brand food products. Betty's portrait is now in its eighth incarnation since the first composite painting debuted in 1936 with pale skin and blue eyes. Her new look is brown-eyed and dark-haired. She now has a duskier complexion than her seven predecessors, with features representing an amalgam of different races and ethnicities present in the United States.

One important source of diversity for both the United States and Trinidad and Tobago is immigration. Look only to our consular section at the embassy and you will see at least 30-50 Trinidadians every day who are emigrating to the United States. In fact, there may be more Trinidadians in Brooklyn than the whole of Port of Spain, as some people have facetiously said. Conversely, some 4,500 Americans call Trinidad and Tobago home. Some may be temporarily visiting or studying, but they all make this country a more vibrant, cosmopolitan place. The wealth of shared cultural knowledge that these Americans bring overseas and take back to America helps to enrich our lives and improve understanding, tolerance, and respect for the magnificent diversity that is the human race.

The horror of September 11th , 2001 has not diminished the quest for a healthy diversity and stronger democracy in America, but merely underscored their importance. Let us not forget that these attacks on America killed or injured people from all races, creeds, colors and nationalities: Christians, Hindus, Jews, Muslims, dark-skinned and light-skinned, and American citizens as well as citizens of other countries including Trinidad and Tobago. Out of the ashes of this tragedy has developed a desire amongst the people of the United States to learn more about other cultures. We strive also to understand the nature of our enemies and the evil they perpetrate. The strength that the United States has gained from its diverse population will defeat the scourge of terrorism.

Americans value democracy. We also know that for this form of government to flourish in racially and culturally diverse societies the differences inherent in this diversity must be respected. Other countries in the Western Hemisphere also contain a rich mix of different peoples, from indigenous Aztecs and Calinagoes to transplanted Zulus. For democracy to flourish in these societies, there must also be respect for the various peoples occupying them. I am happy to say that the people of this region of my birth , the Caribbean are endeavoring to respect differences and uphold democracy while facing tremendous difficulties.

As I peruse Trinidad and Tobago’s demographic and political landscape, I am heartened by its obvious features. There is freedom to worship as one wills; freedom to speak out as one desires; freedom to select to govern those in whom you have confidence; freedom to question that with which you disagree; freedom to institute change; freedom to pursue alternate means without repression; and freedom to be the kind of individual you prefer to be. These are freedoms that citizens of the United States share with citizens of Trinidad and Tobago. Indeed, it is in order to enjoy these freedoms that citizens of the United States sought the independence it celebrates with you today, July 4th.

My birthplace, St.Vincent and the Grenadines, is believed to have once been named Hairoon, home of the blessed. May God allow us in the United States, Trinidad and Tobago, and elsewhere to say with confidence that we too live in Hairoons, homes of the blessed.

Please allow me to say Happy Birthday America!!

Thank you!!