THE EDITOR: Short is a relative word.
Sometimes it is better for National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds to just hush rather than open his mouth and make himself look foolish. He has to learn to curb his loquaciousness.
Hinds commented on a recent court ruling that overturned the minimum height requirement for entry into the TT Police Service (TTPS).
He said that "you want when you post an officer in a crowd, he can be seen and not only seen by the person who is standing immediately next to him."
I know female police officers who, if you put them in a crowd, can barely be seen.
The height requirements to enter the TTPS are 167 cm (five feet, six inches) for males and 150 cm (four feet, 11 inches) for females.
That right there is discrimination based on gender. Everyone should have to meet the same requirements.
The judge made it clear that Renaldo Marajh "was not just discriminated against because of his height, but because of his gender" (Trinidad Express, online).
What was most unfortunate about the ruling, however, was the racial argument made by the attorneys for the plaintiff.
The lawyers, led by Anand Ramlogan SC, stated that the height requirement was "discriminatory to prospective candidates of certain racial groups, who are generally shorter in stature than others" (Trinidad Guardian).
Newsday (online, 8/2/2024) reported that Marajh's lawyers contended that "it is particularly troubling in a multi-racial society such as ours as it will have a disproportionate impact on persons who, due to their ethnic origin, are of medium build."
As the late Ramdeen Ramjattan, also known as John Agitation, would have said, "Tonerre!"
I hope readers understand where we have reached in TT. Which racial groups? What nonsensical type of underhanded argument was that?
The ruling by the judge, as reported, did not seem to address this directly. But, indirectly, it validated the claim.
Anyone who wants to become an astronaut with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the US must meet varying height requirements.
To be a pilot/astronaut or commander, one must be between 158 cm (five feet, two inches) and 190 cm (six feet, three inches) tall.
To be a mission specialist, one must be between 149 cm (four feet, 11 inches) and 193 cm (six feet, four inches) tall.
There are clear reasons for this.
One wonders, if he was a practising lawyer in the US whether Ramlogan would ever sue NASA for racial discrimination based on its height requirements.
Does the ruling mean that, in the not too distant future, the TTPS will be hiring midgets?
No offence to the midgets, eh!
LINUS F DIDIER
Mt Hope
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