AS WE begin the New Year and prepare to celebrate our 50th Independence Anniversary, it is a good time to reflect on our condition as a diverse society. As uncomfortable as it is to discuss ethnicity and race, our ethnic diversity compels us to keep that discourse open.Our ethnic diversity is a function of our evolution as a society from the first encounters between the Europeans and the Amerindians. The Africans would later be brought against their will to bear the burdens of the most anti-human system in the history of humanity — slavery. The dynamics of that slave system would continue to have an overpowering effect on the shaping of our collective identity.
By the time our East Indian, Chinese and Portuguese ‘brethren and sistren’ arrived in the mid-nineteenth century, the nation had begun to take shape.

Emancipation brought freedom from plantation slavery, but it also marked the beginning of a new form of servitude, called colonialism. It is into this state of affairs that the so-called indentured labourers were brought. Their experiences were, in many respects, not much different from what slaves experienced in their social relations on the plantations.

In fact, colonialism continued the dehumanization of enslavement without the formal architecture of slavery.
During colonial rule, our various ethnic groups were forced to seek and find common ground in their quest to combat the consequences of being subjects. This movement for unity, however, was not a seamless exercise. It was constantly interrupted by the direct and indirect divide-and-rule interventions of the colonizers. But in the end, it was the inter-ethnic solidarity of our various groups that brought us to self-rule in the 1950s.

But before we could attain independence, the movement split again; this time with disastrous consequences. It is to our credit, however, that 50 years into our independence, we are still together as a single nation. This represents a victory for the unity impulse, first forged during the anti-colonial struggle. It has not been an easy road, for the forces of division are constantly at work.

The biggest obstacle to a more comprehensive unity has been our party politics, which has not been able to accommodate the dictates of the politically united system. From 1961 to the present, we have articulated the need for a government of national unity, but have not been able to effectively translate that to anything concrete. Yet, we must continue to work towards that reality in both word and deed.

The last year coming to power of a coalition has understandably raised hopes that we are closer to such a government. The merging of six political entities in the coalition presents a model to the nation. In a real sense, the working people of the country would want a system of governance that guarantees security for all groups. They understand the relationship between polarization and poverty; that our economic development as a nation is tied to our united purpose.

It is for this reason that we must, this year, put the realization of a united government at the top of the independence agenda. We are lucky to have a president who is prepared to walk the walk on this matter. We obviously need constitutional change in order to enshrine the unity principle in our rules and laws. But those would mean little if our people do not demonstrate without a doubt that they are on board. The ball is in the court of our leaders, and they must step up to the plate and put their partisan prejudices aside in the interest of the nation. But we, the people, must pressure our leaders to bow to the inevitable and release our nation into the community of diverse countries that dare to confront their internal divisions.