I NO longer expect much from politicians. The person, who had excitedly travelled to the Linden highway to vote in an election for the first time, is no longer surprised by the ideas our politicians sow to keep us divided. Whether sexuality, class, race or socio-economic status cause that divide, I am no longer surprised.

Not because we have become accustomed to something however, means that we should not call it out when we see it.
After reading Nigel Dharamlall’s comments on the placement of three school buses that have begun operating in Region Four and the racism that seeped out of it in that post, I was torn.

The divisiveness he spreads is nothing new. It is something many of us have become accustomed to, but still, it needed to be addressed. Dharamlall found issue with the fact that two of the three buses were placed in South Georgetown, a “stronghold of the PNCR and dominated by one ethnic group.” The ethnic group to which he refers is Afro-Guyanese and he further states that only APNU+AFC supporters benefit.

What Dharamlall is doing here is further solidifying the idea that the two main political parties are separated by race and that this is acceptable. In the same post he called out NCN reporter Janelle Persaud. It was not long before persons answered his clarion call of racism by giving their own ideas on the stance of afro-descended persons and the perceived things associated with them. None of the statements was called out. If anything, they were encouraged by Dharamlall’s silence.

As a Member of Parliament, Dharamlall is a representative of the people. In their pursuit of power, many politicians forget the reason they are in these positions in the first place. As a representative, he should be careful not to sow seeds of discord in an already racially tense society. Allowing your supporters to make dangerous and tribal comments without reprimand is encouraging that to continue. It is not surprising for someone who is himself a participant in the racism that drives our politics.

When he was called out on his rhetoric, Dharamlall likened the label of ‘racist,’ as being an act of ‘playing the victim. He stated that the “fallback mantra,” of racism was always being used when one was criticised for the “discriminatory and divisive policies of the regime that you are currently one of the faces of.” This statement was directed towards Persaud.

The tensions that we have come to know that exists between the black and Indian populace within Guyana, is something that has been historically shaped and honed over the years. When slavery was abolished in the 1830s, Indian indentured workers were brought to Guyana after the planters needed to fill the labour vacuum. Due to their willingness to work for less money than everyone else, this helped to create tensions amongst the Afros and Indians. This tension worked to the advantage of the planters, who had long since known that they needed to divide if they were to counquer.

Racism is structural and is based upon power. Many don’t buy into the argument that they have privilege in their colour or hair. They don’t buy into it because they feel as if it does not relate to them. They, as far as they know, do not benefit from their race. They are the poor, the ones who work hard for everything they have. They are the ones who have to fetch water and for whom electricity is seen as something only the well-off has. They do not know how they can be privileged, when they have never been given something for this supposed privilege.

Men like Dharamlall are aware of this and the discontent it forms. They prey on this discontent. They make clarion calls for further divides and depict the afro-descended as out to get Indians. Men like Dharamlall tell them things such as, ‘take back the country from them, or ‘don’t trust them.’ Men like Dharamlall try to hide under the guise of fairness and reason, but the thin veils lay bare their blatant hypocrisy.

One thing that he said that struck me as funny was, and I quote, “The People’s Progressive Party/Civic was never such and will never be such a racist and divisive government as APNU+AFC.” In here, Dharamlall basically admits the rule of the PPP/C administration was racist and divisive. His argument here runs akin to the idea that yes, ‘I might be racist and divisive, but I am not as racist as I perceive these people to be.’

I won’t call Dharamlall a racist; he seems to think the word is unfair and overused. The words I will call him however and the ones who support the divisive rhetoric of him are: xenophobe, biased, bigoted. I hope the ones who value race over humanity and respect will find favour in one of these words. To sum up my feelings best on the entire debacle, Leroy Nelson said it best when he wrote, “Guyana is a strange place. The very embryo of racial/tribal dominance is speaking about racism. Then again, the incompetence and arrogance of the current administration will fuel this miasma.”