WHEN one hears the term ‘diversity’, several images are conjured in one’s mind; but when one is asked how diversity is seen through the individual’s lens, answers evoked can range from beauty to ugliness.The truth is that some of these answers are informed by perception and prejudice, each of which can influence intolerance for the other; putting up the proverbial wall of discrimination and hindering development.
None of this helps in building a nation when it is recognised that positive human relations are forged and sustained through learning and benefiting from each other.

Out of recognition that ours is a nation whose frame has been constructed from different peoples who, for reasons within or out of their control, have made this land their home, our Constitution calls on us to celebrate our racial and cultural diversity as a process of eliminating discrimination in our pursuit of happiness.

Race, though a physical and not a biological construct, has played a pivotal role in this nation’s formation, development, and inter-relationship. Out of this physical construct, Guyana is seen as a land of six peoples, and each group carries within itself its unique culture. Culture, in this sense, speaks to the experiences that shape the value system, artefacts, actions, progress and challenges of each group.

The definition of diversity recorded on the University of Oregon Multicultural Advocates’ page probably best captures what Guyana is, and what Guyanese strive every day to represent. The institution advances that “The concept of diversity encompasses acceptance and respect. It means understanding that each individual is unique, and recognising our individual differences. These can be along the dimensions of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, age, physical abilities, religious beliefs, political beliefs, or other ideologies. It is about exploring these differences in a safe, positive, and nurturing environment. It is about understanding each other, and moving beyond simple tolerance to embracing and celebrating the rich dimensions of diversity contained within each individual.”

And UNESCO declared, “The cultural wealth of the world is its diversity in dialogue”, making it “clear that each individual must acknowledge not only otherness in all its forms, but also the plurality of his or her own identity within societies that are themselves plural”. Open, rank and honest conversations on diversity must be had, in keeping with universal principles that uphold human rights and development.

As this nation aspires to live up to its motto, “One People, One Nation, One Destiny”, such aspiration has not been without achievements, challenges, optimism and pessimism. An achievement Guyanese can be proud of is that inasmuch as racial conflict and hostility have shaped our experiences, outside of the early 1960s, there has been no open racial warfare among the ordinary man and woman. What this nation has suffered within recent time — and which ought to remain in the past — is the conceptualisation, development, and execution of national policies and programmes to sustain an environment of racial distrust and hostility, to the benefit of a few.

This practice not only hinders development, but creates a situation where diversity is loathed and the other despised, posing potential for endless problems, with dire consequences of war and want.

Appreciation for development through diversity will respect that, though the path to wellness and fulfilment for everyone will be different, it does not have to mean that this difference translates to inferiority or superiority, with attendant treatment. What it means is that the pursuit of happiness can be had traversing different paths, in an enabling environment that treats all as equals and ensures the pursuer of that path is guaranteed his/her dignity.

Compared to many nations approaching 50 years, Guyana is still a relatively young nation. But relativity in age ought not to be taken as acceptance that the path of intolerance and disrespect for the other is deserving of pursuit. In this scenario, age ought to mean having experienced bigotry, the country being well positioned to learn from the mistakes of older societies, emulate best practices of other societies, and to have the energy and thirst to push new boundaries and aspire for higher heights that come with youthfulness.