AS a people, we must be mindful that our leaders are able to transcend racial barriers and create equal opportunities for all citizens, regardless of race, creed or ethnicity. And although the history of this country has been a history of racial divide since colonial days, as it was in our colonial masters’ interest to divide and rule, the current administration has not been guilty of failing to help bridge the racial gap in this country.
The facts are that Guyana is a plural society which houses six different races, and two of these races: the Indians and the Africans, are the dominant races, respectively, due to population numbers. Another fact of matter is that these races, as individuals, not as a collective, relate and give their support to the political party that they believe best meets their needs. There is no wrong in this. It is the individual’s constitutional right to choose their government through the electorate. We cannot chastise a person for exercising that right. Neither is it acceptable for us to spread racial hate and incite racial hostility in a country such as Guyana that has struggled for decades to overcome the scars that slavery and colonialism inflicted upon us under the ‘white man’s’ philosophy of divide and rule. Too much progress has been made, and the tangible evidence is seen in our homes, in our streets, in our marketplaces, and in our workplaces. It is an insult for letter writers to pen letters inciting racial cacophony which suggests that where we have come from is where we still are. It is an even greater insult for editors and news carriers to allow these letters to be published and carried in their newspapers. This should not be, since xenophobia should never be tolerated or encouraged in any plural society. And the Stabroek News letter of December 10, 2010 by Carl Veecock, among other letters like this carried in this news carrier, are just plain unacceptable. The appointment of Harry Narine Nawbatt as Guyana’s new High Commissioner to Canada would only be seen as racial by a person who carries racial hate in their own heart.
What I am trying to say bluntly, is that even though our President is Indian, it does not mean that he is uncaring about the concerns of other races. This does not mean that all, or most Indian officials appointed to a senior governmental post are unsuitable for the position but was appointed nevertheless, consequent of their ethnic makeup. Nor does it mean that all or most of the African officials that are appointed to a senior governmental position is there as a ‘token’, but really should not be appointed to that position. As a black person I would be utterly and irrevocably insulted if I were to be told that. Guyana’s public and private sector is made up of and dominated by Guyanese from all the different racial corners of this country. This is a principle that I am sure the Jagdeo administration prides itself in maintaining.