QUEENS Congressman Gary Ackerman, a friend of Guyanese-Americans who supported the call for the restoration of democracy in Guyana in 1992, announced last week that he will retire from Congress after three decades. Ackerman has made many contributions to the United States during his time in office and the Guyanese community is appreciative of his service as they benefit from the laws he championed.
Ackerman at one time represented parts of Richmond Hill where the bulk of Guyanese-Americans are settled in New York. But his district constantly shifted after each redistricting in 1990, 2000, and now again in 2010. Still his 6th Congressional District retained thousands of Guyanese as his constituents. After Senator Ted Kennedy issued a call for the U.S. government to put pressure on the Hoyte regime to hold free and fair elections, constituents led by political advocates Vishnu Bisram, Mike Persaud, and Arjune Karshan, among others, petitioned Ackerman to endorse the Kennedy Democratic Initiative on Guyana. Congressman Ackerman met with Guyanese and released a statement also calling for free and fair elections in Guyana.
That got the ball rolling for the restoration of democracy in Guyana as the Bush Administration set up a Guyana desk and requested President Carter to visit Guyana to look into electoral abuses by the Hoyte regime. Ackerman was also a regular attendee at festivals celebrated by Indian- Americans, including Guyanese-Americans.
Before he went to Capitol Hill, Ackerman was a junior high school teacher in the city school system creating history in child care. When his first child was born in 1969, he wanted to take time off to be with the baby girl, but the Board of Education said no as only women were allowed such leave. But the 26-year-old teacher wasn’t willing to take no for an answer. He sued the board and won in a landmark case that established the right of either parent to take unpaid leave for child care. Twenty-four years later, Congressman Ackerman signed the House-Senate Conference Committee report on the Family and Medical Leave Act, which gave parents nationwide the same right. Many Guyanese-Americans have taken advantage of this law to spend time with their kids while protecting their jobs and medical benefits.
Ackerman’s successor will have big shoes to fill and Guyanese especially as it comes to human rights policy which helped to end the dictatorship in Guyana.