THE issue of race should not be a taboo, but must be discussed openly if Guyana is to progress. 

This is according to UK-based Guyanese Professor, Clem Seecharran. “We live in multi-caste, multi-religious, multi-ethnic societies, and it is important that we have ongoing dialogue.
“If you want people to live and share with you to create a
nation, then we must do this [open dialogue],” was the central theme
of his lecture as part of the Culture Ministry-sponsored Republic of
Guyana’s Distinguished Lecture Series.
Professor Seecharran reportedly advanced the idea of a more open dialogue on the issue of race differences, particularly between Indians and Africans. He said topics such as mutual prejudice between races and possible solutions of these issues can be found in discourse in such multi-ethnic and multi-religious societies like Guyana for it to progress.
“If we are not secure in our identity and race, then we will not be friendly to others who do not look like ourselves. Our country consciousness is slow, but our race consciousness is quick. We need to become Guyanese-conscious and not race-conscious,” he said, adding: “If you have mutual respect and love for each other, then and only then we will become Guyanese and not Indians or Africans.”
With such an open invitation to enter the race minefield, with all its
sensitive issues, it would require either a head-on meeting of the minds or continue, as is often the case, to ignore and sidestep it to remain taboo.
What Professor Seecharran’s challenge has actually done is to unintentionally expose why race has definitely been more lectures instead of engaging and responsive dialogue.
Mr. Eusi Kwayana’s lifelong activities over 55 years, where some even portray him as saintly, earned him exclusive ownership, monopoly and complete dominance of the race advocacy frequency for Black rights without
absolutely any equality of response, comeback or counter-match from
his enfeebled opposites.
Most rational, decent-minded people would agree and sympathise with
Professor Seecharran’s wisdom in advocating dialogue. For any respected Guyanese academic to finally acknowledge that the race issue has seriously handicapped Guyana’s progress and to now advance it up the national agenda for resolution is most commendable.
In anguish over the fate of Guyana, well known musician, Mr. Dave Martins, writing in the Stabroek News of 23-2-14, was also sincerely concerned to openly lament what unresolved race problems could mean for the country’s tranquility and survival. Both distinguished patriots seek to make a positive
‘difference’, and both are due significant credit for their bravery.
Refreshing conversations should definitely decide whether partition’s
separating divisiveness, temporary power-sharing or federalism, where
Guyana remains united and Black power is achieved, is the best way to go.
Guyanese of all races have co-existed very harmoniously with each other
prior to the early 1960s, until PNC-instigated, CIA-funded riots, and
resentment against U.S. and British impositions on Guyana’s virginity increased our problems.
Would religion, a more responsive education curriculum, exposure and awareness to each other’s cultural beliefs and not emphasis on economics alone make a difference?
Addiction to wielding power seldom abates when political viagra is a handy aid. Mr. Forbes Burnham’s post-1953 ambition to supplant Dr Cheddi
Jagan as PPP leader has gained traction that it was the singular cause
for racial friction in Guyana.
It depends on your perspective, not forgetting many prominent PPP Indo-Guyanese went with him, and many Blacks remained unwavering PPP loyalists up to this day.
Fallout from the 1856 Angel Gabriel riots (led by John Francis Orr, a coloured religious fanatic, aka, Angel Gabriel, who instigated a riot against the
Portuguese) was no impediment for Mr. Burnham to forge a Black-Portuguese coalition between the PNC and the Portuguese-led United Force in 1964. After the UF had served its purpose, the PNC, with Mr. CML John as PNC Home Affairs Minister, flushed them out just before the 1968 rigged elections.
What impact resulted after the PNC dumped the Portuguese-led UF? The majority of Guyana’s Portuguese population, in disgust, quietly left Guyana permanently, and the UF gradually faded.
In contrast, the WPA, without electoral mandate, had demanded half of the Cabinet ministries after the 1992 elections from the PPP/C. Who is to
be blamed when they refused to let Dr. Clive Thomas become prime minister?
Black-Chinese tensions, unheard of in Guyana’s history, arose after the
harassment and looting of a Georgetown Chinese establishment by a
predominantly Black mob, starring Mr. Mark Benschop, on January 8, 2013
at nearby Stabroek Market.
The store owner, who reportedly caught and punished a teenager hiding under her bed where her babies lay asleep above the store was portrayed as
racist. But was Black resentment of Chinese economic success actually responsible for the racial tensions?
Whatever the unknown complete story after the Rupunini uprising, in
which GDF soldiers reportedly brutalised and raped Amerindians, it found no human rights champions. By contrast, Black on Indian hostilities have remained the repetitious norm, especially during elections; also without adequate civil society/human rights response.
The most horrific May 26, 1964 Wismar massacre of Indians did much to damage Guyana’s race relations. How do these and other acrimonious encounters and mutually aroused fears become permanently resolved? No country with similar problems has so far found the magic formula.
Professor Seecharran’s entreaty for all races, especially Indians and Africans, to actively pursue dialogue for better relationships can move Guyana from a sovereign state to a nation where everyone considers themselves Guyanese. Where do we begin?

SULTAN MOHAMED