PRESIDENT Donald Ramotar should be applauded for consistently making himself available for two public meetings with Guyanese New Yorkers during his visits to the Big Apple to accommodate the racially divided (polarised) society. All of his PPP predecessors did the same during their New York visits, demonstrating they are national leaders. This is unlike PNC leaders who restrict themselves to their base supporters, failing in efforts to reach across to Indians. PPP leaders have made every effort to reach across the racial divide to all ethnic groups in their meetings with Guyanese residing in the US.
Guyanese are settled all over the U.S., but most of them reside in the greater New York area, with the bulk of Afro-Guyanese in Brooklyn and the bulk of Indo-Guyanese in Queens. Many Afro-Guyanese also live in St. Albans area of Queens and large numbers of Indo-Guyanese live in Brooklyn on the Queens border and in the Bronx. Handlers of the President’s current visit have organised two public events for him to meet the large Guyanese community – one in Brooklyn (held last Sunday afternoon) in the heart of the Afro community and one in Queens (this Friday evening in Richmond Hill) so as to avoid any charges that the President is pandering only to Indian supporters in Queens – even though the PPP does not get much support from Afros.
Historically, only PPP leaders (Presidents) have attended public meets ostensibly to please both ethnic communities in America and the other groups. PNC leaders never organised a public meet in Queens to accommodate Indians, which is understandable, given that party did (does) not get votes from Indians. Nevertheless, an effort should have been made to court them, especially due to the fact that the PNC victimised and persecuted Indians during its 28 years rule. Ptolemy Reid, Desmond Hoyte, and Hamilton Green all had their meetings in Brooklyn appealing to their ethnic supporters and neglected Indians, and even used their appearances to put down Indians.
This was/is quite unlike PPP leaders – Cheddi Jagan, Sam Hinds, Janet Jagan, Bharrat Jagdeo, Donald Ramotar — all of whom made it a duty to attend public meets with Afros in Brooklyn to present themselves as representatives of the entire nation and not of only one race. The PPP leaders showed they were national and progressive in their outlook and thinking.
The President is the leader of the entire nation, not just those who voted for him; he is not the leader of only the group that elected him but of all groups. Even though PNC leaders were never elected to office post-independence, they should have made an effort to reach across to Indians who escaped Guyana to avoid racial and religious persecution — if for no other reason than at least to reconcile with abused Indians. Ramotar, like his PPP predecessors, has shown he is a national (not parochial) leader by making himself available to meet all Guyanese, irrespective of ethnicity. The President has a tight schedule but he does not slight any group. He has demonstrated he is President for all, not just PPP supporters. Guyanese-Americans admire the President for his sincere efforts to reach across to Guyanese who do not traditionally support his party in order to give them an update about the country and to win over their support for national development of all of Guyana.

VISHNU BISRAM