THE MAJOR race riot of the early 60’s brought Guyana to its knees. Wanton destruction of public and private property. Lives wasted. Innocent blood shed. Hatred abounded; a people went insane – black vs. brown. We were on the brink of extinction. But God saved his paradise.

Reamble
Up to 1940, the then British Guiana was a simple society. It was work, sleep and little recreation. The races blended well as they toiled on the sugar plantation and in the bauxite industry and the interior.
We slaved for our colonial masters who kept us busy serving them and enriching their pockets.

World War 11
Then came World War 11. And many of our sons were shipped overseas to battle for Britain, the mother country. And as her colony, her virgin lands were used by her military and especially the American Air Force.

Foreign Loose Culture
The soldiers introduced a new culture to our modest and Godly life. There was a social revolution. Night clubs sprang up, care free drinking and immorality and prostitution came out the closet. The suppressed peasants came alive. They agitated for a better life.

Home Grown Leader
And from the uprising, sprang young brilliant leaders who championed their cause. Dr. Cheddi Jagan and lawyer Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham. They were united in the struggle for the democratic right of the people of the plantation and elsewhere. The once dormant society came alive – a political and social upheaval.

United Front
A united front to shed the yoke of colonialism. The march to independence began. But somewhere along the struggle, the solidarity of the two home leaders shattered though it was simply a variation of ideology. Forbes favoured a western democratic state. Cheddi – a socialist nation. Forbes founded his own party the People’s National Congress; Cheddi emerged with People’s Progressive Party.
Party Politics
The seeds of race division were sown. The majority East Indians supported the PPP and most of Blacks joined the PNC. The race for supreme political power intensified.

Self-Government
The House of Commons in London saw trouble and moved to give Guiana self- government power. Cheddi got majority at the polls and became the first premier. The political scene got nasty and race conflict followed.

Fear of communism
Cheddi continued to pursue his Marksist philosophy and the PNC put its foot down. Hatred grew in the hearts of both sides.

The racial divide
Boycotts, go slows and strikes ruled the day. Then plunder at nights. Fear gripped the nation then followed the final blow- the general strike. The country was at a standstill for 80 miserable days and nights. All suffered.

Black vs Brown
Race hatred spread like wild fire. Accusations, molestations and assaults were leveled at each other. Properties destroyed, injuries and death on a wide scale –Tit- fa tat

Plunder and Mayhem
An infraction by one race led to another by the opposing side. A passenger launch, the Sir Chapman plying the Georgetown-Mackenzie rout was blown up by sabateurs. Loss of many lives.

Sabotage and Murder
The consequences – death and rape to those believed to have been involved in this despicable act- the East Indians. And so the madness reigned and blood ran in the drains. Curfews didn’t help. Law enforcement failed to control this genocide executed Guerrila style. Innocent lives lost. Perpetrators went unpunished. Communities in disarray, set apart by race racial enclaves created. Lives up- rooted. Dream shattered. Forced displacement. Two innocent civilian going home from a cinema show had their brains blown out by security forces –mistaken identity. I saw it all. There they lay sprawled in a pool of blood and brains scattered across the road.

Gone is Friendship
I remember a Black farmer was warned not to enter an East Indian neighbourhood on his way to his farm. He felt safe as he thought those Indian people liked him. He would give them free provisions. But he was death wrong. They beheaded him. I cried for this aged soul.

Bloody Retaliation
In retaliation, in another community an East Indian man went to sell his paddy. He was told not to go but he did, saying the folks there were his friends and on this day he plan to give out charity. Dead wrong. He was dismembered, cart smashed and donkey killed and fed to the dogs.

British Soldiers
And so it went on. Britian, still the mother country was forced to send in the military. They restored some calm, but that was in the physical environment. In offices, field and factory, the discrimination was felt. Both races suffered.

No Scruples
In my community on the west coast of Demerara I witnessed the suffering of people who had their houses torched. One Negro guy, born and bred there, married and lived with an Indian woman and built his house, one board at a time. He had to flee as his house was burnt to the ground and the perpetrators tortured his wife for living with him. She became a cripple.
A well-known station master, a black man like by all, was ordered out of an Indian village. He refused to leave thinking he was safe. Dead wrong. A fire was lit under his house and as he came down to extinguish it he was shot dead. This was heart- rending to me.

Friend or no friend
But what really hurt me was when a buddy of mine, warned me to stay clear from him. He and I slept together. Almost brothers. I called his mother ‘’Mom.’’ He saw me with bloody eyes and bleeding heart. He warned: “I am a black man Abdool, you’re a coolie, stay far or you’ll face trouble.”
And the politicians could just watch as their people cut each other’s throats and destroyed the fabric of social life.
But people assiduously prayed for the return of normalcy and the good Lord answered

New blood leadership
Fresh elections were held and democracy restored. Calm prevailed. The PNC and UF coalition took the fragile ship of state to the shore of independence.

No Repeat
The inhumanity inflicted on all would be remembered by those who lived through it. I did and saw many acts of decadence. It was cruel. It was humiliating and disgusting. We prayed and hoped that there would be no repeat of the early 60’s. Paradise is regained and though racism is still around, it’s in the mind and hearts of just a small number.
The colour of your skin is not the colour of your blood. Let that blood flow pure. Love conquers all. Guyana is on the move. Not Negro and Africa; not Indians and India.

Guyanese
Let’s be thankful for this blessed country. Live and let live. Life is good. He who hates destroys his treasures. Be grateful for your birth, serve your creator and your fellow man The here-after awaits.