Dear Editor,
THE August 02, 2018 report, published in the Guyana Chronicle titled, “De Willem promoter home invaded”, is very disturbing to say the least. I am certain that as Guyanese, we would have heard, or been told accounts of hostilities been displayed to citizens of a different race group, whenever they ventured into communities that are populated by a particular ethnic set. This is not the first time, as far as I know that such incidents have been highlighted in the media.

Editor, this is wholly racist, and is inherent of the racial divide that is indeed part and parcel of our country. And, it is has not been helped by the former Peoples Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) government, which its governance policies for over two decades would have nurtured and institutionalised policies that have served to create the groundwork for overt racism, as it is in Guyana. Allied to and aiding and abetting such a dangerous mindset, has been the ethno-cultural supremacists and their organisations, whose numerous statements have underlined and laid bare their unmistaken ideology.

For this incident, with all its dangerous portents that are implicit in the evil message scrawled on the apartment wall of the promoter, to have taken place, speaks of the ever-increasing boldness of the racists that are part and parcel of national life.

This incident may not have been, that is, the racist perpetrator(s) might not have been so bold had the authorities taken the necessary steps since March 2017, when two afro Guyanese Dameion Gordon and Vernon Beckles, both residents of Georgetown were physically assaulted at Canal No. 1 Polder, West Bank Demerara; while having racial remarks hurled at them and being accused of “thiefing rearview mirrors”. In June 2016, six male students of the Guyana School of Agriculture (GSA) at Agriculture Road, Mon Repos, were severely beaten with cutlasses and other objects, even as they tried to explain that they were students of the GSA. Clearly, these were racial attacks, for which the necessary legal action ought to have been taken against those responsible. It would seem that there was charity towards those responsible, all in the name of national unity.

Perhaps, one can understand the spirit of such a decision; but what if there was loss of life?
There is a reality that must be understood. Noone must ever be deluded into believing that racism will dissipate over-night, or in a short time, because of such magnanimity. This in my opinion only emboldens the racist, who interprets such non-action on the part of the authorities to mean that he/she is untouchable, with a misguided self-belief that he/she is correct in his/her prejudices. Racism is about a cultural ideology that is driven by deep seated notions of belief of superiority. It is a moral deficit that is daily inculcated by ethno-cultural racists, as a means of ensuring its daily memory and adherence; and it is not made any easier when there are political power seekers, that along with supremacist groups that propagate such hate and anti-national concepts in the name of ethnic domination. For the latter, it is the end game of political power.

This is the reality, of the monster of racism that such an incident as what occurred at De Willem, Mon Repos and Canal No.1 portrays and should be a reminder to us all.

But I must ask, as a reminder, whoever, or whichever law of Guyana, gives the right of any ethnic group, exclusivity of habitation of any community, to the exclusion of other citizens? And where are the voices of those usual vocals from civil society? No! I do not expect their voices of condemnation; for many of them are part and parcel of the cabal train that supports racism in this country. In fact, show me how many times in any column, especially from May, 2015, whether there have been repudiation of such an ideological evil from any representative, and I will show you when racism ended!

I should add that these incidents are an extension of challenging the presence of African Guyanese in communities that are predominantly populated by Indo Guyanese, even when the former are on official business. Ask many government officers who have been on socio-economic surveys in such communities, and they will relate some very shocking accounts.
This incident should further inform the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC) as to the challenges it faces. I have already advocated the position that the latter body has to begin the conversation with the people, since change has to originate from them; but where, as in the extant case reported in the Guyana Chronicle that there were implicit physical threats – there ought to be legal consequences for whoever is the guilty party.

Regards,
Earl Hamilton