Dialogue must inform the way forward for Guyana

The Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC) will host its national conversation on improving ethnic relations in Guyana on December 14 and 15. Though I have major qualms with the work (or lack thereof) of the ERC, I’m happy that the commission is finally engaging in some action to, potentially, help Guyanese heal and hopefully, strive for greater unity and harmony. For decades, there has been a pervasive mistrust or even fear of the ‘other’ race or ethnicity in Guyana. I submit that there are persons in positions of influence who capitalise on the mistrust and fear and harness these feelings to secure their interests. I also submit that solidarity exists among these various groups in Guyana but that solidarity, perhaps, is veiled by the perceptions, prejudices, and biases learnt, and yes, the very real and valid hurt and trauma Guyanese have experienced.

This year has been a particularly difficult one for me, not only because of the COVID-19 pandemic. For most of this year, I was daunted by the political occurrences and my perceived inability to do anything to help remedy the situation. I watched on as the political occurrences and quagmires penetrated relationships and racial relations because that’s just how our political culture is set up (I guess). While the coronavirus devastated the socio-economic sphere of life, widening the inequalities and disparities, the political epidemic raged on. Even more personally, it has been difficult for me because relations between myself and persons I considered dear to me became strained and damaged- possibly attributed to, or at least exacerbated by, a disgusting political culture.

I’ve had several conversations with my family members and elders in my community who told me that it is pointless to believe that this landscape in Guyana will ever change. They told me to capitalise on the opportunities presented to me in Trinidad because I’d only be wasting my time trying to do something meaningful in Guyana. But, I disagree. I recognised, many months ago, that I do not wish to accept that this is how life and living in Guyana will always be. I know I have experienced trauma and I have been hurt. Importantly, I acknowledge that I have hurt others and held my own destructive prejudices, perceptions, and biases. I don’t yet know how to reconcile both aspects but I do know that I am willing to listen, speak, and understand how people think and feel. And dialogue, which I’ve floated time and time again in this space, allows that to happen.

From my experiences with dialogue, I’ve seen and experienced how the opportunity to speak and share, without being judged or chastised has allowed people to talk about their trauma and hurt and recognise their shortcomings. It isn’t characterised by the instant ‘call-out’ or ‘cancel’ culture. Instead, it attempts to ‘call-in’ and allows individuals to empathise with each other. It allows for growth and healing, slowly but surely. This month, I started speaking with persons in my predominantly Indo-Guyanese community. Learned biases towards Afro-Guyanese were shared in our dialogue but, importantly, my community members themselves recognised that their feelings were biases and prejudices created stereotypes of an entire group of people, who are just less than half of the population in Guyana. They said that these prejudices and biases stem from real interactions and events, but also acknowledge that it is dishonest to characterise an entire group of people because of these limited interactions.

They also recognised that there are many instances of solidarity between Indo and Afro Guyanese, particularly when they thought about economic inequalities and our shared history. Eventually, they concluded that our political culture and system have a tremendous role to play in perpetuating disharmony. On their own, they were able to navigate these feelings and honestly question their learnt behaviours and perceptions. But do I think that this means that we are now #woke? No, of course not. Just one session of this dialogue could never suffice. It is a start in the direction of healing, interrogating our feelings and hopefully, fostering a culture of harmony, however.

As long as all goes as planned, I’ll be sharing my thoughts on how group dialogue within communities must be an integral part of our efforts to improve race and ethnic relations in our country, at the ERC’s youth forum within the national conversation. My appeals for national dialogue through this column have not fallen on deaf ears and I do hope that this conviction of mine would help to inform national policies geared at fostering national healing and maybe, harmony. And if that is too lofty a goal, I hope that I could encourage other persons to have these conversations with their family, friends, workmates, and/or community members. If you would like to discuss this column or any of my previous writings, please feel free to contact me via email: vish14ragobeer@gmail.com

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