THE most race-based and xenophobic comment I ever read in this country was contained in a commentary in the April 7, 2019 issue of the Kaieteur News by General-Secretary of the Trade Union Congress, Mr. Lincoln Lewis. With 55 years of social and political activism and 35 years in journalism, I never saw anything like that in Guyana.

It was a brutal rejection of the influx of Venezuelans in Guyana in which they were treated to a rejectionist condemnatory insult involving culture, race and language. At the time I shared a good relation with Lewis but my reply two days after put an end to our relationship.

At the time, I shared a good friendship with Mr. Christopher Ram but that ran into trouble when a video clip of an interview Ram did with Lewis on my reply to Lewis was sent to me. Ram made me the subject rather than Lewis. Ram failed to condemn Lewis for one of the most repugnant expressions of xenophobia displayed in Guyana. Ram with an expansive smile in reference to me told Lewis: “But he is your friend nuh?” Read Lewis’ commentary and see the tape with the interview.

Since that year, I have had confrontations with all sorts of Guyanese in my columns and on the Freddie Kissoon-Gildarie Show on their indecent and racist attitude to people seeking a better life from other countries of the world in Guyana, one of the world’s most under-populated lands. In those columns, I have maintained a refrain which I repeat here.
Here it is – the last nationality in the world that should reject economic refugees is Guyanese. One out of every five persons in New York City is a Guyanese. One of every four Antiguans is a Guyanese. Former Barbados Prime Minister, David Thompson, decided to round up illegal Guyanese in Barbados and to the surprise of Guyanese, the numbers were in the hundreds in a county of 166 square miles. Some of the most famous Guyanese names in its history chose not to live here.

Shiv Chanderpaul, Clive Lloyd, Rohan Kanhai, Sir Shridath Ramphal, the children of Forbes Burnham, the children of Cheddi Jagan, the children of Yesu Persaud, the children of Hamilton Green, the families of some of the most famous names in Guyana past and present, whether in business, politics and every other conceivable career have settled in foreign lands.

Here is an example that mentally destabilised me at the time. A top politician was on the Freddie-Kissoon- Gildarie Show and was emotional about curtailing the influx of Venezuelans. Gildarie and I escorted him out the studio and chatted next to his car. Now, try not to drop dead when you read the next line. He told us his son don’t like Guyana and has settled in Canada and his daughter migrated to New York.

In my reply to Lewis, I did point out to him that his family lives in the US. What is the point? We, Guyanese should be the last to reject humans in search of a better life. We have gone all over the world in search of a meaningful existence, in pursuit of happiness.

Two Venezuelan refuges were made to strip naked and publicly paraded. I can’t comment further because it is now a court case. But Gildarie and I are willing to be generous to these two souls. My cell is 614-5927. My email is fredkissoon@yahoo.com I leave you as I did with my October 1 column, with Elton John’s philosophical song.

Circle of life – Elton John
Verse 1]
From the day we arrive on the planet
And blinkin’, step into the sun
There’s more to see than can ever be seen
More to do than can ever be done
Some say, “Eat or be eaten”
Some say, “Live and let live”
But all are agreed as they join the stampede
You should never take more than you give

Chorus]
In the circle of life
It’s the wheel of fortune
It’s the leap of faith
It’s the band of hope
‘Til we find our place
On the path unwinding
In the circle, the circle of life

[Verse 2]
Some of us fall by the wayside
And some of us soar to the stars
And some of us sail through our troubles
And some have to live with the scars
There’s far too much to take in here
More to find than can ever be found
But the sun rollin’ high
Through the sapphire sky
Keeps great and small on the endless round

Chorus
In the circle of life
It’s the wheel of fortune
It’s the leap of faith
It’s the band of hope
‘Til we find our place
On the path unwinding
In the circle, the circle of life