Dear Editor,

This is in reply to letters from Robin Williams (‘Majority of US based Guyanese Support Obama’ SN Sep 18) and Vishnu Bisram (‘According to Gallup Clinton …’ SN Sep 16).

In his letter, Mr Williams claims that a majority of Guyanese Americans support Obama while Mr Bisram claims that almost half the Guyanese in the US do not support Obama. Mathematically speaking, both gentlemen are right because a majority is just over half and the remainder is almost half. But I believe Mr Williams meant a significant majority of Guyanese Americans support Obama. So who is right? It depends on the universe from which they draw their samples. Both Williams and Bisram concede that they did not conduct scientific polls and that is okay.

The universe could contain all Guyanese irrespective of race, or it could be of one race, either Indian or African. If Mr Williams spoke with mostly Africans and came up with findings showing a large majority support Obama and Mr Bisram interviewed Indians and Africans and came up with findings showing a divided electorate, then I am afraid Mr Bisram would be right.

I usually patronize half a dozen Guyanese bars in Richmond Hill.  My conversations with more than a hundred Indo-Guyanese show just two supporting Obama.  Among acquaintances and relatives, Obama has virtually no support.  If Indians make up over 60% of Guyanese in America, then doing the maths, a majority of Guyanese are not backing Obama and Mr Williams’ conclusion would be wrong.  Nationally, surveys find that about 95% Africans are backing Obama and Afro-Guyanese fall in this category.

Asians are leaning towards McCain, but some Indian Americans in Illinois, Georgia, California, Virginia, NY, etc, are backing Obama. Although Indo-Guyanese fall under the Indian American category, different factors condition how they vote from the rest of the Indian population. People are free to support whoever they want and they should not vote on race grounds as they do in Guyana. We must change.

Yours faithfully,
Shivanand Bahadur