Dear Editor,
I read a recent letter in the Chronicle titled “Finally the courage to tell the truth”. I was a bit surprised that a letter with such strong racist stereotyping about crime appeared in the press.
Both sides do their share of robbing. To me – and I have personal experience of this – the difference is in the method. In present-day Guyana, crimes committed by black people tend to be overt, violent; among Indians, the crimes are covert and, in the main, non-violent.
Inflating the price for services by 16/25 times is a wicked, greedy crime, a crime usually committed against naive, trusting, deliberately targeted people.
So is selling sub-standard, faulty goods with no money-back facility; also charging VAT on items that are zero-rated. I only hope that customers insist on receipts for VAT-charged items – at least the taxman should get his slice.
By these non-violent, covert means many people eventually become “successful” and very wealthy. Hard work and education are only part of it. So, let us put “the truth about crime” in perspective.
Many of us overseas-based Guyanese wonder whether one section of the community committing certain crimes against another could be seen as retributive justice.
Yours faithfully,
G. Dennison
