Several factors have pushed local politics in the direction of race rather than class

Dear Editor,

I identify with the central theme in Mr Dennis Wiggins’s letter published in the Stabroek News and Kaieteur News on February 14 under the separate captions: “The struggle must focus on social democracy, not racial democracy” and “Guyanese should stop pursuing the falsity of racial superiority.” In his letter Mr Wiggins raised the age old question of race and class in Guyanese politics, an issue that will be with us for some time to come.

However, what was very obviously missing from Mr. Wiggins’s letter was the absence of new thinking on this important issue. I dare to raise this because Wiggins to all appearances is an academic. He is clearly not an ordinary letter writer. Because he is a person who I believe genuinely wants to make a positive contribution to this country’s politics, I feel duty bound to say to him that he will not be able to do so if he limits himself to restating old observations. What is clearly needed now in Guyana is new and creative thinking to achieve Wiggins’s stated objective.

Very often, Walter Rodney is injected in the current debate on the political struggle in the country. This is something that is welcome although, sadly, it is done on many occasions with a notable shallowness, which is regrettable. I am doubtful that if Rodney was alive today and had experienced all that we in Guyana have experienced, he would approach the question of race and class in the same way he did in the 1970s. For us to expect otherwise is to treat this scholar and revolutionary as being devoid of the dialectic method.

I have in the past deliberately avoided any serious public discussions on the class struggle and political ideology in Guyana because I am convinced that, given the nature and the ownership of our media houses and their ideological preferences, they will manipulate the debate and very little in the area of consciousness will be achieved. Those who are serious about the lack of working class analysis or working class emphasis in our politics have to objectively deal with the current situation in Guyana since it is not what it was 30 years ago.

If we are to any make sense of the present political situation in the country it is necessary to reflect on what went before. The present situation in which race rather than class dominates Guyanese politics did not just drop from the sky, it came about as a result of the following: (1) A strategic retreat on the class struggle by the social/political forces of the working class/working people, a necessary requirement to win the anti-dictatorial struggle. (2) The weakness of the working class due to declining numbers (3) A weak and ineffective trade union movement (4) Low class consciousness by workers. (5) The end of the cold war between the US and the then USSR; and (6) The new realties of globalization. These are a few of the factors that have contributed to push the politics in Guyana more in the direction of race rather than class. In the struggle to end dictatorship and restore democracy the national interest became primary and the working class or working people’s interest became secondary. To put it another way we emphasised multi- class unity and solidarity. Were we wrong?

Since 1992 we have had 15 years of the PPP/C rule which, by not building true democracy, has failed to consolidate in any meaningful way the gains of the anti-dictatorial struggle. No serious attempt has been made to build a social/political coalition aimed at addressing the historical challenges facing the nation. For example, the failure to bridge the racial divide that exists between Africans, Indians and the indigenous people. Nor has the PPP/C administration attempted to address the question of the restructuring of the national economy for greater economic and social justice for the masses. Having failed to do these things the PPP/C and Guyana became a classic victim of political opportunism. What forces have the PPP/C’s rule strengthened and brought to political, economic and social prominence and dominance? The answer to this question explains the essence of the PPP/C rule’s and the present realities in Guyana. This will influence the way the struggle is fought.

Those who are advocating the need to emphasize class instead of race have their jobs cut out since the situation as it stands, is not promising. It will make more political sense for us to find a balance on the race and class issues in our political struggle. To de-emphasise race and emphasise class is a form of political procrastination. This will militate against our attempts at achieving the stated objective in spite of passionate advocacy.

Yours faithfully,

Tacuma Ogunseye