-community dialogue told
Using education to bridge cultural and religious divides was among the strategies identified when East Coast community leaders met yesterday to agree on policies to foster integration.
Recognising the need to build respect and trust among the ethnic groups, the participants at the final Inter/Intra-Community Dialogue meeting, held at the Annandale Secondary School, emphasised the need for parents to eschew racism in the home and to nurture tolerance in the schools.
Since June, 29 meetings, jointly sponsored by the ERC and the UNDP, have been held along the East Coast to promote understanding, acceptance and tolerance among ethnic groups. Forging solidarity among African and Indians in the area was particularly emphasised, in light of the tensions and insecurities heightened by the massacres at Lusignan and Bartica at the start of the year. Around 1200 people participated and representatives who participated at the previous meetings met yesterday to review their recommendations to improve race relations and identify strategies for their implementation.
ERC Chairman Bishop Juan Edghill told the participants that surveys at the meetings found that a lack of education, especially among young people, was one of the obstacles to a united Guyana. There was also the wrong education: “Parents are teaching racism,” Edghill said. Other obstacles included racial animosity and the discrimination based on racial and religious differences, as well as the disunity sowed by fighting among political parties. Social problems, like drug and alcohol abuse as well as the lack of strong leadership and good role models were also cited.
Among the recommendations was the need to address the fear, mistrust and stereotypes in homes, places of worship, schools and in the media. Among the strategies floated was educating young people at home, which participants agreed would be replicated in other institutions in the community. An older man recalled that in his youth, there was tolerance among all the races, and attributed it to the respect inculcated in the home. He said: “Education is the pillar of society and it starts in the home.”
A woman said parents need to let their children view each other as neighbours. “We have to tolerate each other,” she said, “And allow the children to mix. She added that parents should encourage their children’s curiosity about other cultures. She added that they should recognise their responsibility for socialisation in the home and embrace the socialisation taking place in the school. On the latter point, she talked about being in a choir during her days in school and recalled the mixing of the races across racial and religious lines.
Another woman said teachers ought to be sensitised during their training and be prepared to deal with cultural plurality, while another participant said it would serve no use if the education curriculum does not pay attention to the country’s cultural diversity.
Education was also seen as important to erasing any religious divides. As one participant noted, many of the religious groups do not know much about each other’s religions and he suggested that an inter-religious dialogue be promoted on an ongoing basis. Another person said religious integration ought to be organised top down by the Inter-religious organisation, which should adopt a top down approach aiming to affect change at the community level. “If we respect each other,” he explained, “we can begin to see each other equally.”
The meetings also recommended that politicians should set good examples regarding racial issues, since they contribute to the division among the people. One man said when political leaders are elected they need to understand that they represent the country, not a particular group of people. “If leaders set the right pace, everything else will follow.”
While a major recommendation from the meetings was “letting go,” one participant questioned its vagueness. He added that if it meant history, it was not a valuable approach since it is important to retain history to guide the future. Taking up the proposal, another participant talked about not being resented for decisions made by his forefathers. He said while some people chose to buy cars, others chose to buy cows. He explained that those with cars found that they could not maintain them, while those with cows ended up with more cows. “We shouldn’t hate each other for our fore-parents’ choices,” he said, “We have to let go.” Edghill himself said it was important to let go of hatred, not history. He said letting go is premised on an acceptance of injustice, in order for there to be closure.
The removal of “Indo” and “Afro” labels used to identify the two major ethnic groups was also recommended and a participant said Guyana could learn from Trinidad, which has a similar racial composition. “There are no Indo-Trinis or Afro-Trinis. They are Trinidadians. We are Guyanese!”
Harnessing sports as an avenue to bridge disunity was another recommendation and participants urged more facilities to develop this strategy.
Edghill said the outcome of the final meeting would be compiled in a report that he hoped would be submitted to the National Assembly before year end. He said the report would help political leaders to understand the problems citizens on the East Coast are facing and to design strategies to deal with them.
