Dear Editor,
The unswerving truth is that Guyana is an ethnically polarized and racially divided nation. Unquestionably, racism and ethnic discrimination and prejudice exist in Guyana. The greatest problem with racism in Guyana is not its political underpinnings or its institutional manifestation but its psychological imprint upon the individual. This psychological imprint and conditioning is the basis for our current dilemma regarding race.
This is a nation that largely teaches, inculcates, encourages or stands wilfully blind to race-based ideologies, perceptions and views along with separation and distinction with impunity. Children are actively taught or passively learn stereotypes, generalizations and other questionable behaviours from elders. Common stereotypes are expressed in many forms to malleable minds. These behaviours have persisted throughout generations and form the backbone of our current psyche and condition. It is a remnant of our history harking back to when following abolition the plantation masters attempted to break the front of blacks demanding better wages for work by bringing in indentured servants most of whom had no clue that they were being utilized to crush the black labour pool that was trying to obtain better pay. The plantation owners actively reinforced stereotypes and generalizations among both groups to ensure the divide and rule pattern worked to keep the means of production producing and their profits churning in. Imagine a situation of two highly paranoid, wary and uneducated groups operating in the middle of a simmering labour dispute. In the end, the owners left and the sons of slaves and indentured servants were left with a terrible legacy of ascribing blame and continuing the learned behaviour of racial hatred. This was not a problem of our making but a problem made for us. We are not the manufacturers of this debacle but its actors and the sum of its parts. It is indeed tragic that this history that was shaped for us by forces beyond our control continues to shape us and divide us. It is a travesty that our future was determined for us by those that have since left us to rot in the ignominy of our hate, suspicion and mistrust. Maybe we cannot completely blame our ancestors, former slaves and indentured servants battling for basic survival and incapable of seeing the glare of truth. We can completely blame the men whom we revere as great leaders who had a choice and made the wrong ones for the sake of self and ideology. They ensured the perverse perseverance of a broken psyche when they had glorious opportunities to fix it.
Our nation has been created on a condition of discrimination; from slavery to colonialism to political independence to present. This is the oldest problem of our nation. It is the oldest learned psychological behaviour of our ancestors. There are really only two things that can engineer any substantial change in Guyana for the forseeable future. These are changes we can actually fulfil without radically upsetting the established dynamics of our nation. These two changes would be our education system and our economy. Re-education of our children is probably the most effective way to ensure they learn tolerance and appreciation from an early age and create an altered future. Re-education in schools, homes, NGOs, civic institutions and at community level about how appreciation, tolerance and unity in diversity can bring about profound change. A fundamental change in how Guyanese people think about race is what is necessary. The media would probably play the biggest role in this regard. The second major stimulus for change would be a change in the economic landscape. That is nothing more than a utopian dream at this time. However, if Guyana is to find oil in commercial quantities and is able to establish a sound economic platform, we may see an incentive to change since the struggle over limited resources would likely be alleviated. There would be less incentive for race-based decision-making in allocating scarce resources. These two factors are the only real hopes for this nation to find a path of change with respect to race. The political parties offer no hope whatsoever. Given the current state of both of these factors, I would safely surmise that Guyana’s race problems are here to stay and will not change for the forseeable future.
Yours faithfully,
Michael Maxwell
