Dear Editor,
Whenever resolutions, declarations and such things are made and adopted at conventions and conferences on the international stage we sign on to them and follow suit as a matter of formality – not that we truly believe in them, recognizing what they say. But not to be left out, we endorse them to give an impression to the world that we are keeping abreast of them. It is like when we join the world in assisting countries struck by natural disasters, which is good, but then we turn a blind eye to a four-year-old child who is need of medical assistance at home. Do we conveniently forget that charity begins at home? Now take the year 2011 that was designated the International Year of the People of African Descent by the United Nations. Quite apart from the fact that the year went by without any outstanding event that was a big hit at home, most importantly, there was no noticeable difference in the approach and treatment for the betterment of Africans here – not by the state, not even by their own! This is why I often dismiss some of these declarations as ceremonial periods; apart from being nicely written and spouted they remain hollow.
Just look at the photograph on the front page of the Stabroek News of July 5. Besides the bold caption ‘Mazaruni escapees recaptured,’ where you see two men of African descent clad only in trousers, hands shackled behind their backs lying on the ground back to back, with heads resting on each other‘s shoulders and the feet of four policeman standing around with guns visible, written below the photo was: “This photo raises questions about the manner in which the duo was kept.“ Knowing the kind of GPF members who go on these manhunts, one can only imagine what happened after the prisoners were recaptured. Understand that it is no secret why the police force is attracting men with a warped mindset, but isn’t there a right and a wrong in all things, a code of conduct that the GPF must adhere to except in extreme cases?
But my point is this: barely six months after celebrating the International Year of the People of African Descent, we are still witnessing the poor treatment of black people. We continue to hogtie men no differently from what was done in the old days. I thought such actions were proscribed. Brother Bob Marley was so correct; we still haven’t emancipated ourselves from mental slavery, it‘s still all in the mind, and it surely does says much about the psyche of the policemen committing these acts, for people over time become what they constantly do. People ought not to be treated this way, period; it matters not what race you are, or what crime you have committed; it makes us no better human beings to treat others as less than human. It is photos like the one carried in SN that have been posted around the world and have been condemned.
This photo was an abomination, a total mockery of the loud and empty noise about recognizing the International Year of the People of African Descent.
Yours faithfully,
Frank Fyffe
