Dear Editor,
Guiana or Guyana ‒ a femme fatale, she seemed ‒ changed hands from the Dutch to the British, then to the French, and back to the Dutch, then British again, then Dutch once more, and then the British one final time during her 350-year colonial subordination. Quite the coveted prize she seemed, with breasts of lush forests and hips of abundant natural resources and potential.
Unsatisfied with centuries of captivity, Guyana seemed to desire some alone time and self-determination. And after a persistent, convincing appeal, Britain agreed to let her enjoy conditional separation ‒ a decree nisi. She became pregnant with political struggles and racial dis-ease, but despite the complications, she gave birth to offspring adamant that her divorce should become final and binding. On May 26, 1966, the decree absolute was granted. The Union flag was lowered, and the Golden Arrowhead hoisted. It marked the genesis of a new revelation.
Fifty years onward, many questions have been asked about Guyana’s existence post-Britain; whether she had sought, prematurely, to journey on her own without the requisite preparation and resource foundation. Many have posited strong, persuasive views that she would have been better off in her marriage with Britain. Others have proferred the utopian philosophy that the feeling of self-ness is of disproportionately greater satisfaction, despite many setbacks, than the security of dependency.
Whatever the proposition or opposition to her transition from being dominated to self-determination, Guyana has been plagued by myriad challenges, principal among them racial divisiveness. Her development has been stymied by lack of cohesion, lack of vision and an abundance of corruption.
Fifty years have provided the citizens of Guyana and the world an opportunity to appreciate how a beautiful entity with abundant resources and envied potential can be reduced to rubble and unimaginable ignominy; how divorce can lead to polygamy and promiscuity; how slavery can destroy with impunity perpetually.
Guyana for 50 years has been a cesspool. She has begged and borrowed, been aided and bailed out. She has struggled to fashion an identity of her own. No, wait. Jonestown and Roger Khan have gained her notoriety, and a state of ‘dependency’ is her identity.
Until social cohesion and true patriotism become the threads that are woven in our national tapestry, ‘independence’ will never truly be a Guyanese reality. May 26, 2016 is merely an ‘in-dependence’ jubilee.
Yours faithfully,
Alvin Doris
