My friend wished me “Happy Election-versary” earlier this week, a joking reminder of how mentally draining Elections 2020 was and how we both shared our fear and anxiousness during the impasse that followed the voting.
Both of us, though physically miles away from home still somehow managed to be affected by the chaos and tension that ensued. I had developed a simple sentence to respond to commentary and remarks, “I am trying my best not to play into narratives”. It felt like the best thing to say to guard my mental health and to not get overwhelmed by the negative stereotypes that came attached to many of these remarks.
Growing up as what many would call a “dougla” you are always somehow expected to choose a side and chime in with the ugliest stereotypes to beat the other side in order to prove your loyalty to the race group. During the election period this intensifies tenfold.
The casualness with which we insult each other to ensure our side looks good leaves me seriously pained emotionally. I am disturbed and depressed by it. I shudder to think what happened to those who experienced such in their families, relationships and workplaces and had to go back to facing each other on the daily.
I have never thought about our national motto as much as I did in the last year. I have never thought about my life experiences as much as I did in the last year
One People, One Nation, One Destiny, we boast.
The more I think about it the more resentful I feel towards it at times. Not because I dislike Guyana, but because it is such a farfetched slogan. It seemingly points to us all having the same stories, the same history, the same cultures, the same beliefs without truly understanding how our differences shape our reality. The motto always gets thrown into internet fights as a rebuttal for those who dare to share their individual “one people” story, which in almost all cases varies dramatically.
We lump everyone together hoping that they will just dissolve into one another and create a whole new fresh identity but that doesn’t work. I am your case in point. Our experiences are different and failure to acknowledge this, appreciate this, will always see us five steps behind. Failure to accept and acknowledge our different stories/truths will drive us further down the road of dehumanizing each other. Elections will always be painful; everyone will always try to fight off the fear of being excluded and fall prey to voicing stereotypes of the other. We are already miles apart even if we are physically close when it comes to our understanding of each other. How can this ever be One People? How can brushing over everyone with one story truly answer Guyana’s racial insecurities?
The time for photo-ops and carefully worded racial harmony speeches has expired. It is not enough to say get over it. It is not enough to say we should just forget what took place last year. It is not enough to assume everyone is supposedly happy going back to their lives after so much psychological trauma has been inflicted upon them.
Things simply can’t go back to regular programming. We should tend to our wounds and perhaps use this anniversary to not just laugh off the jokes we make about Guyana not being a real place, but rather seek to actively interrogate how we constantly end up in the same position, always divided and still viewing our politicians as our gods.
