Dear Editor,
I can’t stop the screams. Am I a Guyanese? It is a question I have never been able to answer. I can’t stop the shouts: “Go back to your country!” It is a statement I have never been able to answer. Is this my country? Am I a Guyanese?
Since returning to the country of my birth, I’ve been trying to figure out what actually defines a Guyanese. Since repatriating to Guyana a decade ago, I have been haunted by this question: Am I a Guyanese?
I left these shores decades ago. And since returning, many Guyanese have questioned my identity. They tell me that I am not a Guyanese. I don’t think or talk any more like a Guyanese.
I only lived in Guyana a short time before migrating to America. I haven’t been able to struggle with Guyanese. I haven’t contributed anything to my country.
I haven’t suffered like a Guyanese. Therefore, I’m not a Guyanese. They say that I am a more American because I lived most of my life in America and served and protected America.
I sacrificed a quarter of a century of my life to make America safer and a better country by serving in the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Who am I? Am I a Guyanese? Who’s a Guyanese? Because I haven’t lived most of my life in Guyana, does that means I am no longer a Guyanese?
Because I haven’t suffered and struggled with most Guyanese, does that mean I’m not a Guyanese? Who decide who is a Guyanese or not a Guyanese? Does the government decide who is or isn’t a Guyanese?
Does a person have to live all their life in Guyana to be a Guyanese? Are expats Guyanese? Are the Guyanese who migrated to North America and other countries, are they Guyanese? Are the Guyanese in the diaspora, Guyanese?
Why do I have to prove that I’m a Guyanese? Why do I have to have suffered and struggled with other Guyanese to be a Guyanese? Who makes these rules? How much a person have to suffer to be a Guyanese? The fact that I lived in one of the most violent villages (Albouystown) in Guyana before migrating, is that enough suffering to make me a Guyanese? Or is the rules is once you migrate for decades, you are no longer a Guyanese?
Most of my friends and critics believe that once you migrate for decades, you are no longer a “true” Guyanese. According to them, if you didn’t stay in Guyana, you are not a Guyanese.
You don’t have any rights commenting on issues facing Guyanese, and especially if you are still living in the diaspora. Editor, I do not know whether I’m a Guyanese. But I do know it is up to me to answer this question based on how I define Guyanese. I don’t care whether or not anyone thinks I am a Guyanese. I am not about persuading anyone to see how Guyanese I am. I will not battle with anyone over who is a Guyanese.
Sincerely,
Anthony Pantlitz
