Dear Editor,
Mr Frederick Kissoon noted in a letter (KN August 26) that, amongst other things, I am an “Indian supporter of Indian dominion in Guyana” because I did not call the Jagdeo regime for what it is. And like other Indians, I am in a “prison,” etc.
1. In 2008, I volunteered with the Obama campaign during the summer and into the fall in the swing state of Michigan. On election day, I worked as a Democratic challenger at one polling station. As a challenger, I am entitled to challenge any vote cast, and question the decision of the Chief Election Officer on site.
2. During the campaign season, I, a brown man, went through white, Republican neighbourhood asking them to vote for a black candidate. This is not in New York City, but in the Mid-West, indeed in the same town where Mr Malcolm X’s father was thrown onto the train tracks and killed. When Mrs Hillary Clinton made her first two stops in Michigan for then Senator Obama, I was in a white, farmland area unfriendly to Blacks. Few Blacks turned up; I did.
3. As the Vice-President of a law school chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the largest and most vocal civil liberties union, I helped organize voter registration drives for students, etc. We in the ACLU know well, already doing battle in the courts of Michigan and elsewhere, that elections are won and lost in courtrooms and via dirty tactics on election day.
It was because I studied the election law well, that I was prepared on election day for anything, and ensured that about two dozen voters who would have otherwise been turned away or given provisional ballots (not counted until after elections, if at all), voted. Most were African Americans because they happen to be the least prepared or least informed voters, for obvious socio-political reasons.
With the exception of Ohio, once Mr John McCain, the Republican contender, said he was withdrawing from Michigan, the Mid-West was won. I can tell Mr Kissoon that on that day, in freezing cold weather, the kind he experienced in Canada, I was on the trail at 7 am, hours before Mr Obama was scheduled to appear for a speech at the Michigan State University campus.
4. During the height of the election, with enough to do, I volunteered and single-handedly edited and designed a magazine for our school’s chapter of the Black Law Students Association, which celebrated this “historic” moment. I did so freely to meet a deadline, while African American students were “prepping” for exams.
5. I saw the campaign somewhat from the inside. I regret having to state these things but Mr Kissoon should keep the peace if he has nothing constructive to offer. Given his status, he should set the example and not scapegoat people because of a difference in ideas. Clearly, he is ignorant of the person he attempted to scapegoat.
Further, his writings on elections are very deficient; he ignores too much that is critical and only repeats well-known voting attitudes. If anything, his writing will promote and not reduce race-voting.
Truly, Mr Obama ran an extraordinary campaign machine that eliminated old mannerisms, such as campaigns only in traditional Democratic states (as opposed to all US states). But above all else, he had a detailed plan. I watched him change his speech to address core concerns for differing audiences. The man went into rough, Republican areas and pitched his plan.
In Guyana, the opposition has never pitched any plan in Indian areas. It has no plan or talks of security concerns or democratic reform issues. Mr Robert Corbin is the only one who attempted to build some bridges. That aside, we had as the senator would say: more of the “same old”: flinted cup versus withered palm tree.
One does not need polls or to speak of demographics; as long as Indians are voting they must be approached if the opposition is to be competitive. Study their voting ethics. Correct past errors. Et cetera. And until it can offer a detailed plan to Indian voters, the opposition cannot compete and nothing will change.
Calling the Jagdeo regime corrupt and incompetent (which is the truth) publicly is not a challenge for me; it may score some political points in the press, but it does not reflect who I am and certainly does not invite voter reform, which is why I take the time and effort to write these days.
Yours faithfully,
Rakesh Rampertab