Dear Editor,
Race relations are not an issue in everyday life in Guyana. At the end of the day, we are all Guyanese. We live side by side, we work together, we eat together, we laugh and ‘lime’ with one another without even a second thought as to the person’s ethnicity.
During the elections campaign, the issue of race is underhandedly used. This is primarily due to the fact that one of the major parties was born with the majority of its support base being Indian, not necessarily because of racist views, but rather out of an honest struggle for a better life. The other party, on the other hand, was born from the majority of its support base being African-Guyanese, still not because of racism, but rather uniting for a particular cause at a time when it was needed most.
Since then, for generations, the idea has been passed down that supporting the political party of one’s ‘ancestors’ is the only chance to attain a better way of life. Unfortunately, it has so happened that the race issue became involved, and it has become almost the primary influence when it comes to voting, especially with the older generation. The political leaders are very familiar with this ideology, and subtly use this as a card in their favour. Because of the long-standing presence of just a few political parties in Guyana, it is rather easy to polarize the voting population.
However, recently, we have seen several attempts to widen the political arena with the birth of a couple of new political parties, and hopefully, this will significantly increase our chances of getting out of this divisiveness, and into a situation that calls for us to begin to think for ourselves and learn to choose from more than two options.
Basically, racial tension from time to time happens in Guyana, but nothing nearly as intense as in the US and the UK. Racism is not a major problem in Guyana. It is just that around election time we observe some racial tensions, but even then it is not a party affair. The 2006 election was violence-free.
Look at what is going on in Sri Lanka. They are killing their own people for land. Even in the years gone by Rwanda comes to mind, where they massacred their own people because of tribal hatred. The US jail cells are packed with Blacks and Hispanics, and the list goes on.
Thankfully, the younger generation has begun to realize that ethnicity does not make a difference when it comes to the question of having integrity in office.
Yours faithfully,
Amar Singh
