Dear Editor,
Vishnu Bisram and Mike Persaud’s ongoing exchange of letters is an important debate in this country. On the one hand is a man (Bisram) defending ethnic supremacy in an already fractured society while the other (Persaud) is seeking an alternative solution to racial-political destructiveness. Neither the factual reality that Guyana is racially divided nor the depth of that ethnic division should be used to excuse, advocate or support ethnic politics or political power. Nor does the reality that ethnic politics occurs in most societies relieve us of the need to find a solution in Guyana, particularly when Guyana unlike many of those societies remains one of the poorer nations on earth while swimming in an abundance of resources some of those very nations lack. This ethnic mindset needs to change for critical reasons, and those whether African or Indian, trapped in their own ethnic cocoons, must recognize the greater problem in store for a Guyana that continues to align along racial-political lines into the future.
That problem lies in the rising demographic force of Amerindians and Mixed Races, the two fastest growing ethnic groups, while the Indian and African populations are in decline. If Guyana continues to be trapped in a bitter struggle of race politics in the foreseeable future, at some point based on the growth trajectory of the Mixed and Amerindian populations, these two groups will form their own political movements to galvanize their rising presence and growing numerical strength. Both of these groups are a charismatic leader away from ethnic political organization and if or when they do, the implications for Guyana’s future could be a source for concern. Guyana has barely survived the strenuous contest of two ethnic groups (Indians and Africans) struggling for power, how will it possibly manage four ethnic groups (Indians, Africans, Amerindians and Mixed Races) contending for power?
In this environment of intense ethno-politics, the ethno-political agitators are so focused on their own ethnic group’s advancement to the detriment of others, they do not recognize the danger of the logical extension of their position. If this country is to continue to embrace racial politics or if we continue to sink our heads in the sand and adopt the position that racial politics is so inevitable we cannot change it by changing ourselves or challenging those who promote it, we will have a bigger problem on our hands. Even worse, if a dynamic leader (an Obama type) emerges and is able to unite Amerindians and Mixed Races into a single racial-political entity, a political struggle will emerge. Indians and Africans will resist surrendering the political stranglehold they maintain, and Amerindians and Mixed Races galvanised by their rising numerical strength and the knowledge that this growing strength will land them power in the future will not relent once they form their own political association.
Amerindians and Mixed Races were a combined 26% of the population in the 2002 census. Using their growth rate from 1991 to 2002, they are now likely to be 33% and by the 2021 election, they will be over 40% of the entire population. Guyana cannot afford four ethnic groups or three main ethnic groupings competing for power.
The Indian/African ethno-political promoters like Mr Bisram cannot romanticize the notion of the continuation of destructive ethno-politics and proclaim it is here to stay without acknowledging that this will expand with Mixed Races and Amerindians forming their own political brigades. The population is changing, and Guyana, trapped in poverty and battered by corruption and poor governance, does not need the expansion of its ethnic contentions.
Yours faithfully,
M Maxwell
