Dear Editor,
I say it is doable. To restate the obvious, to come anywhere near anything remotely resembling social cohesion calls for (demands) a sustained uphill herculean effort. It is at once a political effort, a leadership effort, and a community and national effort.
There must be an understanding of what is involved here. Social cohesion in Guyana is an undertaking with one hand tied behind the back, blindfold fully in place, muzzle securely strapped on, and every conceivable shackle drawn tightly in all the wrong places. That is, it suffers from every handicap that could thwart and bring low. Do we aspire to go down such a road?
Still, I believe that social cohesion ‒ ethnic regard, racial harmony, national unity ‒ is achievable when there is the heart and will and soul to search and reach for what is truly different, what is right.
Social cohesion begins through admitting that all of us have condoned the ugliness that separates by our silence, inaction, hesitancy, cowardice, and retreat; and by our loud (or quiet) contributions to the alchemy that enslaves. Amends can be made for participating in the deterioration of all that is decent by shedding old scales and skins and stepping forward to light a new way one individual candle after another, one at a time.
Social cohesion can occur when there is a transparent, credible meritocracy in jobs, advancement, scholarships, contracts, housing, and the whole works. No one should be in a position to claim justifiably of being cheated because of race or place or political history. Meritocracy can go far in silencing critics, and enlightening the suspicious.
Social cohesion can flicker when losers are not made to feel like losers, and winners do not insist on flaunting their victorious moment under the sun. It is a revolving sun; it can be deceptive, too. Hence, it timely to recall that gem of Lord Morley’s: “Politics is one long second-best, where the choice often lies between two blunders.”
Social cohesion gains traction when the scattered multitude of public servants of one colour refrains from assuming a distinctive superiority of attitude, or desists from subtle recriminatory withholding of attention, effort, and services to those of another hue. The multiplier effect knows no restraints and continuing ethnic erosion is the sorry result. Already, this unsettling phenomenon has been observed, commented upon, and reported upon rather caustically. There might appear to be plausible deniability, but the ethnic stew is further brined to the point of indigestible bitterness and collective consternation.
Social cohesion is seeded and watered and fertilized when it soars beyond the obstinate and toxic whether man, or comrade, or leader, or party, or ideology, or culture and way of life. It is about banishing a national shame through generating national revulsion against individual retardation and this societal sickness that oozes and putrefies.
Principled, thoughtful citizens must be ready to avoid and condemn the many that engage in, and contribute heavily in making racial cleavage and ethnic animosity the secret favoured indoor sport, even a delightful one. It is about the honourable few taking a determined stand against the racists, racialists, and racial injustice. It is about uprooting the smug unrepentant comforts derived from either blatant or camouflaged racism. Who cares to stand against the rushing local wind and punishing racial tide? Who?
Social cohesion will only take some outline and form when there is the abiding interest, the intellectual energy, and the purity of character to recognize the great peril that transforms political differences and political choices into unremitting personal hostility and hatred.
Social cohesion will only follow from remoulding minds, reengineering expectations, and rebuilding from the top down and the bottom up simultaneously. This arguably most vital component of social continuity is deserving of serious sustainable involvement and commitment from all stations in life here. The past and present must be undone, if only to redo the future.
Last, social cohesion can be an impossible dream. It just might also be a reachable star. Psalm 127 cautions that “Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman keeps awake in vain.” Are there believers? Are there those ready to be contributors?
Yours faithfully,
GHK Lall