Dear Editor,
The things I have heard said by people belonging to one ethnic body about another as I move around bodes no good. And if it is that the opposite side – which unfortunately I’m not so close to on a daily basis to be able to fathom their thoughts or pick up the vibes as we say ‒ is in any way similar in thought, then I’m afraid “social cohesion” is in big trouble; yes siree, we are in for a long haul. I make bold to say that which ought to be palpable to all by now, that there is not any “wellspring of togetherness.” There are some obvious not so nice things which are rather discomfitting, and which ought not to be if we seek to break from an unpleasant past. Reverting to practices that are unhealthy is counterproductive; rehashing bad old times keeps us stagnant; we need to find and do things that are much more reassuring. So true the saying that those who do not remember the past are likely to repeat it.
The Stabroek News editorial ‘Yellow and green’ of February 15 was dead on target; profound and straight-up. I love it for telling it like it is. Like so many others I’ve long spotted the psychology of the now ubiquitous yellow and green for political mileage at the national level and with the use of taxpayers’ money – come on! They should be an example and not condemn the predecessors and then make a carbon-copy of what they had done. It is so frightening when we become that which we have condemned. I’m all in head and shoulders with Stabroek News: that “all shades of political and other spectra be incorporated into every aspect of the beautifying of the city and the cleansing of the collective consciousness”. Will we not stop being partisan petty?
Thus social cohesion is in trouble. The four horsemen ‒ crime, poverty, ignorance and disease ‒ which the President identified as stumbling blocks to nation-building demand really sound programmes and work, for they are all well rooted and cannot be wished away. This is why it is necessary that those in the vanguard be an example and walk the talk; cleaning the drains, city and the country is all well and good, but let us not forget the cleansing of the soul. A new type of thinking is necessary or else all will be of no avail, just a futile and “fleeting illusion”. Are we pretending to be blind? The race question is no ‘play’; it is before our very eyes every day in all shades. Almost half the population is pensive while the other half seems amused – is that something to smile about?
A good way of gauging our unity and harmony is by observing our attendance at national events and other social, community and regional activities – excluding religion and cricket. Take, for example, the just concluded calypso competition; was it reflective of our people across race? No Sir, it was not. And it’s very heartening that the President has recognised it by his recent remarks: “The results of May 2015 elections, I do not regard as a victory… for one side to win 207,000 votes and the other 202,000 votes is not a grand victory…[it is] an opportunity for… a contract to cooperate and understand that working together… is the formula of the future.”
We have opportunists, political activists, agents and other senior functionaries who are not really interested in mending any racial divide; in fact some of their actions are intensifying it, just adding fuel. Ms Ryhaan Shah, as always never one to gloss over, has a point in noting that unseating the “apocalyptic horsemen” is no piece o’cake; “they might even gain added impetus in the long run” if we’re just “playing”, hence we have to see the use of only yellow and green as ridiculous. Sure we are stuck in a “racial/ethnic divide which underlies all of Guyana’s ills” as stated by Ms Ryhaan Shah. If you ask me I’m beginning to think that the Department of Social Cohesion has the biggest challenge above all else in this land that remains racially divided. And I have to add my two bits about the flippancy with which the Speaker of the National Assembly dealt with the issue of the use of yellow and green during the budget debate was not proper or reassuring. The issue “should not be dismissed as a jaundiced view or sour grapes”; it is a big question that matters. The opposition Chief Whip was smack-on when she rose to check him on a point of order, informing him that the colours of her party are also colours of the national flag. To his credit he showed his mental nimbleness in regaining his foothold where a slip of the tongue had gotten the better of him. In realising that she was onto something and probably also, as I think, that the debate might be being televised abroad, he was quick on the draw in switching off her microphone.
Editor, I need to quote from the last paragraph of the editorial mentioned above which is as solid as a rock: “For all of its lofty and high-browed declaration of the importance of the 50th Independence anniversary celebrations, the governing coalition has to show greater recognition of how to give meaning to being all inclusive and not allowing historic fault lines to trip it up.” Sadly it has and will continue to do so unless… The young woman in the calypso competition sang lustily and confidently “in David Arthur Granger I have hope”. She has placed all her eggs in his basket, convinced that there is a new dawn. Let’s hope that “Soldier Boy” isn’t cooking with smoke causing her to despair.
Yours faithfully,
Frank Fyffe
