The asphyxiation of George Floyd by a police officer in Minnesota, USA late last month, compounded by the almost laissez faire attitude of the authorities towards the crime immediately after, was the proverbial straw that set in motion the current widespread protests against injustice and racism in the United States and other parts of the world. But the angst turned anger in the US clearly did not start with George Floyd. It has been piled on over decades by racially motivated police brutality, extrajudicial killings, and racial discrimination in general, though much of it had previously not been seen. It is today’s readily accessible technology and, more often than not, citizen journalism that serve to fully highlight the problem.
While endemic in the United States, which tends to hold itself up as a lofty example to the world, racial discrimination and injustice also exist elsewhere. Guyanese-born, international superstar Eddy Grant sang about it in 1977, “Race hate mashing up the world”. Too few paid any heed.
In the majority of cases and places, black people are the ones who face discrimination. They are also disproportionately targeted for police attention, and more likely to be falsely accused, wrongly arrested and imprisoned. In fact, black people have been so thoroughly villainized that, unsurprisingly, some believe the narrative and even strive to perpetuate it, so great is their self-hatred.
However, as South Africa’s greatest leader Nelson Mandela noted in his book, Long Walk to Freedom, “No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin…” Indeed, racism, that doctrine which holds that one’s skin colour makes one superior, is learned behaviour. Unfortunately, it is too often taught in the home, overtly in some instances, but also sometimes by parents’ actions, or lack thereof.
And while we stare agog at the now daily happenings in the US, we need to acknowledge that racism is also a huge problem in Guyana, as is racially motivated police brutality. It would be foolish to pretend otherwise. It would also be counterproductive to effectively addressing the monstrosity that is racism to act as if it were merely a generational problem, or purely a political one that only rears its head every five years during elections.
Just a glance at the profiles of people spewing vitriol on social media destroys the myth that the younger generation have entirely moved past denigrating an entire group of people simply because they look different. No, in fact many young people appear to have been nursed on bogus superiority and weaned on race hate. They may not always show it, but it is there, a big ugly stain underneath the posed exterior they present. In the case of Guyana, this unreasonable hatred is also often extended to our First People.
Is race hate in Guyana linked to politics? Yes, it is. It was in their lust for power years ago, that the two oldest and main political parties – the PPP and the PNC – opened the wounds left by our oppressors rather than let them heal. Over the years, they have both continued to use the same playbook, always presenting to their core supporters a candidate who looked like them. That continues up to today. The intended message loudly and clearly received was and is, only the person who looks like you will do right by you. And on the hustings, they preached divisiveness. So, to reiterate, of course there is racism inherent in our politics and the blame for this lies squarely at the feet of the PNC and the PPP.
Meanwhile, over the years, they have roundly condemned each other and have been criticized by others for their modus operandi and on the surface, both parties appeared to have made attempts to change public perception. But it is not now and has never been enough. Furthermore, too many of their supporters pay the same lip service to the concept of one people, one nation, one destiny.
No one is accusing leaders or agents of these parties of deliberately fanning the flames of race hate. But one sees, hears, and reads the slurs tossed, the venom spewed, and the atrocities committed in their names and the names of their parties. And when there is no apology, no punishment, and no acknowledgement by those named that wrongs have been committed, the takeaway is that they are encouraging or condoning such behaviour; or at the very least they find it useful.
Often, the premise of those who condone ugly behaviour is the belief that they can somehow manage it, perhaps switch it on and off as they please. One hopes the situation in the US corrects that naivety. It has been more than 150 years since the ratification of the 13th Amendment formally abolishing slavery in that country and there is still need for an organisation like Black Lives Matter. The race baiting being stoked in Guyana is a slippery slope downhill into mire. If we do not begin the work now to fix this, there will be unintended consequences.
