This week I saw crying and smiling faces. I heard talks about despair and talks about victory. I quietly observed while trying not to absorb the energies of tensions hanging in the air. But it is a robot that cannot be touched by the tensions in the air.
This week I listened to several narratives from those who said they won and others who said they also won. I heard debates about validity and invalidity. I watched presidential candidates waiting to be sworn in. I watched political leaders promising to be non-discriminatory. I heard miscreants making threats. I witnessed the actions of those once impartial who have removed their masks and are now licking the boots of their puppet masters. I read the writings of racists who are still pretending to hide.
A political party may assume power, but no one has won. They who have eyes to see will see. They who have ears to hear will hear. It is the Guyanese people who have lost.
This week I watched a video of Facebook personality Guyanese Critic. He is another one of Guyana’s children who appears to be lost. This week he continued to add to the anti-Blackness that seems to me to be prevalent in these Guyana streets. This man, who is in his forties, said: “Black people can’t read” and “Black people don’t read.”
He said the pastors have to read the Bible for their faithful Black followers. He spoke of women being indecently exposed in the church and immoral acts. He also spoke about Black Christians eating grass.
This week he targeted those of African descent. It has been other ethnicities before. The fact that this man has a Facebook following of more than a hundred and forty thousand people is more evidence of our decline.
Sometimes I think I have passed the point of anger and I’m just stuck in a place of disbelief but I know that I am just trying to suppress my anger and fear. These attempts to dehumanise groups of people are excused. These attempts to dehumanise Guyanese are applauded. These attempts to disrespect me as a Black woman are endorsed. Despite the protests that were spurred by his racist comments, at the time of writing he still has over a hundred and forty thousand followers though he lost a few thousand.
This week the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC) failed the Guyanese people again. I could say I was disappointed, but I was not because, sadly, I did not expect more. I questioned the purpose of the Ethnic Relations Commission before. I concluded that it is a deficient organization. It has failed the Guyanese people by failing to make any significant impact. Maybe the commissioners think a movie once in a while like “I am Us” is enough, but have they seen what has been happening in these Guyana streets? Have they visited social media? Have they seen some of the writings in the print media?
I visited their website to investigate exactly what their objectives are. It states: “ERC is a constitutional body with a mandate to promote ethnic harmony and good relations among all Guyanese”.
Sounds wonderful, doesn’t it?
The operations of the Commission are supervised by ten commissioners. Some of the functions are:
● Provide for equality of opportunity between persons of different ethnic groups and to promote harmony and good relations between such persons.
● Promote the elimination of all forms of discrimination on the basis of ethnicity.
● Promote arbitration, conciliation, mediation and like forms of dispute resolution in order to secure ethnic harmony and peace.
● Investigate complaints of racial discrimination and make recommendations on the measures to be taken if such complaints are valid, and where there is justification therefore refer matters to the Human Rights Commission or other relevant authorities for further action to be taken.
Those are just four of the 24 listed on the website.
The ERC issued a ‘stern warning’ to the Guyanese Critic and he was made to apologise. It seems like some people are above reproach in this country. This man tried to defend his comments by saying his words were taken out of context. His words were not taken out of context. But his defence to feeding the divide and contributing to what I see as the anti-Blackness that is prevalent in these Guyana streets tells that he has no remorse.
I know the ERC cannot solve Guyana’s race problems, but what it can do is demonstrate that it is serious about effecting some kind of change. Most of the racist offenders are not being met with any serious penalties. Their behaviours are being bred and we the Guyanese people continue to set ourselves to descend into chaos. But, aren’t we already there?
The time for turning the other cheek when people have disrespected you, has long passed. The Guyanese Critic can keep his forced apology. It is changed behaviour that will prove the sincerity of a man and I have no hope for him.
This week there were protestors on the street. Supporters of the coalition were peacefully protesting because they believe the elections were not credible due to anomalies discovered during the national recount. The police harassed them. COVID-19 measures are still in place, they said and as a result the protestors would be charged. Persons on Facebook referred to them as hooligans. A couple of months ago there were protestors burning tires, damaging vehicles, beating the police and hurting school children in Berbice. A young man also lost his life during the protests. Many sat quietly and did not condemn them.
This week I started thinking about an exit from Guyana. Not next week, not within the next couple months or maybe not even within a year, but I do not see how I can live here if we continue like this. I am disturbed by the double standards in this society. There is no effort to mask them now.
I do not want to share the same space with so many reprobates, but the truth is wherever I go in the world, they cannot be escaped. The thought to refer to another ethnic group by many of the derogatory names I have seen within the last months would never enter the minds of decent human beings. The wish to see harm done to people who have not hurt you, but simply because of their ethnicity, is evil. We have a clan of degenerates in Guyana regardless of which ethnic group they belong to. This needs to stop now.
This week I asked the ancestors for peace in Guyana.
