Dear Editor,
Please permit me space to respond to two rebuttals to my most recent column, “Privilege in building economic wealth.” I thought about whether a response was necessary. I have no history of responding to pieces such as these – however, I had some time and wanted to touch on a few things of interest. I’ll respond first to Narissa Deokarran, who spoke on the “personal opinions’’ she saw in my column. I am curious as to what Ms. Deokarran believes a column is? It is by all definitions, a space where persons offer personal commentary on the issues that affect us as a society. Unlike Ms. Deokkaran, I do not suffer under the guise of objectivity. As mentioned in a previous column, I believe objective truth to be “very subjective and dependent on who is telling the tale. It is shaped by one’s beliefs and motivations.”
As a Black woman with Indigenous heritage, living in a society where family members, friends and those looking like them are systematically targeted, my motivations lay in contextualising those experiences and their impacts on us. I did mention that due to power between groups being fluid, “all ethnic groups face some sort of bias and economic turmoil.” This however, does not negate the privileges that certain groups have over others based on their ethnic makeup, which is often tied to their class status. I am not certain of Ms. Deokkaran’s background, what is evident however, is the way that she utilises tropes. There are numerous studies on the higher incarceration rates Blacks face and the reasons why. I would urge Ms. Deokkaran to reflect on her own inherent biases so that the veil of objectivity can fall once and for all.
True, public service personnel such as the police and those in the judicial systems are primarily Afro-Guyanese. However, understanding the colonial genesis of these institutions will make it apparent that even those who are Black can buy into anti-Black beliefs and stereotypes. As it relates to statistical/credible sources to back up these claims, were Ms. Deokarran not so committed to her own standard of truth, she would do her own work in researching the foundations and effects of anti-Black ideologies and policies in Guyana. With a background in sociology and economic theory at the undergraduate level, and my current studies in economic policies and social welfare at the Masters level, my work is easily provable.
Second, I’ll respond to a Kaieteur News columnist, Freddie Kissoon. I always find it funny whenever Freddie tries to portray himself as being objective and logical. What Freddie paints as being a “shocking discourse on race relations in Guyana,” says a lot. My writing was in fact, quite tame and merely a succinct assessment of the realities that exist. He wrote about my reluctance to analyse the role of the PNC in my commentary. Were Freddie as learned as he often posits himself to be, he would recognize that anti-Blackness is the foundation upon which power rests in Guyana, regardless of which party holds the throne. Much like how anti-Black and anti-poor beliefs and policies shaped and continues to direct the rule of the PPP/C from its genesis to now, so too did anti-Black and anti-poor beliefs and policies shape the APNU/AFC coalition’s brief stint in office. I have said this quite clearly in several columns.
Sincerely,
Akola Thompson
