Dear Editor,
Reference is made to “Defining the Diaspora, Socio-Cultural Implications … from “Little Guyana” (Sept 10). The scope or main point of the article is not clear. It is not quite focused, lacking a thesis. The writer is, however, right in penning that the impressions created by non-Guyanese in visiting Richmond Hill (Little Guyana) is an incomplete description of what is the Guyanese diaspora. The theoretical construct of the term is misunderstood by non-academics and government policymakers. Those of us who study Diasporas and sociology (of migrant and ethnic groups) may have a better understanding of it. Not every Irish or Italian or German or English is considered as belonging to the diaspora of their home nation although they are so labeled. The same is true of Guyanese abroad.
The term diaspora is used loosely by laymen who don’t study and write on the concept, referring to every migrant as ‘diaspora’. Not every individual who migrated abroad from a nation is considered as diaspora of it, not by academics anyway. One is only considered a member of the diaspora when one demonstrates or shows some kind of interest in and connectivity with the former homeland. This is generally effected by belonging to an organization that has connectivity with the homeland – that engages in some kind of activity of interest to the former homeland. The feature is connection with or linkage back home (mother land) for one to be diaspora. If there is no linkage, the person is not a member of the diaspora, but a regular migrant.
The writer states that the South American non-Guyanese who visits Little Guyana (Richmond Hill) noted that the Guyanese he encountered are not Latinos, Blacks, Whites or Asians (meaning Mongoloids). The demographic change and co naming of Richmond Hill as Little Guyana would baffle anyone. The coining of the term “Little Guyana” was initiated by a Trinidadian Vassan Ramracha who played a significant role in the struggle against the Guyanese dictatorship from the 1970s thru 1990s. He would lead a small group of us to Richmond Hill on leafletting and protest exercises in the area. He started usage of the term in the late 1970s and it has remained till this day. The people one would mostly encounter in Little Guyana are ethnic Indians from Guyana, Trinidad, India (Panjabis) who dominate the area.
Before Indian Trinis and Guyanese moved into greater Richmond Hill, the area was peopled largely by Italians and Irish, both of who were initially reluctant to sell to Indians, and they made it publicly known. After an initial breakthrough of purchasing homes by Indians, the community changed rapidly. By 1990, over 200,000 Guyanese and Trinis (almost all Indians) settled in the greater Richmond Hill area. Like Italians and Irish, Black Americans also had their own separate neighbourhoods in Jamaica and in outer Richmond Hill and South Ozone. The Germans also had their own ethnic neighbourhoods in Woodhaven and Maspeth/ Glendale as did Jews who had concentrated in Forest Hills/Kew Gardens. Some areas were very elitist and Caucasian with homeowners even refusing to sell to or welcome other Whites not of their nationality.
As Indians moved into the areas, Whites rapidly began selling out and moving to Long Island or exclusive zones in Florida and other states. Indians also began buying out homes of African Americans. The demographics changed. Much of greater Richmond Hill, Ozone, and other neighbourhoods are now dominated by Indian Guyanese and Trinis. Trini and Guyanese Indians are even buying out the homes of African Americans in Jamaica, Rosedale, and other Black neighbourhoods because of the shortage of homes in Little Guyana. Indian Guyanese from Little Guyana are moving to Long Island, considered a prestige area for residency. Indian Guyanese homeowners are selling out to Panjabis.
The writer makes reference to a Bob Marley accent. I am not familiar with any Bob Marley like accent in Little Guyana. The Guyanese and Trini accents are quite different from that of Jamaicans. Journalist Ray Cavanaugh, referenced by the writer, is right that the Caribbean Indians have their own inflection of English. The writer of this diaspora article is also right that those who reside in Little Guyana is not an accurate reflection or composition of the Guyanese diaspora in America. The Guyanese diaspora, like the Trinidadian and perhaps a few others, is much divided. It is not like the Italian or Irish or Korean or Japanese or Nigerian or Mexican diaspora. There is not one Guyanese diaspora but several Diasporas. The diaspora is a replication of the racial composition Guyanese population at home.
There are Indian, African, Portuguese, Chinese, and Amerindian Guyanese diaspora. But only Indians and Africans would be considered ‘true Diasporas’ (in terms of the scholastic definition of the term). The Portuguese, Amerindians, and Chinese and those who label themselves as Mixed Guyanese do not have ‘organized’ communities or ethnic neighbourhoods like the Indians and Africans. In fact, only Indians have distinct neighbourhoods (Little Guyana’s) in New York, New Jersey, Florida, and a few other locations with their mandirs, masjids, churches, businesses (ethnic shops, bakeries, restaurants, fast foods, etc.) and offices (lawyer, real estate, banking, etc.). And besides being members of the Guyana Diasporas, many Indian and African Guyanese have diasporic linkage to India and Africa. Many Indians, including this writer, are involved in tracing roots and engaged in connectivity activities to help ancestral villages (Gao) in India and lobbying the US government on behalf of India.
One is not aware of tension in Richmond Hill in the creation of ‘Little Guyana”. Trinis were at the ceremony as were Panjabis. The Italians, Irish, Germans and other ethnic Whites have moved on. No group is prohibited from creating its own diasporic community or ethnic neighbourhood or “Little Guyana” in any part of the country. There is ‘Little Panjab’ and ‘Gurudwara Way’ in the heart of Richmond Hill and soon the sign will go up for “Little Trinidad” on Liberty Avenue.
Sincerely,
Vishnu Bisram