Dear Editor,
Congressman Jeffries of the U.S. House of Representatives is scheduled to meet with leaders of the Opposition party, PNC on Sept 27th in Washington, D.C. Congressman Jeffries is the Minority Leader and is very close to President Biden. He is potentially a major influencer and has a lot of clout. Guyanese should welcome Congressman’s “intervention” into Guyana’s over-racialized politics. If Mr. Jeffries is not prepared to stay involved as an enlightened mediator until this intense form of racial politics is mitigated – then don’t even get started. If Mr. Jeffries is entering as a partisan on the side of the Afro-ethnic PNC, he would lose all his credibility. Jeffries will only succeed if he is a bona fide impartial broker. It is my view that there is no substantive (proven) ethnic marginalization. The charge of “African marginalization” is largely a perception.
The charge of “African marginalization” cannot be supported with statistics of income and lack of job opportunities. PPP in power, Afro-Guyanese feel “excluded” from power. They feel alienated; they seethe. They begin calling for power-sharing (sharing of Cabinet positions). PNC in power, it is the Indo-Guyanese’ turn to feel excluded from power. The problem is an over-racialized form of politics. A Washington Post reporter I met in 1990 outside the United Nations building described it in these words: “You can’t have democracy in a country where every last man votes race”. He also said, “Every election in that country had been a grudge match between the Africans and Indians”. He had interviewed all the Western Ambassadors in Georgetown. His words are a distillation of what they told him.
As a Guyanese, I can only confirm that the WP reporter captured the true essence of the kind of politics practiced there. We need a new Constitution that reduces the full-blown effects of excessive racial voting. We also need to pressure the perceived ethnic parties to make it possible for persons of any race to become leaders – this way to dispel the notion that they are racial/ethnic parties. Guyana needs a new kind of politics. ABC and EU countries are potentially great influencers with clout and resources to make things happen.
Sincerely,
Mike Persaud
