The “B” word is not used officially to describe the Indigenous peoples of Guyana. The “C” word is not used officially to describe the East Indian people in Guyana. These words are offensive and rightfully should not be used. Yet here we are in 2024 and the “N” word “negro” is still being used officially to describe African Guyanese by the Guyana Police Force and I would imagine others parading in the shadows.
The word negro to describe people of African descent around the world has its roots in subjugation. This word did not originate from Africans as a way of describing who we were and are. From Europeans setting their feet in Africa, to the transatlantic slave trade, to revolutions and emancipation, the term negro to describe people of African descent carries the ghosts of a painful past, subservience and is an unacceptable and offensive way of describing African Guyanese.
This issue recently arose after the arrest of political activist and talk show host Kidackie Amsterdam. Someone called in on his programme and called for the heads of four members of the government. As mentioned in a previous column calling for violence is unacceptable. We want a society of peace and to resolve our issues like civilised human beings. Amsterdam stated that he did not subscribe to violence immediately after the call ended. Nevertheless, he was still arrested and charged with a cybercrime. I am wondering, are the police looking for the person who made the call?
After Amsterdam’s arrest he was described as a male negro. We saw him shackled like our ancestors were shackled and enslaved. This is an image of African Guyanese that some in this society would find glee in disseminating. It is the same reason a woman whose property was destroyed in Mocha was pictured body covered in mud and handcuffed like she was a criminal because she was fighting for what belonged to her. Yet others accused of crimes in this society have never been in handcuffs. The foot of racism is on the neck of this society.
We should not be debating about whether using “negro” is acceptable or not. What is there to discuss? The word is derogatory, African Guyanese are objecting to it and in any society where all are respected and treated equally there would be immediate action to stop its use. However, Guyana is a place where we give power to the obnoxious, the insensitive, the arrogant, the stubborn and the ignorant. Some may even deduce that some who we give power feel emboldened to be the massas of this era.
The Attorney General Anil Nandlall rationalised the use of the word saying that it has been used for over a hundred and eighty years by the Guyana Police Force. This was debunked by former chairman of the Police Service Commission and retired Assistant Commissioner of Police Paul Slowe who appeared on a panel last Sunday. He referenced the book “History of Policing in Guyana” by the late John Campbell who was Assistant Commissioner of Police. In the book people who were recruited in the 1870s by the police force were described as Black Demerarians. Slowe also noted that when Winston Felix was Police Commissioner a decision was made to have the word removed. However sometime after he left office its use returned.
There are those in society asking why now there is loud objection to the word being used when clearly it has been an issue before now and would have been raised at different periods of time. It was even suggested that the only reason for people objecting now to its use is because the US congressman Jonathan Jackson was in Guyana when Amsterdam was arrested. When we have people in positions of power trying to make excuses for offending their fellow citizens and insulting our intelligence, we are a society in deeper trouble than we probably want to acknowledge.
I would say that it is unbelievable that this is where we are in 2024, but nothing surprises me anymore about this place we are still trying to make a country of truth, justice, and equality. The use of the word “negro” to describe African Guyanese is another example of how those “One Guyana” dreams are far from a reality and perhaps just a sham.
We have seen the headlines that the Ethnic Relations Commission hopes for a fair resolution. A group which I have little faith or confidence in because often they seem selective in who they hold accountable or what they advocate for. What is going to happen? Are we going to spend weeks, months or years debating this subject which I say is easy to resolve by simply desisting from the use of the word? Are we saying that it is okay for African Guyanese to be seen as anything other than deserving of respect and quick action to resolve issues that affect us? Are we therefore saying that African Guyanese are a lower order of being than human and therefore it is okay to disrespect us and think of us as second class citizens of this country?
The Guyana Police Force has been in existence for over a hundred and eighty years. I do not doubt that the police force was once respected. I know that there are still good people in the Guyana Police Force who want to do right and serve their country with respect. However, we must be honest. The Guyana Police Force is often viewed in a negative light because there are many people in the force who are said to be corrupt. Many would describe the force as a political tool. To imagine that the police force is mostly African Guyanese, and that they would quietly endorse describing their brothers and sisters as “negro” speaks volumes about how some of us are still mentally enslaved, afraid of our power and quick to comply with the evil that hangs over this society.
With the evolution of people, we expect that Guyanese would also evolve. We expect that an outdated term like “negro” would have long been erased from being used officially.
I say, we are not on a plantation being beaten, forced to work, and degraded anymore. African Guyanese are not now trying to find their feet after the abolition of slavery. We overcame, we progressed, and we are equal to every other group in this country. We are not your negroes. We are not negroes. You cannot debase, humiliate, or seek to oppress us and think that we will not resist. We will not sit quietly and be continuously disrespected in a country that belongs to all of us. Our African ancestors did not fight and die for this country for their descendants in 2024 to be fighting for respect and to not be called derogatory names. No other group in this period of history can decide what we call ourselves or what is offensive to us. Enough.
