Guyana – a land left to wallow forever in pain and suffering

Dear Editor,
“My heart beats but yet I don’t feel alive. I walk but I seem not to move. I speak and no one is able to hear me. Why? I ask. The answer is that no one really cares. No one takes the time to get down to my level. No one feels my suffering and pain anymore. I am left in an eternity of pain and suffering. But how did I reach here? Who am I? I am Guyana”
“Country roads take me home, to the place, I belong….” is a line from the famous John Denver hit. All of us Guyanese have at some time or the other, travelled along our very own “country roads.” For those who live in the countryside, we are all family. Speak with those who live on the Corentyne, the West Coast of Berbice, the East Coast of Demerara, the West Bank and West coast of Demerara, and the Essequibo Coast, their story is the same. We are all one people. We know each other from the village, we know those from the next village and for some, the entire coast. Now Number Three Village is not far from CottonTree/D’Edward. It is not far from Number Five either. I am absolutely certain that most if not all the villagers from these villages know one another. If not the youths, the adults who have lived there their entire lives. For the majority of our life, we have no issue with our brothers and sisters of the neighbouring villages. We farm, we sell, we celebrate, and make merry together. Weddings, birthdays, deaths, religious celebrations etc are celebrated together in oneness. There is no issue.
However, once every 5 years, a change comes over us. Neighbours stop being friendly. We find issues which never seemed to matter and bring up a distant past which we never seem to have left behind. What causes this change? Politics and elections. It brings out the worst in us. It is fuelled by our various leaders and is used to maintain that wedge between our peoples. What is this wedge? Racism. Our politicians have for over 54 years found a way to appeal to those who look like them, to condemn those who do not support them and instil fear in all that the “other side” will be the end of them. And we have sheepishly followed like willing lambs to the slaughterhouse. 2020 was no exception. If one is to look back at the election campaign and the various speeches, one will see this undertone. It might not always be spoken openly but it is there. One will see the pandering by the politicians. It is as clear as day. You support us, we got your back, especially if you look like us. The other side will look out for their own.
But who is looking out for Guyana? Who is looking towards the future? A future where racism does not exist?
The recent murder of the two Henry boys is a sad example of a reality we all hide from and have refused to address once and for all. It is the big elephant in the room. Why were they killed? No, it was not for the theft of a few coconuts. It was because of this enduring issue which we have never addressed. Someone, or a group of persons, decided to take matters into their own hand and make an example. A sad choice. A poorer example and an act of cowardice which can never be justified with whatever retribution our justice system decides is just for their actions. How can you kill someone you know? I’m 100 per cent sure that the perpetrators knew the youths or their parents and relatives. West Coast Berbice is a small place. Are we no longer humans with a conscience? Have we lowered ourselves to depths even we are unaware of?
I condemn in the strongest of language this dastardly and cowardly act meted out to those two Guyanese youths of West Coast Berbice. They don’t have to be related to me for me to know that they did not deserve this. Everyone knows this. At an age when life offers so much, when Guyana offers so much, to have their lives snuffed out in an instant is heart wrenching and hurtful. I offer my sincerest condolences to their families and hope that they find strength and guidance in God and his scriptures. No good deed goes unrewarded and no bad deed goes unpunished. I hope that the law enforcement agencies use every resource at their disposal to bring swift justice to the family and for the perpetrators to pay the heaviest price for their actions.
However, this issue does not end here. The underlying issue must be addressed forthwith. This issue is not a Number Three vs CottonTree issue. It is a Guyanese issue. Our division by race and the disparities it brings must be addressed. Many have their views on how we can address this problem yet nothing meaningful has been started. Acceptance by all is the first step.
A little over 20 years ago, Rwanda had a serious genocide which cost the lives of well over a million persons. One way of addressing the issue was to get all Rwandans to see themselves as Rwandans and not from a particular tribe or ethnic group. That decree was made law. I think we as Guyanese should look at that option. By maintaining 6 or 7 races we continue to fuel a divide which has kept us apart, when all we should have is unity. By referring to ourselves first and foremost as Guyanese, we will put to an end the need for us to identify ourselves according to race. This is just the first step of a long journey. Next, we need to look at the inequality which exists amongst all Guyanese. Economic inequality, social inequality, religious inequality, educational and political inequality just to mention a few. These need to be studied and we need to find ways to reduce and eliminate them. This must start now. No one should be a second-class citizen in their own country and especially not because of their race. All our leaders need to accept that they have helped to fuel this divide and prolong this issue for way too long. We need to sit together and plot a course for our country, a course which is free of political and economic domination by one particular group and where the rights of all Guyanese are respected. We must do this together, in the villages, the regions and at a national level. Tomorrow is already too late to begin, but begin we must.
Let us take advantage of such a sorrowful event to bring something positive for our country and ensure that there are no more such events. Let us honour the memory of these brave youths and let their names forever be remembered as the last martyrs of racial division. If we choose not to accept our wrongs as a people and simply brush their deaths under the proverbial carpets, then very soon there may be more martyrs and Guyana will continue to wallow in pain and suffering.

Yours truly,
Dr Mark France