Shedding light on the ever-present underpinnings of racist messaging

Dear Editor
Afloat daily on the surface of the country’s political arena, putrid racist views spew forth from distorted consciences that brazenly manufacture and regurgitate frivolous claims to discredit the Government, President Ali, or Vice President Jagdeo.
Intent on instilling doubts in the minds of citizens, the racist verbiage – often designed to foster indifference and distrust – is regularly focused on heightening anxieties and divisiveness among the ethnically-distinctive sectors of the population.
A content analysis of remarks made by Terrence Campbell about Vice President Jagdeo would help in shedding some light on ever-present underpinnings of racist messaging. Campbell asserts that the “VP has a genetic predisposition to eating his cake and having it.” This phrase, laced with the venom of racism, also inheres an insurmountable degree of evasiveness, or obliviousness
Let’s examine the “hows/whys” starting with the phrase “genetic predisposition.”
To state that the Vice President “has a genetic predisposition (to eating his cake and having it)” is to claim that he has inherited from his parents certain biological traits which predispose him to want things “both ways.” Customarily, an intelligent person of colour – whether Afro, Indo, Mixed, or Native Guyanese – would refrain from making such ludicrous racist claims, much less brazenly assert that someone is “genetically predisposed” to hereditary behavioural patterns. Why, may one ask?
Ever since William Bateson coined the term “genetic” (1905) in reference to the study of genes in plants and animals, Anglos (whites) began to utilize the conceptual explanation of genetics to dehumanize, discredit, subjugate, oppress and exploit people of colour – which include Africans, Indians, Chinese, Portuguese, Mixed, Native etc. This they did because the genetic explanation provided them with a convenient ploy to shift from a cultural to a biological delineation of white superiority and domination over non-white humans. Prior to the use of genetics, Anglos, in efforts to maintain dominance over non-whites, classified such groups of people as primitive, uncivilized, savage, barbaric, heathen, chattel, throwbacks etc., as if to authenticate that they are “sub-human”.
Given these facts, why did Terrence Campbell claim “The VP has a genetic predisposition”? Could it be because he believes he is excluded from the racist schema of “genetic predisposition”?
Now, let’s focus analysis on the second half of Campbell’s statement, (the VP) “eating his cake and having it.” Literally, the phrase means “one can’t have two incompatible things at the same time”, or “one cannot have it both ways”, or further still, “one cannot hold two mutually exclusive views as valid at the same time”. How can someone then be accused of being “genetically predisposed to eating his cake and having it,” if it is not meant to discredit the person, or accuse him/her of being dishonest or untrustworthy; i.e., having things both ways?
It could be that Terrence Campbell’s statement is subconsciously an indication of “psychological projection” which Encyclopedia Britannica defines as “the mental process by which people attribute to others what is in their own minds”. This concept of “psychological projection” then prompts one to ask, ‘Who truly is “genetically predisposed” to dishonesty – having things both ways – the accuser (Campbell) or the accused (VP Jagdeo)? You be the judge.
Mindful of the above, Guyanese of all races/ ethnicities should not find it difficult to apprehend Terrence Campbell’s statement about Vice President Jagdeo as uninformed and disgraceful. For Campbell to claim that “The VP has a genetic predisposition” is to deny Anglos’s utilization of the same labelling to degrade all people of colour, of which Campbell IS A PART.
Assuming one agrees that Jagdeo is genetically predisposed to his Indian ancestry, why exclude him from having such traits as Devout Religiosity, Mathematically and Scientifically-minded, since such are regularly associated with individuals of Indian heritage? Farfetched? Think again. Many scientists from yesteryear and today have, and are combing through and scrutinizing the Upanishads, Gita and Puranas – Srutis and Smritis – for explanations to cosmic energy, consciousness and creation, preservation, and destruction of the universe itself.
Acknowledging Jagdeo’s genetic Indian ancestral grounding, does this then predispose him to being erudite and inspired?
Terrence Campbell may find this baffling, if not irritable by such an assertion, while the Vice President would acknowledge such genetic attribution of brilliance to be disquieting.
As the new year progresses and election day draws nearer, opposition leaders, with their orchestras of bellicose acolytes, would continue to belt out racist lyrics as they compete to perform on the open platform of public opinion. Some band members – like Lincoln Lewis, who rendered tunes of aggressive resistance (12/31/24) – would likely continue to spew such threats. While he bravely quoted Martin Luther King, Lewis failed to acknowledge that King believed in, and practised, “Passive (non-violent) Resistance.” Hence, what Guyanese truly need resist is the incendiary propagandizing racist chatter of indifference, divisiveness and distrust such as that of Lewis.
In general, the peoples of Guyana need to resist oppositions’ rancorous renditions of strife and instability – indicators of the desperate search to stymie the PPP/C inroads into a united Guyanese society. Opposition leaders view such emerging unity as a hindrance to their ascension to political power. Henceforth, Guyanese need to be prepared that the power-starved destabilizers of a democratic, developing and societally harmonious Guyana would revise and refashion renditions of their political lyrics with the hope that many would dance to their worn-out propagandistic tunes of racism and aggression.

Regards
Narayan Persaud, PhD
Professor Emeritus