Dear Editor,
Our Country’s multiethnicity has been for a long time a cause of political and social upheavals. Indeed, many have used this ethnic diversity for their own political and other gains; and in the process, the end results have been bad for us all.
History records that it was our colonial masters who were the first to use this diversity for their own political and other gains. History records also that the historical circumstances under which our forefathers came to this Country were not of our doing and this bit of our history we cannot change, and so also our ethnic diversity we cannot change. And so, if we are serious about working to achieve unity of this diversity; it is incumbent on us to seek to remove the feeling of fear, mistrust, vindictiveness and envy that permeate our society.
An examination of the political events of the 2015 post-election period would reveal, inter alia, the wanton dismissals and termination of the services of thousands of workers including 1,972 Amerindian Community Service Officers and scores of contracted workers including Permanent Secretaries, Regional Executive Officers, staff of One Laptop Per Family, etc by the APNU+AFC Government for reasons that can only be described as ‘politically wicked’. And this course of action taken without any consideration of the nature of the work these workers did; the effects of the loss of experienced and skilled labour to the Institutions, Agencies and Communities for whom they provided services and without any thought of the possible social and economic difficulties the loss of their jobs presented the dismissed workers and their dependents.
The replacement of these dismissed staff could only be viewed as a fulfilment of a commitment by the Government to its own political loyalists; which is to be delivered no matter the cost or result. And so, issues with respect to the rights, financial needs and commitments, and trampling on the rights of the dismissed workers seem not to be of any concern or consideration to the government which, during its election campaign and in its Political Manifesto and even in its 2015 Budget Presentation spoke of “a fresh approach to the good life and to good governance” for all Guyanese.
It was the late President Nelson Mandela of South Africa who said: “No man is born hating another because of the colour of his skin: it is learned behaviour and we must therefore teach our people to love”.
As little kids we play, we sing, we eat and we sometimes even sleep together. But as we grow older, the people and the institutions that influence our thinking and behaviour and redefine values and behaviour begin to take over…the parents in the home, the teachers in the school, the neighbour next door, the older workers at our workplaces, the trade unionists, the politician and yes, the pastor and the priest in the Church; some of whom do not stand out as the paragon of good and exemplary behaviour which they seek to represent to us.
And sadly enough, many of us who have been living in harmony begin to develop a fear and mistrust of each other based on a factor we had no control over: the fact of our ethnicity, our religious beliefs, our political persuasions, and based on the hate teachings of some in our society to whom I alluded above.
The contribution of the Ministry of Social Cohesion as part of our efforts to alleviate these socioeconomic and political challenges remain pegged at zero.
My friends, we need to stop listening to hate preachers or we will all suffer. We need to get rid of the stereotype thinking that racists have engendered in us and its halo effects which cause blacks to believe that (i) East Indians are responsible for their economic deprivation when often it is the choices we make (ii) blacks are responsible for every crime committed and that blacks are extravagant while all Indians are stingy.
We may never have a society free of ethnic tensions and suspicions, but we must make an effort to achieve such a society which is wholesome for all of us.
To be continued …
Respectfully,
Norman Whittaker
