…in a name?
The Guyana Police Force (GPF) was formed in 1839, and has since been using the word “Negro” to describe the formerly enslaved people. So, all has been going along quite fine up to now, thank you. Until a micro-party fella was charged for allowing his social media platform to be used to threaten four top officials of the Government – the Pres, VP, AG, and Fin Minister, who were named to be taken to the seawall and executed. The police described the fella as a “negro”. Well, who told them to do that!! Something must’ve snapped, because the fella’s attorney immediately fired off a peremptory letter to the ERC to instruct the GPF to cease and desist from ever using that word!!
Now, in Guyana during the post-slavery era, it was fightin words if you called somebody “African” – it was taken to mean the person was considered to be “savage”. “Negro” – which came from the Spanish and Portuguese — meant “Black”, and was considered acceptable. In the modern era, usage started following the American custom, where “Coloured” was the preferred term until W.E.B. Du Bois – following the lead of Booker T. Washington – advocated for a switch to Negro in the 1920s.
We had the United Negro College Fund formed – which still bears that name!! In Britain, the League of Coloured People was formed in the 1930s, and a branch formed in Guyana was very influential – cause it had a lot of Mixed folks with some white “blood”! – till they merged with the PNC!! Burnham was a member of the LCP in England!!
Anyhow, never once during the 28 years of the PNC – while they had complete control over the GPF – was it ever suggested that the word “negro” be dropped. And this was even after Stokley Carmichael had introduced the term “Black” as the preferred designation in 1967 with his book “Black Power”. By then in Guyana, “African” was becoming more popular, with one group in the early 60s calling itself African Society for Racial Equality (ASRE) and introducing “African” rather than slave names. Over in the United States, the Black Power Movement gradually faded, and by 1988, Jesse Jackson followed the Guyanese example and suggested that the proper term should be “African American”. But it never really took hold.
In the meantime, Black gradually became popular in Guyana with the spread of Black Power in the seventies…but co-existed with African-Guyanese. So which term’s the Police being advised to use going forward?? We’ll wait for the ERC to pronounce – maybe after conducting some hearings into the matter??
In the meantime, amidst all the fluidity, your Eyewitness thinks it’s a “Black thing”!! But watch out for those who’re “Blacker than thou!!”
…with Cricket World Cup
The Yanks play their version of “football” – where the ball touches a foot maybe five times in a game!! – and yet speak of “world champions”!! American exceptionalism!! But this year, they’ll be taking part in T20 Cricket World Cup – which has always been more global, but is now getting more so!! Today, Cricket World Cup starts off with two matches symbolizing that expansion – the US will be taking on Canada, while our West Indies will be taking on Papua New Guinea!!
The US-Canada game’s gonna be played in Grand Prairie Stadium in (where else?) the great state of Texas, while we take on Papua New Guinea at Providence! We suspect that most of the players from the US and Canada will actually be from their huge immigrant populations from the major cricketing nations.
But did you, dear reader, even know Papua New Guinea played cricket?? Thought not!! But it just goes to show that where’s there a will, there’s a way. Next year, China?? And China vs USA?
