Isn’t a historian credible enough to write about both slavery and Indentureship?

May 25, 2009 Letters

Dear Editor,

When will the ignorance stop? Guyanese Africans are unfortunately bluntly stuck in the age of mental slavery. There are some Afro-Guyanese who tend to intentionally discredit themselves by deeming themselves as marginalised and claiming that only Africans can write about Africans, when clearly this is untrue.

After the abolition of slavery, the system of Indentureship was introduced, where the labour of our immigration brothers and sisters was exploited. These immigrants were ranked as inferior and functioned at the bottom of the social ladder, just as the slaves.

The indentured Indians were forced to live in overcrowded barracks with non-existent sanitary conditions. They were exposed to life-threatening diseases and sickness, and were often left to die. In addition, they were grossly overworked and harshly punished and severely beaten on the plantation as well, especially when they left the plantation without permission. The reality is that both the slaves and indentured labourers were exploited, beaten and ill-treated.

Slavery and Indentureship are not the same, but there are similarities between these two concepts. As George Lamming says, “But Rodney rivets our attention on the nature of the labour experience that Indians shared with the Africans who had come before. There can be no question that Indian workers were now condemned to a history of humiliation almost indistinguishable from the memories of Africa slavery. The rigidity of the labour law made every hint of recalcitrance an occasion for criminal conviction. Doctors and magistrates became instruments of the planters’ will. Since pain was invisible, the Indian worker often had to argue illness before doctors who were paid not to believe they had heard. Indian women were made a new target of sexual assault by the lawless, white over-seers…”

It is ignorant to say that only Africans can write about Africans, and that only Indians can write about Indians. This statement is unacceptable and lacks credence. Did any of today’s Afro-Guyanese experience slavery? Did any of today’s Indo-Guyanese experience Indentureship?

Isn’t a historian (regardless of race, class and creed) credible enough to write about both slavery and Indentureship? Let us move out of this age of ignorance and use history to inculcate national unity within Guyana.

Elizabeth Daly