The essential experiment

Sep 25, 2009 Letters

---

Dear Editor,
‘Doan trust dem coolie people.  All dem black man ah teaf.’  Sadly after more than 160 years of sharing Guyana as their home, these are generally the respective institutionalised views of Guyana’s two major racial groups, which have continued to characterize their interaction.
The pundits have analysed, ad nauseam, the respective roles in creating the monster of both our colonial masters   – divide and rule; and our post-independence politicians – appan jhaat. Their fulminations have, unfortunately, seemed to result in no diminution of the growing mutual animosity. It is widely acknowledged that the continual racial wrangling, which has translated into automatic political opposition by both political/racial group regardless of the merits of issues has grievously hurt our beloved Guyana politically, economically and culturally.
During the resultant nationally debilitating protracted period, three distinct citizens’ perspectives of race relations have emerged from the racial conflict. These are:
Firstly, those whose racial animosity has become so chronic that they believe that it is their duty to nourish it for their survival. Within this group may be found those who exploit racial prejudice for economic gains and therefore would wish to perpetuate the status quo
Secondly, those who recognise the insidious nature of such distrust, but have experienced the abysmal failure of all efforts at détente to date and are convinced that future efforts would be similarly futile.
And finally, there are those who fervently continue to crave racial harmony and remain interested in any prescriptions, which pursue it.
It is within the last group that salvation might reside.  Some superficial mechanisms were introduced by the government to defuse the contentious issues which have abounded.  These have been, notably the Office of the Ombudsman and the Ethnic Relations Commission (strangely, serious evaluations of the performance of either of these organisations are nowhere in evidence).
These ‘bandaid’ organisations have had no significant impact on the problem. Guyanese owe it to their descendants to undertake this proposed revolutionary experiment in the desperate pursuit of racial unity.
This article will recommend a fundamental change in seeking a solution to this cancer of racial disharmony and discrimination in Guyana. It is generally agreed that the cancer of racial conflict has metastasized. A new and radically different approach based on nurture is, therefore, advocated. In broad outline, this proposal involves initially assembling and raising a group of 50 one-year olds from all the racial groups in a structured environment from cradle through college.
The candidates will be expected to reside and be subjected to leadership academic tuition and training from Mondays to Fridays (home visits will be on Saturdays and Sundays) under the guidance and supervision of professional staff, who should be thoroughly screened for racially discriminatory propensities. Additionally, members of the candidates’ households will be expected to regularly participate in sessions intended to combat racial biases conducted by behaviour science professionals. Regular evaluation of the effectiveness of all training will be mandatory.
It is hoped that such specialised education and training and interaction in a relatively race-neutral environment will produce young leaders, who might be dispersed into the community at large to practice, preach and generally disseminate the values of racial non-discrimination. Subject to favourable periodical projections of the success of the project, further intakes of candidates can be arranged.
From the outset, certain realities need to be recognized:
It is proposed that the project will be executed under the auspices of a non-partisan organisation, whose members have ideally never exhibited political or race-based affiliations. Government involvement should be restricted to their expressed approval of the project. Government funding and regulation of the project should be strictly eschewed
Funding will have to be obtained from international humanitarian donors.  Notwithstanding the current international financial crisis, considerable emphasis is still being placed on the intractable scourge of racial conflict in many Third World countries.  This should augur well for solicitations.
The project is planned to last 20 years for the completion of training for each batch of candidates.
Success cannot be guaranteed. The potential pitfalls include parent non-cooperation, funding difficulties and political interference.
Obtaining parents’ agreement to allow their kids to participate will be extremely difficult due to the duration of the separation for training.
Screening of board members and staff will be critical for success of the project. Only the most dedicated racially non-sensitive professionals will be acceptable.
Lennox Bruce

---

---