Discarding our history

Mar 13, 2010 Editorial

It never fails to boggle the mind that precious little is being done to keep the memories of the nation’s past leaders alive. In fact, precious little is being done to preserve the nation’s history. To many, the past leaders are just names mentioned by older people. Ask some of the younger people, those who are 25 years old and younger, about some of the very people who made valuable contributions to the development of the country and you will be greeted with blank stares.
The list of people who contributed to Guyana’s development is long. Their history stretches back to the days of slavery but these days not much is said about those people. There are books that document in some small way, the achievements of these people and with the internet there is some literature recounting the acts of our past leaders. However, the educators do not find it necessary to keep the memories of these alive. History of this country is not a part of the school curriculum although children are made to read a book entitled ‘A short history of Guyana’. But even the history as recorded in that book is sketchy.
As we move closer to the present there is a lot written about the people who fought against the colonial masters and their labour practices. Even more is said. Perhaps the most prominent of these names would be Hubert Nathaniel Critchlow and only because each year and at every activity that hinges on employment practices and industrial unrest, Critchlow’s name is mentioned.
However, the labour movement is more than Critchlow. It is also about the men and women who fought for the improvement of conditions for the public servants and the teachers. But ask most Guyanese to identify some of these people and they would be at their wit’s end. Ask them about the educators of note, about the people who have left schools behind them.
It is no better in the field of politics. The situation is worse when one considers that Guyana’s political history is comparatively recent. Older people know of Burnham and Jagan and Kwayana and Hoyte. The younger ones may have heard the names but little else. At the political levels, the political parties that these men led host events to commemorate their contributions to national life.
Just this week, the main opposition party hosted an event in honour of Desmond Hoyte who was born on March 9. The event coincided with his birthday and promises to be an annual affair. Earlier this month the ruling party remembered its founders, again on the birth anniversary of its founder, Dr Cheddi Jagan.
Last month, on the birth anniversary of its founder the People’s National Congress again hosted a forum. The opposition party has dubbed these forums lecture series. And as if to immortalise the names, the political party stages sporting competitions in the name of these prominent leaders.
The ruling party also does the same in the form of lectures as does the Working People’s Alliance. The latter has what it calls groundings. However, ask the young participants to explain the contributions of the people in whose honour these competitions are held and again the result would blank stares.
In the first instance, the state has not done a good job preserving recordings and other artifacts. For example, materials were simply dumped or left to the elements when operations changed locations. Many historical records were destroyed. The radio station preserved some of its records as did the television station but these two state-owned entities also discarded valuable material in great volume.
Even the history of the country is not readily available and it is not that the nation does not have a rich history. When this country challenged Suriname over territory, though, it had to use the archives in Holland as well as those stored by the British. We had nothing or very little.
Historical landmarks are destroyed or are allowed to collapse. For example, although people talk about Hubert Nathaniel Critchlow they have never been shown his home which exists along one of the busiest thoroughfares in the city.
A people need to be aware of the history of their country if they are to develop any pride; if they are to have a nationality. The national leaders all bemoan the fact that Guyanese seek to leave the country at the first opportunity. It could be that these people simply do not care about Guyana because there is nothing for them to care about. They simply have no past.

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