A rose called by any other name is still a rose

May 23, 2010 Letters

Dear Editor,
Reference is made to Henry Jeffrey’s letter “Racism and the ethnic divide are largely responsible for our underdevelopment” (Kaieteur News, 22/5/2010).
From our pre-independence history to now, racism has been one of our most crippling sources of conflict and under-development. Admittedly they have been efforts at various stages to deal with it, within recent years there has been a drastic reversal to one of systematic efforts by the powers that be to elevate it to the detriment of the society and this remains my concern. As descendants, whose ancestors were enslaved and indentured, in this 21st century this problem consistent with international conventions and declarations and our constitution should have been placed frontally on the national agenda by the government through properly managed empowerment and watchdog institutions to have it eliminated.
The absence of these institutions, and in instances where they exist the weakening of them allows space for the problem to flourish.
For Jeffrey to claim that the problem “is not essentially racism but radical ethnic polarization” though a tempting proposition that offers comfort to those who seek avoidance or revel in the excuse to continue its perpetuation, I’d say ‘not so fast.’ Referencing his Wikipedia source, which acknowledges the presence of “putative common ancestry [and] physical appearance” confirms the fact that ethnicity, though a broad concept, includes race as a component. Further, the fact that the United Nations, the world governing body, has sent two emissaries, the Special Rapporteur on Race and the Independent Expert on Minority Issues to conduct investigations on racial problems is indicative of a festering problem that needs attending to. The presence of the Ethnic Relations Commission, an offshoot of constitutional reform that had the participation of the PPP also confirms the problem.
Jeffery calls the problem “radical ethnic polarization;” I call it racism. A rose called by any other name is still a rose. The naming semantics is no excuse for avoiding or failing to address the harsh reality of the man in the street since his deprivation, marginalisation and discrimination under this government is not because of his other social differences but rather that of his “putative common ancestry [and] physical appearance” and this is how those who are affected see it.
My unwavering contention is that of the government and its agencies’ practices of racial discrimination and the reluctance to openly address it and correct it. After all, those most affected by the policies also fund the country’s expenses and pay the salaries of the officials.
I recognise there are voices and agencies not comfortable discussing racism and think that pretending it doesn’t exist or denying access to expression by those affected by it, the problem will automatically resolve itself. Evidential support and reference to UN Convention on Genocide have also seen similar treatment, with the implicit message communicated that a problem will only be identified, respected and ventilated at the will of another and not those so affected. A position the very perpetrators will not allow others to do to them. The acceptance of the mindset that ‘another has the right to name the reality of another’ continues the entrenchment of discrimination since it aids in perpetuating the problem and contribute to a lopsided development of society that negatively impacts us all. For it can bring no humanistic satisfaction to any to have a life of plenty in a society plagued by dysfunctional governance, anti-democratic policies, crimes, poverty, hazards and wants.
To Henry and those committed to the holistic development of Guyana and Guyanese a debate of semantic is immaterial to me. For me the racial problem confronting this society has to be frontally addressed and the longer we take to deal with the elephant in the room as leaders we deny the people whose interests we are elected/appointed to represent an opportunity at a level playing field for their empowerment. This is all they are asking for and they deserve no less!
Lincoln Lewis

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