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Proud of fight against racism

Jul 02, 2010 Letters

Dear Editor,
I am very proud of my brother in political struggle, Freddie Kissoon, for fighting against African racism as noted in several of his recent columns in Kaieteur News.
Freddie is the leading advocate against African racism and we should salute him for standing up for African rights. It is disheartening however, that Freddie does not find it necessary to condemn the racism suffered by Amerindians, Indians, Chinese, Whites, Mixed, etc. during the 28 years of dictatorship and to advocate for equality for all ethnic groups.
Freddie charged that the PPP/C Government is “racist against Africans”. But he offered no evidence to substantiate his charge. Ironically, while Freddie contends there is anti-African racism, leading Indian intellects claim there is discrimination against Indians by the PPP administration. Also, advocates of Amerindians say their people suffer from discrimination and so too claim the Mixed races and Chinese.
It is virtually impossible for the Government to be racist against all groups at the same time. So an objective assessment of these charges is needed.
I am against all forms of discrimination against anyone regardless of racial background. People must be treated with equality, dignity and respect and if racism exists, it must end now.
When I submitted my doctoral dissertation on ethnic politics some 25 years ago, I made several notations about “racism” in Guyana. The doctoral committee of Professors reviewing my monograph wrote on the margin: “definition! Examples!” As an experienced teacher of 30 years, I believe the same comment applies to Kissoon’s charge of racism in Guyana.
It is not enough, especially for an academic like Kissoon, to write racism exists against Africans in Guyana. He must offer proof or else his charge becomes propagandistic as political scientists like me and Prof. Baytoram Ramharack would conclude. Since Kissoon claims there is no discipline as Political Science and does not recognise political scientists like Dr. David Hinds as a social science scholar, let me offer Freddie a guide on some pointers how he can prove his claim of racism against my African brethren:
1. Contrast the ethnic breakdown in percentages of the cabinet, bureaucracy, the armed forces, the police, the Coast Guard, and all government employees.
2. Contrast the ethnic breakdown in percentages of the M. Ps of the PPP and PNC – since the PPP is supposed to be an Indian party, can Freddie explain why about only half of the PPP’s M. Ps are Indians.
3. Contrast the percentages of governmentresources spent on ethnic villages.
4. Contrast the amount of resources committed to ethnic festivals.
5. Contrast the amount of resources spent on African Emancipation, Indian Arrival, and Amerindian heritage days.
6. Contrast the number of government built homes distributed to the various ethnicities.
7. Contrast the amount of money spent on infrastructure in areas where Indians and Africans live.
If Kissoon undertakes a serious investigation of the above points, he would come up with a lot of evidence to prove or disprove his theory of racism against any group. I did the study already and know which group is the most neglected.
But I want Freddie to do the research himself and form his own objective conclusion not based on anti-government propaganda.
Vishnu Bisram

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