Enough has got to be enough

Dec 11, 2011 Letters

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Dear Editor,
As I pen this letter a spirit of anger is flowing through my body. I am watching the news and seeing police officers shooting at fleeing A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) members. It is chilling to watch and should move any warm blooded, fair-minded Guyanese.
Enough has got to be enough. Look at the wounds on the back of James Bond, a young man just like myself. A lawyer, a former army chief, a young boy and a senior citizen were just a few of the victims. What’s the difference between me and them?
That is the question all freedom loving Guyanese should ask. The African-Americans say that the police force is racial as it is made up of mostly white men. They say the white cops in America hate black people. So what is the excuse in Guyana? Self hatred? Reverse racism? Trans-Atlantic slave syndrome?
Guyana has a history of clashes with demonstrators and police. As a means of justification for brute force many stereotypes will be peddled.
During the election campaigns the PPP/C showed a particular advertisement with heavy ethnic hints. It tried, unsuccessfully, to link a particular behavior to a particular people. However, let us take a look around the world.
In Greece, the white protestors created havoc. In France, England and Australia it was the same. Should I even mention the fighting spirits of the people in North Africa? Remember the famous Tiananmen Square?
For those in Guyana who may be ignorant, protest and demonstration are not limited to a particular race or a particular political party. “Stupidness” is “stupidness” the world over. If you try to disrespect a people, that people will stand up for their respect.
What is the genesis of policing? Policing or patrolling, as it was known then, is rooted in the days of slavery. Plantation life was harsh and cruel with no break in sight. In an effort to demonstrate their discontent many enslaved Africans would flee. This was a cost and concern for the masters so they started a system of patrolling.
These patrollers would watch the roads day and night for an enslaved. If an enslaved African was found he would be interrogated about his ownership and his whereabouts and he had to show the special pass paper from master. God be with him if he didn’t have that special pass paper from the master, he would be beaten to an inch of his life.
He was then taken back to the plantation as an example to the others of what happens if you ever try to demonstrate a free spirit. Then the master would give the patroller a nice pay for his good work. They say times have changed. What do you think?
Also, during those times some of the biggest, strongest Africans were used to whip, beat and torture their fellow African brothers and sisters. The master rarely got his own hands dirty. Some of these big and strong Africans cried and hated the job they were forced to do.
They went to the cabins afterwards to see how their family member was healing. On the other hand, there were some who loved the job and felt they were superior.
They felt that their African brother and sister were bad people for trying to disrupt the master’s programme and they deserved all the blows they were getting.
I read a book that documented the lives of 100 former enslaved Africans in America. In one of the stories a slave knew that his brothers and sisters were planning a revolt.
This slave informed the master who scrapped the revolt and made examples of the leaders as they were killed slowly. In the end, the informing slave was proud of what he had done. He thought that they deserved death because they were up to no good.
Mind you, the master was very cruel to all the Africans on the plantation however; none of this seemed to matter to him. I wonder if this type of mindset is still prevalent in some Africans today.
Guyana is a beautiful place and can be one of the best in the world. I want a peaceful and prosperous country, a country where people are judged by the content of their character and not by the colour of their skin, or the texture of their hair or which political party card they hold.
Such dreams do not come easily. We have to work to get there. Believe it or not there are forces out there who want the complete opposite for this nation. One of my favourite movies is The Outlaw Josey Wales.
In the movie there were five strangers. They were people of different races, backgrounds, creeds and tribes. They all met and landed on a beautiful piece of real estate that they fixed and called it home.
Then, an enemy attacked their tranquility and their home. They united and fought off the enemy and preserved what they had worked hard to build. Can we learn a lesson?
Just think about it.
Jacob Miller: “Please Mr. Officer cool down your temper….use your discretion don’t you look no reputation”
 Montgomery A. Chester

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