Guyana has come a long way in terms of race relations

Apr 22, 2013 Letters

Dear Editor,
Guyana has come a long way in terms of race relations. Many sociologists have attempted to analyse the issue of race and ethnicity and how it has impacted on Guyana’s development. There is broad consensus that Guyana is a plural society where the various races and ethnicities co-exist peacefully and where there is a high level of tolerance and appreciation for diversity.
There are those who because of the nature of our ethnic make-up see our society as ethnically polarized with the two major race groups East Indians and Africans in perpetual competition for political and economic space. This competition is manifested in several ways such as the desire to ensure that their children and offspring get a better shot at educational opportunities and hence more become competitive in the job market. More fundamentally, it is seen in voting preferences which favour one or the other of the two major politically parties.
Regardless of how we may wish to look at it, the fact remains that we all inherited a demographic structure over which we had no control. Except for our Amerindian population, all the other ethnic groups were imported into the then colony of British Guyana mainly to provide cheap labour for the sugar planters. In this regard we were a “transplanted colony” whose main reason for being was to create wealth for the “sugar gods” who enjoyed the good life at the expense of the blood, sweat and tears of our ancestors.
Hydar Ally

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