Eric Philips wants Maxwell to take off his mask

Apr 05, 2016 Letters

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Dear Editor,
M. Maxwell, can you be a man of integrity and write under your own name. What do you have to hide? What are your special interests, historical and otherwise? What sort of character and coward hides behind a fake name? Why are the media still publishing letters from fake individuals?
It’s amazing that in this age of transparency and honesty that the practice of printing letters of individuals with false names continues. This is especially true in Guyana where this practice has been used by cowards to influence the racial and political divide. This practice is an insult to Guyanese.
If Stabroek News and other media want to continue printing letters from M. Maxwell then they should also have the common dignity to state his correct identity. Identity theft is a crime. I would have to assume that since Editors understand this and that the main reason the practice continues is because it is another way for Editors to state views they agree with.
First, Mr. Maxwell has a problem with Africans receiving reparatory justice from the state even though there was an African Holocaust or MAAFA in Guyana that resulted in the genocide of 450,000 Africans. They were killed so that Guyana could be developed. This criminal enrichment of Europeans is well documented. Africans in Guyana worked free under the brutal conditions of slavery for over 200 years. I doubt M. Maxwell is African because he is indifferent to this. Perhaps his ancestors were the privileged class as he is today. I hope M. Maxwell is aware that the United Nations has declared slavery and Indigenous genocide as crimes against humanity that necessitate reparatory justice.
Anyone who sees social cohesion or is fair would easily understand and support the idea of Africans in Guyana being provided reparatory justice in the form of lands for the “crimes against humanity” committed against them by the State.
Second, M. Maxwell tries his three card monte game by arguing I am against Amerindian Nations receiving lands. Anyone who read my first letter would remember these opening words, and I quote: “The Guyana Reparations Committee wishes to extend congratulations to the new Government in accelerating the land titling program for Indigenous Guyanese. Under the auspices of UNDP, and using Norway Funds, this exercise is scheduled to be completed by October this year. It will be a welcome conclusion of the work championed by Stephen Campbell who visited the Queen just prior to Independence with support and advocacy of the Catholic Church and the then Business Community. Today, the Amerindian Act gives our Indigenous Peoples, the 9 Nations that exist, 13.8% of Guyana. The cycle is completed for our 50th Anniversary “.
Under a fake name, M. Maxwell is proven to be a liar of the highest order. What I wrote is easy to understand. I don’t know how a privileged lawyer can be so dumb. Deception seems to be his personal reality .
Another reason for my letter at this time was to speak to the Wapishana Leadership. Lands have been awarded to the Wapishana Nation as part of the 13.8 % of Guyana has already been given to Amerindian Community of 9 Nations?  Why then would the Wapishana Leadership fall into the same trap they fell into about land that made them rebel against the Government and State of Guyana during the Rupunini Uprising against the State of Guyana?
The Wapishana should be contented with the lands granted to them in the Amerindian Act and their Leadership should be very concerned that they are being again  encouraged by the same type of individuals that Maxwell seems to represent to grab land again.
Having received part of the 13.8%, why are theWapishana Leadership again allowing destructive influences to demand an additional 10% of Guyana? Especially when Brazil is where the Wapishana seems to have spent most of their time prior to the 1700s as they were not here during the period from 1620s to the 1800s when there was slavery and Africans were building Guyana for free. Wapishana leadership needs to be careful about outside influences. Gail Teixeira like M. Maxwell argue I am misusing the CARICOM Reparatory Justice mandate. Here again their lies are obvious.
CARICOM’s mandate is about African Slavery and Indigenous Genocide. But both Gail and M. Maxwell know there was no Indigenous or Amerindian genocide in Guyana unlike what happened in other CARICOM territories like St Vincent and the Grenadines with the Garifuna.
In Guyana, Amerindians were protected by the Crown and hired to kill runaway slaves and to bring their hands or heads as proof for payment. Quamina is the last most famous example in our history.
M. Maxwell even tries to further make the claim for reparatory justice a broader racial issue in Guyana by stating Indentured Servants should receive reparations. But M. Maxwell fully knows that unlike Indentureship, which was contract based( but which was part of the same wicked colonial regime of exploitation)  slavery was a criminal enterprise supported by European governments, their Private Sector, the Church and Civil society . Justice is due for both Africans and Indians but one is for a criminal act while the other is based on contract law. Additionally, the difference between the two systems of oppression can be seen by the genocide of 450,000 Africans during slavery and a relatively small number during Indentureship.
M Maxwell has a fixed agenda befitting his unwillingness to use his own name. He keeps arguing Africans should not be granted lands for reparations. He has argued Africans should receive reparations from the British and Dutch. He seems to forget that it was the Sovereign State of Guyana that enslaved Africans and that the Sovereign State of Guyana which gave lands to Amerindians and Indians.
M. Maxwell should stop being sleazy by changing the subject M. Maxwell should present under his real name, the reasons why Africans should not receive reparatory justice in Guyana. He should use the true facts of our history. Not a history that has been narrated to deny Africans their fundamental rights in Guyana.
Everyone whom has a bone of justice in their bodies knows there can be no social cohesion without economic justice. Perhaps M. Maxwell  wants his friends to continue to dominate Guyana’s economic landscape with the historical advantages they have received from the state of Guyana in the past and most recently true the “greatest transfer of state wealth to an Indian ethnic cabal “ by former President Jagdeo whom had a very clear strategy of enriching his Indian constituency.
Eric Phillips

Editor’s note:  As a matter of policy, we do not carry anonymous signatures. There are exceptions. First, people state their real names but request anonymity for fear of victimization. Secondly, when there is a whistle-blower writing on wrong-doings within his/her organization; obviously the paper has to protect its source(s). Thirdly, there is flexibility with persons writing on issues. In such a situation, there is no attack on public officials and known citizens so we tend to accommodate persons who withhold their identities. When it comes to letter-writers fulminating against known people or criticizing them, using false names, we cannot accept such a procedure. In the case of M. Maxwell, even if we want to publish his views under that pseudonym, this letter-writer is not prepared to offer us details of his identity. This we find unacceptable 

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