We need to change the Perception of Black Leadership and Indian Leadership in Guyana

Oct 30, 2017 Letters

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Dear Editor,
Many of us carry Guyana, in the way a mother carries a baby in her womb. We are prepared to bear the pains, discomfort, sleepless nights, disfiguration and illnesses for a bundle of joy who we expect to emerge after the gestation period.
In the same way, we remain hopeful that someday this gestation period in Guyana will come to an end, and a new level of a maturity, growth, development and life will flow in Guyana. However, it is important to note that this period will not end, except we get involved.
There is a saying that ‘there comes a point when everything that can be shaken, will be shaken’. Over the past week, it felt like everything in Guyana that could have be shaken, was shaken.   Last week in the midst of all that was happening, I called a senior leader in the Christian community and would like to share a part of our conversation.
I asked what can the Church do at this time based on the situation in the country. I indicated that I am of the view that the religious community, not just the Christian community could bring an added value in trying to find a solution. I further, indicated to him that religion as a discipline brings an added value of compassion that other disciplines (for e.g.  politics) do not bring.
Our conversation continued…I told him that as I listened to the Press Conference with Mr. Jagdeo, I heard a deep sense of frustration and in my view, Mr. Jagdeo to some extent, had reached the end of his human ability to deal with the issue at that point and this is where I feel that the Church and religion has a role and should do something’.
We talked a bit more about what the role of the Church can be in this current situation. He undertook to have further discussions with other leaders (Christian) on the matter about what role that the Church can play at this time. He also indicated that it was commendable that I was getting involved despite my current obligation, and added that most people wait until they retire or at a later stage in life to get involved. It is on this note that I encourage more persons to get involve.
On another point, the GECOM Chairmanship situation has highlighted a real challenge that we need to find a way to address once and for all, that is, the symbol or image of what Black leadership represents to Indians and what Indian leadership represents for Blacks in Guyana.
An initial analysis of the letters, blogs, comments in the press and social media and my own  discussions on the this issue shows, that the President’s appointment of the GECOM Chairman has created an extremely high degree of anxiety among various groups.
I will not address here whether the President was right or wrong in making the decision or the way the decision was made, the Court is much more competent to do this, however, I would like to address some of the reasons for the high level of anxiety.
As human beings, we naturally feel comfortable with and can easily identify with people of our own race; therefore it follows, in leadership that we feel a greater level of comfort and security with leadership that look like us, particularly when that image is supported by bad or negative experiences from the other race.
In Guyana, both Indians and Blacks have had negative experiences under leadership from the opposite race, hence, there has to be a deliberate process to change the symbol of Black leadership to the Indian Guyanese and Indian leadership to the Black Guyanese.
Let’s assume for a moment that the Court should quash the President’s decision and another Chairman has to be appointed, we would still need to find a Black or Indian person to be the Chairman. Therefore, the real challenge is how do we change the perception of Black leadership for Indian Guyanese and the perception of Indian leadership for Black Guyanese? My disappointment is that 51 years after our independence, we have not strengthened our institutions sufficiently (Judiciary, Parliament,  Electoral System, Private Sector, Civil Society), so that our people can be confident that the system of governance will work for all of us, irrespective of the ethnic background of the leader.
Another disappointment is the limited ability of our leaders to use various options in the process of finding solutions to matters of national significance.
While the Court is one option, it should not be the only option; the Court is not the ideal alternative, since its construct is to address adversarial matters and the result is a win-lose situation. In this case of the GECOM Chairman, what happens if one party does not accept the decision of the Court? Here is where I am pleading with the international community to assist us and our leaders to become more capable in the use of other mechanisms for problem solving and finding solutions, especially on matters of national significance.
To Mr. Jagdeo, I say that this issue is more than the President’s appointment of a Chairman for GECOM; the big challenge rather, is how to change the perception of Black leadership for Indian Guyanese and Indian leadership for Black Guyanese?
I also think that the PPP should reconsider their position of non-participation and should now participate more fully as a part of the government, essentially for two reasons: To strengthen the institutions and deepen good governance and to reduce the insecurities about leadership for these two key ethnic groups. Our approach for too long has been when things get too tough, we withdraw. It is easier to withdraw but now is the time to really stay engaged.
And to both President Granger and Leader of the Opposition, I am very hopeful that we can fix this situation together and move forward.
What can we do as the followers? This could be the beginning of a deliberate process to hand the next generation of Guyanese a better Guyana than was handed to both of you and to us. Please, we are tired of Indians and Blacks fighting in our beautiful country that has enough of everything for all 750,000 of us as well as for others.
Finally, there are real opportunities for Guyana to become a strong leader in the Caribbean and internationally, starting with positioning ourselves to provide the necessary support to countries like Dominica that was ravaged during the last hurricane season. Let us move past this and show strong leadership to our people and the Region.
Yours faithfully,
Audreyanna Thomas

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