Guyana is a nation of minorities

Jun 02, 2019 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

The Guyana Carnival came and went like quick storm. It blew the nation away but as fast as it came, it ended. For many, it was an unbelievable week and a half of scintillating entertainment geared to satisfy all Guyanese. Well… not really all Guyanese.
Carnival was a private promotion. It was not organized by the government. But it did appear to at least enjoy the tacit support of the government. The ruling party distributed tickets free for one of the events. And one Minister accompanied one of the top artistes on a visit to depressed communities.
At this stage, it is not clear whether the government offered any financial support – be it direct cash grants or subsidized use of facilities – for the many events which were hosted. But it is obvious that at least the ruling PNCR was on board for the Guyana Carnival events.
The carnival was hosted to coincide with Guyana’s Independence anniversary. And thus it had the appearance of being a national celebration of our Independence. And the government on this account may have been lured to support it indirectly. But the Guyana Carnival was far from a national event.
Guyana is a nation of minorities. There is no majority race. The largest ethnic groups are East Indians who comprise about 40% of the population and Africans around 30% of the population and Amerindians 11%. If Carnival therefore is to be a truly national calendar of activities, it should cater, ideally, for all sections of our population or at least the main minority groups. This was clearly not the case.
Carnival 2019 catered mainly for one minority group. Among the main performers who were brought here for Carnival 2019 were Machel Montana, Buju Banton, Kes, Farmer Nappy and Shensea. There was no Sonu Nigam, Alka Yagnik, Shaan, Rikki Jai, Shaam or even Ravi B. The events listed included a Soca Block Party, an All Black Party, a Legend Concert and the Stink and Dutty J’ouvert. There was a Curry Fest which was hosted at the DCC ground.
The calendar of activities cannot, therefore, be said to have appealed to all of Guyana’s minorities. In fact, most of the vents seemed to have catered for one major demographic.
The government has been strong advocate of social cohesion. It had even formed a Ministry of Social Cohesion. At the minimum therefore, the government and the ruling party have to be careful about its support for the Guyana Carnival which coincides with our national day celebrations of Independence.
The events organized cannot be said to cater for all of our minorities. And therefore the government and the ruling party have to be careful of giving this private promotion a stamp of a national celebration.
Private promoters are free to organize events as they please and for which audience they please. But a government has to be careful that its support does not lend credence to promotions as being national events when in fact they are not.
The government should also ensure that in organizing the annual Republic celebrations that it does not only give token recognition to minorities. It should ensure a wide and varied calendar of events which caters for all of Guyana’s minorities.
That said, there was many positives which came out of Guyana Carnival 2019. For one, the event generated fair interest overseas. A number of Guyanese came in especially for the carnival and especially for the concerts.
Concerts can be a big boost for tourism. There are persons who follow artistes wherever they go. And as we have seen Buju, Kes, Machel and Farmer Nappy also have a tremendous following in Guyana. The carnival therefore was a major boost to Guyana’s tourism product.
Second, the carnival shows that government need not get involved directly in promoting events such as Mashramani. The carnival shows the potential of the private sector in bringing off major cultural events and making them a commercial success. The government can step aside and stick to its flag-raising celebrations, and farm out most of the Republic anniversary events to private promoters.
Once there is money to be made, the private promoters will come on board. And they know how to make money. And once money is there to be made, more and more promoters will come on board and will organize events to cater for all demographics.

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Guyana is a nation of minorities

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