The fundamental problem of racism does not seem to get the attention it deserves

Mar 16, 2020 Features / Columnists, Letters, News

DEAR EDITOR,
The recently concluded election in Guyana has drawn attention from almost every corner of the world. However, the fundamental problem of racism does not seem to get the attention it deserves. Racism in Guyana is dormant and resurrects every election cycle. It is a social problem that plagues, not only Guyana, but the world. In this letter, I seek to explore some fundamental roots of racism in Guyana and how we can be a model for getting rid of racism.
Race vs Ethnicity
Oftentimes people confuse these two terms to be one in the same. Race is a socially constructed category rooted in the belief that there are fundamental differences among humans associated with phenotype and ancestry. Racial distinctions are more than ways of describing differences; they are also important factors in the reproduction of patterns of power and inequality. Ethnicity on the other hand are cultural values and norms that distinguishes members of a given group from another. The most common ethic distinctions are language, history, religion and style of dress.
Sociological Imagination
Sociologist C. Mills wrote about our “Sociological Imagination” and it is an important concept in understanding, but more importantly – getting rid of racism. In a nutshell, “Sociological Imagination” is putting your foot in someone else’s shoes. Having a sociological imagination as Mills describes it, “is the most fruitful form of self consciousness”.
I moved to the city of Georgetown after growing up in a small rural community. I lived in Georgetown for about six years. During this time, I was robbed four times! Crime, whether petty as a pickpocket, home invasion or murder is a good example of how we can apply our sociological imagination. Had I no form of sociological imagination, it would be easy to say that the robbers are simply criminals and should be locked away for life! However, I have come to realize a few things.
First off, this type of crime is common. I am not the only person robbed, although I may have been the victim more often than many. The individuals who commit such crimes are probably unemployed, with limited access to opportunity, education or jobs. The individual then decides to make a personal decision to commit a crime. This is a trouble the individual experiences.
Given the fact that crime, an extension of many people having trouble, is prevalent, it means that there is an extended issue in the society. It means unemployment is high, individuals do not have the opportunity to work or even worse, access to education that makes their skills more
marketable. It can also mean a stalled economy where even those with education may not have access to opportunity.
The individual troubles are part of a grand issue of the society he or she interacts with is experiencing.
Slavery vs Indentureship
Now that we have established what Sociological Imagination is, we can try to apply it on a macro scale. Personally, I am Indo Guyanese and as such I cannot understand the difficulties that Afro Guyanese face. I can try, but I may never be able to really understand. I can never try to do a Double Sociological Imagination where I imagine that I am an Afro Guyanese trying to understand what Indo Guyanese might be going through.
I invite my Afro Guyanese brothers and sisters to use their Sociological Imagination and let me know what you conclude.
Having said that, let us rewind to how both races came to be in Guyana. Europeans sailed the seas looking for a way to trade with the East. In fact, Columbus went west in search of China. The Spanish went west and the Portuguese went east. During this time, Europeans were not powerful. The Portuguese went up the Gambia river in 1446 and were defeated by the people of Niumi. A few years later, trade began in the Gambia River and Niumi itself did not participate in slave trading but collected tax from ships of slaves. (This is a separate discussion regarding Guyana’s tax revenue from oil).
Slavery, is an extreme form of stratification. It existed in many parts of the world well before Europeans discovered the new world. One key difference between slavery and other systems of stratification is that an individual (slave) is a property of another individual. It therefore means that the slave can be traded for other commodities.
It shocks me to know the price of a slave: between nine and fourteen horses. Horses were an imported commodity in Africa because they cannot reproduce in certain regions of Africa.
Using my Sociological Imagination, I try to imagine what it would be like in the shoes of a slave. I have little clothing, I am chained on both hands and feet, linked to the other slaves in front and behind me.
I think to myself, how can I be owned by someone of a different race? Where are they from, where are they taking me? What are the weapons that they have? I am uncertain, I want to run, I try to run but I am caught and beaten. My fellow slaves see this and they too become anxious and reluctant. Thus begins the cycle of slave oppression. This is a very sad scene and I realize that my fellow Afro Guyanese brothers are a few generation descendants of the surviving slaves. Hence, I can never really understand that pain.
After slavery was abolished by the British, a new group of labourers were brought to the Caribbean.
These included the Chinese but it was the Indians who were able to work on the sugar plantations. Indians are used to the Caste system of stratification, where a person is born into a caste and remains that caste for life. It is important to understand, that unlike slaves, Indians walked onto and off the ships freely. They brought with them assets such as spices, pots, pans, clothing and most importantly, their family unit. Hence, as an Indo Guyanese, I can appreciate that my circumstances were far better than the slaves (an ethnic identity). It is no fault of slaves or Africans, instead, I am simply saying that I acknowledge my circumstances as being different from slaves. Finally, indentured labourers have the option of returning to their home country.
I try to imagine what first contact between recently freed African slaves and the Indian indentured labourers must have been like.
The ethnic difference must have provided levels of culture shock.
Two groups of people who have never seen people looking the way that they did or speaking the way that they did. Each having different clothing, and family structure.
What was that first interaction like? To me, this is the best use of our Sociological Imagination in that we can try to understand that first interaction from the perspective of both groups. I am inclined to think that given the other social factors such as Slavery and Caste systems, there must be some level of ethnocentrism and xenophobia. Unfortunately for us today, both of these manifest themselves into the racism we see. It is as if the first contact happens every election.
From Slaves to Independence
Britain owes the Caribbean much more that we get credit or recognition for.
When the Spanish sailed west, they discovered that Peru had plenty of silver. Silver was important to trade with China because the Chinese paid their taxes in silver.
The Spanish were once the most formidable power at sea. However, their strength now lies at the bottom of the sea after the British defeated the Spanish Armada in 1588. After that, everything changed for the British. In the seventeenth century, sugar became the commodity that will transform Britain from the ultimate backwater to having Hong Kong as a colony.
Britain had the joint stock company setting the stage for mass capitalism. It is on the backs of slaves who grew sugar in the Caribbean that led to excess capital enabling investment into more trade, increased capital the cycle of investment. “Sugar and Slaves” provided Britain with excess investment into technology leading to the industrial revolution.
The steam engine was invented 1698 that catapults Britain into a new era of controlling the sea. In 1842, the Qing Dynasty gave up Hong Kong after the first opium war. None of this would have been possible if it was not for Sugar and Slaves in the Caribbean.
A fair question is: what does any of this have to do with racism in Guyana? It is simple, our secondary school social studies class teaches that it was Burnham and Jagan who fought for our independence. This is untrue. There were merely the representatives of the two major groups of people in the country: descendants of slaves and indentured labourers. Our independence was derived from World War II.
Through sugar and slaves, Britain had many colonies which made it the largest empire in the world. In addition, colonies helped Britain in World War I and after World War II, Europe and the United States realized that colonies and empires were not the best way forward. Instead, nation building was introduced as the new technology to avoid their wars. Hence, countries gained their independence. In fact, India and Pakistan were the first in 1947 and during their negotiations split to become independent India and Pakistan. The notion that it was Burnham and Jagan who fought for our independence needs to be removed from social studies in Guyana and focus on World War I and World War II having led to independence. Our current school of thought is like fuel to an already burning fire of racism.
Social Media
The escalation of race relations is also fuelled through social media. Back in the sixties, people relied on the radio and newspaper to provide them with information. It was slow and edited.
(Continued on Next
edition)