WHO ARE WE? WE ARE GUYANESE!

Jan 06, 2022 Letters

Dear Editor,

Kaieteur News – Guyana is a Nation pillared on “six peoples”. However, the two main “people” blocks are “Indians” and “Blacks”.
Since the 2020 General Elections, the nomenclatures: “Indians” and “Blacks” have taken strengthened Usain Bolt-like legs and are dangerously straddling our Nation. Just check the narratives on Facebook.
Irresponsible people of one race, in and out of Guyana, are throwing salvos at the other race(s).
One Facebook contributor, obviously a Guyanese who migrated many years ago and with the tone of American superiority, enquired why people of African descent are called “Blacks” while those of Indian descent are termed “Indians”. Assuming his intelligence, he should not have difficulty answering his own question.
As the “ethnic” (in preference to “racial”) block relates to “Indians”, India is a COUNTRY. Indians, regardless of State of origin, carry INDIAN passports. On the other hand, AFRICA is a CONTINENT made up of several COUNTRIES with the citizens of each country carrying the passports of the COUNTRY instead of the CONTINENT. A Ugandan carries a Ugandan Passport, NOT an African Passport.
Consequentially, I would surmise that, while a person from India is termed “Indian”, in Africa itself, a person from Uganda is NOT termed an AFRICAN, but a Ugandan. Also, in Africa, a Ugandan can be white, brown, black, etc. The colour is merely for distinction, not RACISM, though I will not deny that racism may be a by-product of the distinction.
Similarly, during the Slave/Indentured Servants trade, the terms BLACK (not African) and COOLIE were used as distinctions of colour, regardless of terminology, within what was, in effect, “slavery”. The difference in conditions was because of the time, each grouping was brought to British Guiana. Thus, the BLACK and INDIAN distinction is not of recent vintage nor coined by either the Blacks or Indians of Guyana, or the West Indies for that matter.
When house lots were given out to sugar workers post 1948, there was no segregation in allocation. Racists should check the records. Blacks and Indians were allocated house lots side-by-side. How the events of 1964 imposed segregation of the two main ethnic blocks is on record, and the architect of that crime is known to those who care to be honest.
I recall an assignment I did at UG way back in 1974 in which I argued that the scrapping of the Railway was a deliberate punitive move against Indians by the dictator. Farmers’ produce were transported to market with the train; Children from the countryside went to “town schools” with the train. The dictator did not care that Blacks were also affected, so long that the larger Indian block was stultified. He saw the negative effects on the Blacks as necessary casualty. My lecturer asked me to defend the paper at tutorial. I did. I got 99 percent for my assignment.
Incidentally, I was not graduated after final year exams. Like Carlyle Harry, I refused to do National Service. I was even pulled off a flight to the USA on the behest of the dictator’s right-hand strongman at the time. So much for speaking out as a UG student.
Today, BLACKS and INDIANS are the racist snowballs, growing daily and polarising the main ethnic blocks in our dear Guyana. I wish to state here categorically: THOSE WHO ARE GUILTY OF THIS ARE ENEMIES OF THE PEOPLE! MOST OF THEM RESIDE OUTSIDE OF GUYANA! YOU ARE NOT ONLY DESTROYING THE PEOPLE FOR YOUR NARROW ENDS; YOU ARE DESTROYING GUYANA. YOU ARE DESTROYING THE FUTURE OF YOUR CHILDREN AND YOUR CHILDREN’S CHILDREN. YOU ARE SICK!
The nomenclatures: “Black, Indian, Putagee, Buck, Chinee and White” have been with us for centuries and will be with us for a long time to come. Put whatever racial slant you may wish; that will not change. The pseudo-academics and naysayers living in fool’s paradise are inoculating innocent expressions with evil intent, to wit: Divide the people along racial lines. We will be foolish to let them succeed.
Differences there will be but destruction, there must be not. If we destroy the bridge which gives us access to each other, we will forever be separated. And there will be no ONE GUYANA.
BEWARE FELLOW GUYANESE!

Yours,
Taajnauth Jadunauth

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