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A nuanced critique of “Justice Must Not Be Selective” by Peeping Tom
Dear Editor,
Peeping Tom’s column “Justice Must Not Be Selective” (Kaieteur News, May 23, 2025) correctly warns against mob rule in the wake of 11-year-old Adrianna Younge’s death. The arson and looting that followed were destructive acts, not deliberative justice. The rule of law cannot survive when society replaces inquiry with inferno. Yet the commentary’s moral framework is deeply flawed.
The column draws a hollow parallel: “One family grieves a lost child. Another watches their life’s work go up in flames.” This equivalence is morally bankrupt. Property can be rebuilt; children cannot be resurrected. Peeping Tom overemphasizes the hotel owner’s material losses while underplaying the national trauma of a dead child and botched police investigation, the piece prioritizes commercial interests over public accountability—a familiar Guyanese reflex.
The columnist claims courage for “speaking for the hotel” when “no one dares” defend it. This misrepresents reality. Hotel owners rarely lack a voice in Guyana, where wealth confers protection. It’s the grieving, poor family of Adrianna Younge who goes unheard, shut out from justice, media platforms, and power. The real silence isn’t around defending well-connected businessmen; it’s the institutional silencing of the child’s memory through bureaucratic obfuscation and narrative management.
Calling police missteps a “fumble” trivializes a fundamental breach of public trust. False claims about security footage misdirected a child’s disappearance investigation. Her body was later found in the very pool that was allegedly already searched. Public rage stems not from irrationality but from decades of institutional failure that have conditioned people to believe justice doesn’t work for them.
The violence cannot be condoned but must be understood. Labelling it simply “mob rule” without examining what creates mobs mistakes symptoms for disease. The absence of swift, credible investigation, official silence, and the sense that powerful interests might evade scrutiny created a vacuum into which chaos rushed. Yes, prosecute looters and arsonists. But extend that call equally to those responsible for investigative failure, not through scapegoating but with clarity and consequence. Otherwise, “justice for all” remains an empty slogan.
Justice must not be selective. This means asking why justice has historically been denied to the powerless, not just why the powerful are now under fire. It means ensuring Adrianna Younge isn’t forgotten as a mere symbol but remembered as a catalyst for institutional reform. Will Guyana continue protecting property and privilege more swiftly than children? Or will it build a justice system truly worthy of the name—swift, transparent, and fair?
Justice must not be selective. But neither must it be superficial.
Regards,
Terrence Richard Blackman, Ph.D.
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