By Mark DaCosta- In Part IV of this series the following fact was noted:
“The American Psychological Association, in a report, writes the following:
“If we just look at overt discrimination, we are missing a lot of negativity that the targets of discrimination experience,” says Michelle “Mikki” Hebl, PhD, a professor of psychology and management at Rice University. In fact, Hebl argues that in some cases subtle, or interpersonal, discrimination can be more damaging than more overt forms because the recipient may have to exert a great deal of cognitive resources questioning whether they are just imagining it or to whom to attribute it.”
In other words, hidden discrimination may be just as damaging as institutional prejudice.
It was noted, too, that according to experts, prejudice and discrimination begin at the top of the ladder of authority.
If a government practices institutional prejudice, that mindset is likely to be passed down to the general population. Similarly, if the head of a home has racist ideas, children are likely to adopt them.
Once such a mindset is adopted, that person may – very likely – exercise subtle discrimination against peers and other members of communities.
At this point, it may be noted that experts say that after prejudice becomes fixed in the mind, it is difficult to remove and correct. This is so because the prejudiced person would likely have learned those ideas from authority figures.
The People’s Progressive Party (PPP) has been accused of institutional prejudice and racism on numerous occasions by countless Guyanese. Many of those citizens are economists, political scientists, teachers, and other people of that educational calibre. It is therefore difficult to dismiss those allegations.
Regarding institutional racism, a group of researchers wrote:
“Institutional racism was defined by Sir William Macpherson in the UK’s Lawrence report (1999) as: “The collective failure of an organisation to provide an appropriate and professional service to people because of their colour, culture, or ethnic origin. It can be seen or detected in processes, attitudes and behaviour that amount to discrimination through prejudice, ignorance, thoughtlessness, and racist stereotyping which disadvantage minority ethnic people.”
Guyanese may decide for themselves if that is the reality in Guyana.
