By Vincent Alexander
The Prime Minister`s letter to the press, captioned: “Forde`s letter is a retreat from what is expected from individuals impacted by slavery”, is as ironic as they can be.
He accuses Forde of a “lack of historical awareness” and “shifting the spotlight” when in fact that is exactly what his letter seeks to do and his Government continues to do in relation to the current issues confronting the people of African descent and the declaration of a decade, by the United Nations, for the people of African descent.
“Shifting the spotlight” is all that the Government and President Ali, in particular, have been doing by pronouncing on the feat of the enslaved who achieved emancipation, and lauding the Government’s stance on external reparations, rather than addressing the internal issues referenced in the UN`s resolution on the decade.
The Government is in a perpetual state of denial, thus demonstrating a “lack of historical awareness” of the current state of African-Guyanese as a consequence of the institutional and legal frameworks of which they continue to be victims after emancipation. Those frameworks denigrated and oppressed the people of African descent and in many instances continue to do so, hence the United Nations` declaration of a decade for the People of African Descent.
The Government has been unresponsive to the declaration of the decade, expect for the retention and weaponizing of the Granger 100,000,000 initiative. Yet, the Prime Minister seeks to heap praises on the President for his “commitment to addressing past wrongs” when in fact, no internal issue, specific to the state of the People of African descent, has been singled out for attention by the Ali Government, even as the education system refuses to embrace the comprehensive teaching of Guyanese history and the contribution of the various ethnic groups to Guyana`s development; and the local government and land administration systems continue the land grabbing of the lands purchased and bequeathed by the ancestors of the people of African descent, just to mention a few of the issues that the government has refused to addressed notwithstanding being signatory to the resolution that provides for the declaration of the decade under the theme: recognition, justice and development for the people of African descent.
