There must be something in the air that has made man even more cruel than before. Man is extremely cruel to his own kind. Two years ago, Russia targeted Ukraine for a short and swift campaign. The bombs fell from the skies on innocent people. Many fled their homes and country for what they considered safer places. Of course, escape was not easy for some.
Black people who lived in Ukraine found that leaving with the hordes was not as easy. They were prevented from boarding trains and other vehicles that were aiding the evacuation. The people preventing them from leaving were members of the Ukraine military. So I sat and wondered why should I be supporting Ukraine? In fact, why should I be interested in the war? The discrimination did not end there. Migrants from the Ukraine were readily accepted by other countries. They were given accommodation, allowed to work and even to do what they did best. The United States was most welcoming as was Canada.
In another part of the world, there were African migrants fleeing whatever problems they were encountering in their homeland. Many fled in makeshift boats, some of which sank during the crossing and claimed many lives. Those who landed did not find a welcoming arm. A few were placed in refugee camps. Many were not allowed to land. The countries simply did not want them so they were turned away, forced to go back onto the flimsy boats on which they came.
Then I looked across at the United States where thousands of migrants have been trying to cross the borders. Some died trying to cross. Some died in the Texas desert, some drowned at the border and some simply starved. Those who entered the United States were at one time kept in camps. Their numbers increased and suddenly many are allowed to roam the streets without being afraid of apprehension. Today, the largest number of refugees entering the United States is Venezuelans.
The Haitians are not so lucky. They tried coming to Guyana and found that they were not welcome. They were asked to secure a visa to enter. The Venezuelans come in droves and are welcomed. In the early days the government bent over backward to accommodate them. Then the numbers got too large so it has become a case of ‘do what you want’.
More recently, there was the problem in the Middle East. Hamas, it is said, went into Israel and killed people. They also kidnapped some. Israel retaliated in the most brutal fashion, killing women and children. I had seen videos coming out of Palestine. These Palestinians who lived there from time immemorial, were suddenly slaves in their own land. I saw the brutality. I saw boys and young men being killed because they threw stones at the invading Israelis.
More recently, there was a video of the Israeli pushing their prisoners into a pit and shooting them. It was most brutal. People protested in support of Hamas and the Palestinians. I am sympathetic to the Palestinian cause but then I was reminded that the Palestinians were not kind to Black people. God knows that as a black man I wonder what it is about my people that causes others to treat us with such distaste. We are not granted concessions. We make up the greatest concentration of prisoners in countries where our numbers are a fraction of the population.
And in cases where we rise above the fray, we tend to be harsh to those who look like us. Perhaps those whom we despise do what is not expected of them. Those in position treat their own violently. Those treated badly are left to the mercies of the society.
In Guyana, I suddenly find that the number of black contractors is drastically reduced. So, when contracts are awarded one finds that most, an overwhelming majority, go to people who are not black. We say that black people are being discriminated against, especially when we see the government awarding huge contracts to people who never were and never will be contractors. Where have the black contractors gone? They did not migrate. It could be that they were forced to sell off their equipment when they stopped getting contracts, no matter how much bidding they did.
As a boy growing up the carpenters, masons, and other artisans were black people. They did quality work but many priced themselves out of the market. These people must now seek employment and as many know, charity begins at home.
But this is not about black people. It is about man’s cruelty to man. Russia versus Ukraine; Israel against Hamas; white policemen against black men. People are killed needlessly. On Tuesday I read that in Trinidad four men were standing at a street corner when a car pulled up and gunned down the four. I don’t know the reason. All I know is that there have been about 1,000 murders in Trinidad so far this year. Jamaica is a little different but the same senseless killings occur.
Someone sent a video to me. I don’t know the location but the voices doing the narrative were Guyanese. The video showed a man climbing some stairs to an apartment. Apparently the music from that apartment was too loud. The end result is that the man, and the woman in the apartment were shot and killed.
Killing is becoming as commonplace as eating. A man reportedly goes to another man’s home on an invitation to buy gold. He is killed. Some years back, a young man was travelling to Bartica in a speedboat. Some Guyana Defence Force ranks took him off his boat and killed him for what money he was carrying. Men brutalise women for the simplest of reasons. I saw a video out of Jamaica of a man slashing a woman’s throat. The police came. Rather than arrest him, they shot and killed him. To my surprise, the people who had gathered outside cheered on the police.
There was a mass shooting just the other day in Maine, in the United States. A man walked into a bowling alley and restaurant and killed 18 people. He also injured 13. This was for no reason. Some are blaming mental illness. No mentally ill person in Guyana has ever killed so many. It must be something in the air.
