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The American elections attracted the attention of Guyanese to the extent that one would believe that they had a vote in those elections. There were those who supported the Democrats and those who supported the Republicans.
Of interest was the demography. A vast majority of the Black people were supporting the Democrats while the converse was true for the people of East Indian ancestry. And I know why.
Some years back, in 2008, when Barack Obama was running for the White House the Guyanese Indians who lived in Queens, New York, were in full support for Obama’s rival, Senator John McCain. I found that strange since the immigrant population tended to support the Democrats.
It turned out that the motivating factor for the Indo Guyanese in Queens was the fact that Obama was black. These people had left their homes in Guyana with the same hatred or dislike for Black people. Of course, not every Indo Guyanese is so inclined.
Those who were, hated Forbes Burnham, the then President. This hate influenced their children and the tradition continued. There was a similar trend in 2012 during the race for the White House. It did not change much in 2020 although the eventual winner, Joe Biden was White.
This time around, the Democratic nominee is of Indian ancestry. But there again, a crowd of Indo Guyanese gathered outside the popular Sybil’s with loud hailers urging people to vote for Donald Trump. I am in no position to say that the degree of non- support for the Democratic party was what it was in 2008 and again in 2012. But it is there.
In Guyana the trend was not too different. It could have been because Kamala Harris has a Black father. Her mother is Indian but in the minds of these Guyanese the presence of Black genes far outweighed her Indian ancestry.
I am forced to remember Wynette Alexander-Greene of Lancaster, Corentyne. Her father was black and her mother Indian. She had a terrible youth among her Indian peers. She is now 81. She concluded that there must be a serious problem being black.
From her perspective, she saw her ancestry as equal. Her grandmothers were very accepting of her. The same could not have been said of her Indian grandfather.
So we come to Guyana. Forbes Burnham died nearly 40 years ago but he is still being vilified in certain quarters of the society.
There was the Indian rate of migration going as far back as the 1980s. The late Dr Cheddi Jagan told the nation that the people hated Burnham so much that they were voting with their feet.
When the migration trend continued even during his presidency he attributed the migration to the pull factor. It was no longer a case of people hating Burnham.
Yet Guyanese recognize that they need each other. Each race group plays an important role in national life. In some communities one would not recognize the race difference.
During the ethnic disturbances of the 1960s people along coastal Guyana slaughtered each other. This was not the case on the Essequibo Coast. The people simply went about their business. They all rejected attempts to inject racial violence into their communities. It was the same in communities like Bartica.
There was the riverine community of Champagne, Mahaicony where the bulk of the population is of Indian ancestry. The political opposition visited the community and immediately the racist elements in the community came out to harass the residents who met and spoke with the political opposition.
Indeed, there were people of Indian ancestry among the visiting team. The argument could be made that one political party was simply trying to protect its turf. But the general treatment of those who live in communities with a different ethnic composition complain that they are being treated differently.
They complain about the inequality of cash grant distributions, about the government’s relief efforts and even the award of contracts. And all this is happening even as the government came up with this One Guyana policy.
Of course there are blacks in the ruling party. Dr Cheddi Jagan took great pains to ensure that the Prime Minister would be black. That was supposed to demonstrate the ethnic harmony. This trend continues to this day but on closer examination, one would realise that this is a sham.
When Dr Jagan died the Prime Minister, Sam Hinds, moved seamlessly into the Presidency but he was removed at the first opportunity. He never exhibited the power of the Presidency. He was made to resign when the party agreed that Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo was to become the president.
A game of musical chairs erupted. The Prime Minister resigned as president after Jagdeo was appointed Prime Minister. Jagdeo acceded to the presidency and Sam Hinds was reappointed Prime Minister. This happened in the One Guyana that President Irfaan Ali is talking about.
Meanwhile, last week I attributed a cybercrime charge to Tacuma Ogunseye. In fact, the person should have been Kidackie Amsterdam. He was the person who was moderating the broadcast when the person made a call that was deemed offensive.
Although Amsterdam remained silent during the call he was charged with inciting ethnic unrest. The caller was not charged. Perhaps he was never found or the police were too lazy to find the person who made the call. Amsterdam was the low-hanging fruit.
