They are in positions of power and influence all across Guyana. But those who work for the government, or for organizations which depend on being “in” with the government of Guyana, are the most dangerous. I am willing to bet that not one PPP government official has ever mandated to any Black leader within the PPP government that they should ostracize other Black people. They just do it.
These people are the most dangerous because of their insecurity. The sad part is that many of them are in place because of their competence, but they do not have enough self-confidence or self-respect to believe fully in themselves. Additionally, they lack courage, so they navigate out of fear; fear of losing their livelihood, fear of the PPP, whom they are always so ready to defend on their social media pages or in their private circles. The irony is fearing a party which they eloquently describe as democratic, yet somehow they believe freedom of expression does not extend to them.
This behavior has a name in Caribbean social commentary: the “crab-in-the-barrel mentality.” Like crabs in a barrel pulling each other down to prevent any from escaping, these individuals; rather than supporting one another, actively work to undermine their peers. Researchers identify envy, low self-esteem, and lack of personal accomplishments as frequent drivers of this behavior. Envy becomes embedded in the social fabric due to historical and socio-economic factors, creating a competitive atmosphere where people feel threatened by their peers’ success rather than encouraged to work together. The Caribbean’s colonial past and entrenched socio-economic inequality exacerbate low self-esteem, fostering a mindset that prioritizes individual survival over collective success. This is precisely what we see in Guyana: Too many Black professionals who, instead of opening doors for others, slam them shut to protect their own precarious perches.
But there is something deeper at work, something psychological. Academic research on psychoanalytic dynamics explores how White supremacist ideology and anti-Blackness are internalized and shape racialized self-representations. This creates what researchers call “dissociated anti-Blackness”, where Black individuals may hold contradictory self-states that simultaneously identify with anti-Blackness while at times still expressing pride in Blackness. This internalized dynamic helps explain the phenomenon we witness, Black professionals in Guyana who defend the PPP party that they themselves acknowledge does not fully extend freedom of expression to them. They have internalized the very logic that devalues them, and they enact it against their own people.
Scholars Molefi K. Asante and Ronald E. Hall trace this behavior to the original class and social distinctions created during slavery, when certain Africans were given positions in the master’s house and consequently felt they were better than those who worked in the fields. Their book, Rooming in the Master’s House argues that the “house Negro syndrome” continues in current discourses, where Black individuals given conditional access to power identify with their master and turn against their fellow man. This framework directly explains what we observe in Guyana among Black elites who perform loyalty to power structures and police their own communities, not because they are instructed to, but because their sense of self is tied to the master’s house, and they will do anything to keep their room there.
What is most dangerous about this cabal is that they act without instructions, and in many ways, they are worse than the standard PPP supporter because they work harder to prove their loyalty. Research on this behavior confirms this pattern: as these Black individuals achieve higher social and economic positions, they become more likely to hold conservative views on economics and the role of government, often opposing the treatment of people as members of racial groups and downplaying discrimination as a cause of minority disadvantage. They adopt ideologies of individual advancement over collective racial solidarity. And so they become the most zealous defenders of the status quo; not because they are told to, but because their conditional access depends on it.
We must look out for these people, expose them and shun them. We must stop cheering them on social media; they are a dangerous yet often silent scourge.
Guyana deserves a country where all citizens are equal. We must not abide prejudice, no matter where it comes from. Call them out. Shun them. Boycott their work. There are, of course, Black people in government who are supportive, and they deserve your support. Simply supporting the PPP is not grounds for Black exclusion, but weaponizing your access against your own people is downright evil.
