Together we can build a better Guyana

Dear Editor,

“Racism is learned behaviour!” Words of the late President Nelson Mandela of South Africa who went on to add:  “it is learned behaviour and we must therefore teach our people to love”.

• As little kids we play, we sing, we eat and we sometimes even sleep together. But as we grow older, the people and the Institutions that influence our thinking and behaviour and redefine values begin to take over… the parents in the home, the teachers in the classrooms, the neighbour next door, the older workers at our workplaces, the Trade Unionists, the politician and yes, the Pastor and the Priest in the Church; some of whom do not stand out as the paragon of good and exemplary behaviour which they seek to represent to us. And sadly enough, many of us who have been living in harmony begin to develop a fear and mistrust for each other based on a factor we had no control over: the fact of our ethnicity, our religious beliefs, our political persuasion and based on the hate teachings of some in our Society to whom I alluded above. My friends, we need to stop listening to hate preachers or we will all suffer. We need to get rid of the stereotype thinking that racists have engendered in us and its halo effects which cause blacks to believe that (i) East Indians are responsible for their economic deprivation when often it is the choices we make (ii) blacks may be responsible for many crimes committed and that blacks are extravagant while all Indians are stingy. We may never have a society free of ethnic tensions and suspicions but we must work to achieve such a society which is wholesome for all of us. Like rational human beings, we all want the best for ourselves, our families, our Organisation, our Groups; but we need to recognize and to accept that while we have a right to ‘the good life’; so too do the other people nearby and next door. We need also to respect their rights and their cultural diversity. All of us must be involved. We must see ourselves as agents of change. Thus, the Government has an important role in facilitating and accommodating the involvement of decent, honest, committed Guyanese who have determined and committed to make their contributions as Agents of positive changes in the development thrust that has obviously enveloped our Guyana. They too have an important role as Change Agents in our Country. We must never lose sight of that fact.

• Let’s start in the home. Parents/Guardians can make a difference by setting the right example, spending quality time with our children even as we work continually with them determined to install hate free values in the process. Our children learn not only by seeing
  and observing what we do but by also listening to what we say. The arrogance, disrespect and hostility displayed by many of our youths towards adults; the racial slurs hurled by many could only be a representation of the learned behaviour they would have inculcated in their homes, schools, work places and communities, and sadly enough, adults to whom they look often for guidance would have been the teachers. At school through Family Life Education, among others, we must help children develop the capacity to live in peace and harmony with and to love and respect each other’s culture and religious values; to show racial tolerance; to deal with emotions; to handle peer pressure and to make their own decisions. Family Life Education must focus on character education: on attitudes, behaviour, moral values etc., providing our children with the capacity to live in peace and harmony and to show love and respect for each other; otherwise, talk of Social Cohesion would be mere empty gaffe.

• The role of the Church must go beyond the singing of hymns and praying, important though they be. The Church’s role must be redefined to include influencing thinking and positive behavioural change; and also about Church leaders being good examples to their congregation. Many are they who are very vociferous on the pulpit and portray characteristics that must be similar to that possessed and displayed by some of Jesus’ disciples. Albeit, off the pulpit the antagonist and questionable attributes they portray must have been similar to that displayed by Judas Iscariot. Not good examples of laudable human behaviour. Many are overtly hostile to the People’s Progressive Party and its supporters as if the Almighty had delegated the task of passing judgement to them. Fellow Guyanese! We may never have a society free of ethnic suspicions and tensions but we must make a special effort to achieve this. Integral to the desired behaviour changes we seek is the work of the Political Parties among the people of Guyana. We must all be carrying the same message intended to benefit all and not some; for the task before us is to govern our multi Ethnic Nation. In this regard there is a very important role for the People’s Progressive Party. After all, the PPP has always been in the forefront of every effort to bring improvement to the quality of the lives of the Guyanese people. Furthermore, let us all be reminded that the PPP/C won 33 of the 65 seats in the National Assembly in the 2020 National Elections. A majority of the Guyanese voters indicated, by their votes, that they have confidence in the PPP’s ability to deliver improvements in the lives of the Guyanese people. Presently, that figure would have moved closer to 60% or more as the wheels of progress continue to turn at an even faster rate. Collectively we must work to reduce even further; indeed to completely remove hate, envy mistrust and mischief wherever these stalk this dear land of ours. Together we would build a better Guyana.

Norman  Whittaker

Former member of Parliament/ Minister of Local Government and Regional Development

Related