Dear Editor,
I migrated from Guyana to the United States, thirty nine years ago. At that time, the (Afro-Guyanese) Burnham presidency (authoritarian rule) was in full swing, and as an African Guyanese, I was accustomed to Africans having the dominant hand in Guyanese politics.
I must confess as an old PNC member, I was not happy with the emergence of the PPP as the new power player in Guyana. I religiously followed all of the podcasts and social media programmes of Guyanese who are sympathetic to the opposition. Unfortunately, their programmes are dominated with one issue: race. The more I looked at these shows, the angrier I became. The angrier I became, the more racist I got. Without realizing it, I was being indoctrinated by hate and becoming an anti-Indian in a way I never was nor wanted to be.
Two months ago, I got into a car accident and had to be rushed to Jamaica Hospital. At the hospital, an Indian man was pushing me on the gurney to the operating room. Noticing my accent, and smiling, he asked me “G.T.” ? I said yes, and he replied “no worries countryman, I got you bruda.” He brought extra pillows, water and hooked me up on wi-fi (there is no internet in the trauma center). I spent 11 hours in the trauma center so having access to my phone was a godsend. The doctor that operated on me was a young Indian girl, old enough to be my grandchild. She did not speak much, but did a magnificent job with my surgery. I noticed that she wore a gold chain, with the map of Guyana as a pendant. I asked her if she was from Guyana and she said no. She said she was born in America, but her parents were from Success, ECD. Since I was originally from Plaisance I queried her on her knowledge of Guyana, Did you know the chimney at Chateau Margot? How about LBI sugar estate? I was surprised how much she knew about Guyana for someone who never visited.
At no time was there a whiff of racism. I was shocked. This was not what I was being told daily about “them Indian people”.
A month ago, I returned to Guyana for a funeral. From immigration at the airport to sellers at the markets, I have never encountered so many Indian people since I left Guyana thirty nine years ago. And every time, I was waiting for the racism I was taught to expect. It never happened. On my final night, my step-son and I went to the casino. Apparently we indulged more thaan my wallet could afford. When we left the casino, we went to a small restaurant and ordered fried chicken. When the food and bill came, I was short by about $1000.00. Embarrassed, I stammered to the Indian owner that he will have to take out some of the chicken. Realizing my plight, he bellowed “nah budhay, it’s okay – you give it to me next time. Enjoy.”
Upon my return to New York, I returned to the social media sites of the race baiters. This time I was there not to cheer them on, but to confront them with their racist lies. However, I discovered as soon as I posted a contradictory comment on their page – they would instantly delete it. These peddlers of racist bile are afraid of the truth, and intimidated by words.
Reverse discrimination is a term used to describe discrimination against members of a dominant or majority group, in favour of members of a minority group. In other words, it is racism when a minority group, without foundation or justification, accuses another larger group of racism. That is why it is called reverse discrimination. There is a small cadre of social media people in the Guyanese community who daily peddle racist packs of lies. It is what keeps them relevant and reinforced their bigoted agenda.
Reverse discrimination is a perverse form of racism, that members of the Guyana opposition should condemn and disassociate themselves from in the interest of community and country.
Respectfully submitted,
Herbert Allen