The Coil: Human rights are not gifts from the majority to the minority
The young man of Indian origins who dances said he would have had no problem dancing at the Inauguration/Independence celebrations if he had been asked.
He thinks that other members of his troupe might have had difficulty since they believed the event was more APNU/politics rather than about national independence. They have been avoiding events since before the elections which were partisan designed as cultural.
Some of the persons who talked about the inauguration celebrations made direct and passing references to ‘lack of ethnic diversity. One young man on social media noted that he “was saddened by, is that far less than 1% of the people that made up that 20,000+ crowd were East Indian. Sad why? Because they are reported to be the largest ethnic group in Guyana.”
Another woman who could pass for East Indian and who campaigned for APNU+AFC wrote about ‘expecting at least to have seen a bit of me on the stage”, while other persons noted that the “Indian dance seemed to come at the end when the big ones were not there”
Other persons were vexed with “the man with the towel around his neck” and the fact that Ministers choose to ‘scarf down food’ instead of politely listening to speeches.
One person was not happy that the man with the towel around his neck reportedly introduced young Bill Rogers as the ‘first black man to win a coolie competition’ while others like me were glad that there was some honesty there because it is true that Young Bill Rogers is probably the first black man to win a coolie competition.
“Diversity is not just black and coolie”
Henry Louis Gates Jr is an American professor at Harvard University who was arrested in his home in 2009 for breaking and entering after trying to fix the lock. He noted , while discussing his work in the USA, that “diversity is not just black and white”. In Guyana, I would imagine that diversity is more than black and coolie.
The 2015 APNU+AFC manifesto has two references to diversity, one about ethnic diversity in the police, and the other about cultural diversity at Mashramani (and not inauguration celebrations at Independence?).
The 2015 PPP/C manifesto has seven references to diversity. It could be that the PPP/C writers are more familiar with buzz words rather than any serious commitment to accepting diversity.
In Guyana, the focus on diversity has been on ‘ethnic’ , ‘religious’ and ‘cultural’ diversity.
The 2002 Census recognised the following ethnic groups
African/Black
Amerindian
East Indian
Chinese
Portuguese
White
Other
An Amerindian elder I met after the elections said that there is not one ‘Amerindian’, there are nine peoples. She said that each of these people’s should be represented when Guyana’s nationhood is discussed.
The 2002 Census identified the following religious affiliations :-
- Anglican
- Methodist
- Pentecostal
- Catholic
- Jehovah Witness
- Bahai
- Muslim
- Hindu
- Rastafarian
- Seventh Day Adventist
- Other Christians
- None
- Other
Any President who is sincere about appreciating the diversity of Guyana might feel overwhelmed like France’s de Gaulle who had mused about governing a country with 246 different cheeses.
Those who swear to uphold the Constitution should be committed to ensuring equality for all citizens. Equality was not mentioned much in the manifestos and is a concept which is not discussed much in Guyana. Equality does not mean that all of us are ‘Guyanese’ and that we have to suppress our differences. Equality refers to the state acknowledging differences, celebrating diversity as a resource and ensuring that every citizen has equal access to available services and resources.
“It’s not a big issue”
The APNU+AFC manifesto talks about ‘gender equality’ eight times, while the PPP/C manifesto talks about ‘gender equality’ 4 times.
Equality is not mentioned in any other way except in reference to poverty.
The APNU+AFC coalition had to resubmit their list of candidates because the original one did not satisfy the gender distribution requirement.
The Chief Scrutineer, Ms Amna Ally reportedly said ‘It’s not a big issue’ Ms Ally is now the Minister of Social Cohesion in a Government which has only two women in a Cabinet of 15 ministers. It is not a big issue for one woman who told me that she would be more concerned that all the ministers understand gender equality.
If things are working according to language , then Minister Ally might be the one who would be interested in the calls of people like Derwayne Willis who wants the Government to “mend the race torn country” and the Amerindian elder who wants all nine peoples represented. Minister Ally might be the person to decide on how the government will not discriminate against its lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) citizens while not upsetting “the people”.
“The people”
In a recent interview, President Granger acknowledged that his religious beliefs will not be interfering with secular issues. The journalists it seems were thinking about LGBT rights and abortion.
President Granger spoke of his respect for different faiths and acknowledged that the government would have to “to keep abreast with what is happening in other countries but at the same time what our own people want” . This is troubling at this juncture if the President believes that decision to ensure equality for LGBT persons, and indeed equality generally, is due to ‘international’ standards, while our ‘own people’ might want differently.
The trouble with Guyana is that ‘the people’ is constantly taken to mean the majority. The acceptance of diversity and the promotion of equality require that the State understands that human rights are not the gift of the majority to the minority.
Tragically, democracy in Guyana since 1992 has been the triumph of winners over losers. If the current administration and the 11th Parliament will still continue to defer to “the people” when they have to deal with human rights, then there would not be much change really in how Guyana handles its diversity.
Disunited in Diversity
My version of coolie does not include bheri as representing anyone in Parliament, nor the marriott, even if I can eat seven curry with my fingers and “plait meh foot and sit flat pun the ground for ang(ish) time”
When you intersect ‘ethnic group’ with ‘religion’ there will be coolie people who do not eat seven curry from Hindu religious functions and all kinds of other diversity.
I cringe every time I see coolie being represented as Bollywood. The young man who dances though is different from me, as he and his troupe have excelled in Bollywood inspired performances.
Accepting diversity is realising that each of us could have our place in Guyana without imposing on each other or being seen to represent each other. The idea of an inclusionary democracy is one in which all citizens and not just ‘the people’ are ensured of equitable access to the State and its resources.
The Independence/Inauguration critics have opened up the discussion on what the 50th Anniversary celebrations should look like. People seem to want a high quality mega-event which reflects the population and could make Guyana proud especially to those who would be viewing on the internet live streams.
There might be other people like me who would dream that instead of one big mega expensive event or mega events, that there will be hundreds of smaller events which would cater to different communities and interests and which would be accessible to the population, not only ‘the people’ .
Diversity in the fiftieth anniversary of Independence should include citizens like me who think the events will be pointless if we celebrate with laws on the books which allow the state to beat children and which enable an environment of discrimination against LGBT citizens because ‘the people’ want it that way.
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