Dear Editor

Political labels are useful in explaining political behaviour.

They may have a sweet or bitter sound depending on the context in which they are used, but they could be most misleading.

I am flattered to be called both an "Afrocentric Intellectual" and a "Racial Socialist." As someone who grew up in Buxton, I am accustomed to "false names." Perhaps I have said something disturbing to earn these seemingly important "false names" whose meanings I don't know. But ignorance is part of life.

If by critically addressing the African Guyanese condition, I have committed political sin, then, so be it.

I have all of my adult life been firmly committed to the multiracial flowering of our country. In this regard, I will not side with racial bullying and dictatorship-Black, White, or Indian.

Guyana is disintegrating, despite our leaders' denial. The culprit is racial insecurity and defensiveness. Africans and Indians throw missiles at each other from their respective racial prisons.

We keep clearing the debris only as preparation for the next round of warfare. But some of us who refused to be imprisoned want to stop the war altogether.

That's what I am putting some of my limited skills towards.

I owe it to our people whose sweat, toil, tears, and blood made it possible for me to be a Guyanese.

I owe it to Walter Rodney and his fallen comrades who died so that Guyana may have a chance to live.

So when I see my fellow Guyanese, leaders and followers, killing their future with racial hatred and political greed I cannot remain quiet, even if I live in a far off land. When racial madness is mixed with poverty, as is the case in Guyana, the outcome according to calypsonian, Shadow, is hell.

And it takes all voices and energies to help stop the slide, including those who are exiled from Guyana.

Exile is painful, but one has to earn a living. For what it is worth, I will reveal something that even my colleagues in the WPA are not aware of. Three years ago, when I had made up my mind to return to Guyana, I was advised to apply for two jobs in the Government Sector.

Despite being relatively well qualified, I was denied both jobs. One was at the University of Guyana, which turned down my application via an unsigned letter.