Guyana Chronicle
May 29, 2001

IN HIS address to the nation to mark the country's 35th anniversary of Independence Saturday, President Bharrat Jagdeo urged Guyanese to move away from competitively destructive politics and to isolate those who spread race hate.

He noted that considering the setbacks, Guyanese have much to be proud of on the anniversary.

"We have maintained national cohesion under the stress of threats to our multi-ethnic society and in spite of challenges to our sovereignty", the President noted.

"But let us make no mistake and be complacent", he warned.

Too often has the nation recently been subjected to the pressures of what Mr. Jagdeo calls "competitively destructive politics" and it is time that really concerned groups begin to take a stand against those who preach race hate and division.

Racial problems continue to dog many countries. The United Kingdom, over the weekend saw a flare-up attributed to racial tensions and there have been recent problems in a part of the United States.

Guyanese have seen enough to want to go down that road and the majority of the people have no such desire.

Referring to those who are weak "and succumb to base instincts of race hate, religious intolerance and violence", the President said they "must be identified and isolated."

"They must not be allowed to succeed. Guyana has no place for them!"

Civil society including church groups and trade unions, have a role in this campaign and they should heed the warnings that surfaced with the most recent incidents of violence that were clearly marked by racial underpinnings.

There are lessons in the country's history that the President referred to in his address and urged the concerned to take stock of. He said those who despair and "are frightened by our present challenges have too soon forgotten the heroic deeds of our forefathers."

"They were physically suppressed and restrained but their minds and hearts were always free. Those who are timid in our time of challenge and fear the future must resort with regularity to our history and there find lessons in courage and deeds of fortitude for emulation", he advised.

There are indeed invaluable lessons there for those who want the nation to advance in unity.

Mr. Jagdeo noted that in the decades leading to May 1966, when Guyana became an independent nation, the Guyanese people were united in their determination to, once and for all time, end colonial domination.

The descendants of slaves and indentured labourers, Amerindians and Chinese and Portuguese desired the same good and wanted a life of dignity, he said.

"Their unity was a fearsome development. It was this unity that destroyed the old demeaning system and provided the opportunity for us to build a new society", he recalled.

"The past reveals our ability to bury differences and disagreements. It tells the story of our willingness to forgo partisan political interests for the common good of our people."

Guyanese today will have to also rise to the challenges to keep the preachers of race hate and their ilk at bay.