It was a long and difficult road to freedom. As is common knowledge, our ancestors were brought against their will to this part of the world where they had to endure the horrors of the Middle Passage in which they were packed liked sardines in small ocean-going vessels, bounded together in chains for fear that they may want to jump overboard. A substantial number died on the way, unable to survive the inhuman conditions to which they were exposed.

Those who survived the ordeal had to suffer the indignity of being stripped of their individuality, indeed their humanity. I have no intention of repeating what has already been said on the subject over the past few days. I merely wish to take the opportunity of this Viewpoint to salute our African brothers and sisters on the attainment of yet another historic milestone and to urge that we used this opportunity to reflect on the struggles and sacrifices made by our fore-parents and the challenges ahead as we strive to build a peaceful and cohesive society.

There can be no doubt that we have come a long way since those sordid years. Our fore-parents toiled hard and long to create a new society, one in which future generations can live in comfort and in state of dignity.

We have to ensure that the sacrifices made by our fore-parents for a better society are not eroded by people who seem bent to take us back to some distant past. Such men are indeed dangerous. We must resist with all our might those who want to create divisions in our society based on race and ethnicity.

We have to guard against racial stereotypes aimed at pitting one race against the other. We must preserve our dignity as a people. Attacks on any one race, be they oral or physical, takes away from our collective sense of dignity and diminishes us all a people with a proud record of struggle against a brutal and horrible past.

I am convinced that Guyanese are peaceful and law abiding citizens. They carry on their lives with a great sense of decency and respect. This is why we have to be careful not to put labels on persons and communities. More importantly, we must not allow a misguided few to tarnish the name of an otherwise peaceful society.

We must expose those with hidden agendas calculated to do harm to our society. The current administration has been investing quite heavily in the upgrading of the quality of life of the people of Guyana. This is seen in the high priority placed on the social sectors, in particular education, health, housing and water. The biggest slice of the national budget is spent on upgrading the physical and social infrastructure, the benefits of which accrue to all Guyanese, regardless of race or political affiliation.

The records will show that top performances come from students of all ethnic groups in equal proportion at local and overseas examinations. In other words, there is no correlation between improved student performance and the race group to which a person belongs, which is an indication that the benefits to the education sector by way of increased budgetary allocation are uniformly distributed. The same is true of expenditures in the other social sectors as well.

As I said before, we have much to be thankful for. The successes we have made are the combined result of all our peoples for the entire society must be given credit. We have to continue to work together to ensure, that like our fore-parents we also help to create a society in which our children and those to come and be proud of.