August 1, 1838, marks one of the great turning points in Guyana's history. The divide between what went before and what came after is so great, that it is difficult for us nowadays to encompass its enormity. To be sure, those who were emancipated on that day did not enter into freedom in the modern sense of the term; they were still trammelled by the bonds of colonial overlordship, by a racially stratified society and by the pure spite of the plantocracy, which lost little opportunity to stymie their efforts at economic improvement. For all of that, however, options opened up to them on Emancipation Day which had been inconceivable before.
Much has been written about the dedication, vision, single-mindedness and sacrifice of those who just having emerged from slavery, pooled their resources and transported their small coinage in wheelbarrows to pay for entire plantations. It is one of the great stories of history. But we should remember too their forebears, who were born and died in the darkness of bondage, unredeemed by the knowledge that their children's children would one day be free. Both groups - those with horizons, albeit limited, and those without - have something to teach us if only we would listen.
Following emancipation the Africans wasted no time in seizing upon any little opening that presented itself, and in many instances actually created openings. They recognized above all else that education was the bedrock on which they would advance, and they made many sacrifices long before the compulsory education ordinance of 1876 to ensure their children received schooling. In a sense, every scholar in this country owes them a debt; it was partly their ambition, self-discipline and application which produced a school system which was once the envy of much of the Commonwealth. Some of the best African minds, denied opportunities in other sectors of the society in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, taught in the classrooms of the urban and rural areas. They didn't do it for the money; they did it out of a sense of commitment to their charges and the communities in which they lived, and in return those communities accorded them the highest respect.
And what would they think of how we (all groups - and they taught all groups) have disposed of their legacy? What would they think of the youngsters liming on the bridges when they should be in school? What would they think of pupils emerging from school functionally illiterate? What would they think of the drugs culture? What would they think of our consumer mentality? What would they think of the lack of a work ethic among so many of our youth? What would they think of the indiscipline at all levels in the society? What would they think of the crime and the violence? What would they think of the closed minds of the current generation who share this land?
The Africans of an earlier era made their contributions in the educational and professional spheres with little help from the society around them. They asked no favours and they got none. They took responsibility for their own destiny and made no excuses. In every sense their successes were their own, and if they had any failures, they accepted ownership of those too. Hard-working, disciplined, independent of spirit and of mind, they promoted values which were conducive to personal, and by extension, social advancement.
As noted above, however, they too had learnt from the earlier generations which had endured slavery. In circumstances of unimaginable brutality, those who were denied legal personality under the slave laws, still managed to assert their human personality. Stripped of all material possessions, familial ties and social context, the Africans recreated a cultural world as far as was feasible, utilising whatever was relevant in their extreme situation. The exigencies of the plantation notwithstanding, they still succeeded in evolving and maintaining traditions, particularly in relation to religious beliefs. In other words, they defined their own humanity, and sought within the very limited social space permitted them, to perpetuate values which denied the planter's definitions and gave their lives meaning. Under the circumstances, it was no small achievement.
And what would they think if they saw us nowadays? Would they think that we had been true to those positive values they bequeathed at such personal cost? Would they think that their struggle to acknowledge the intrinsic humanity of all had been forgotten? Would they think that we might be squandering both their legacy and the one which was handed down from the generations which benefited from emancipation?