Forgetting differences
Editorial
Kaieteur News
February 24, 2007
Once a year the nation lets down all its inhibitions and mingle as any people should. They are subjected to enough pressures in the best of times. There are those who constantly complain about the cost of living, about the pressures created by their colleagues who do precious little in the office or in the field thus causing the willing to do more than is necessary, and about the depressing atmosphere created by those who carp about what should be but what is not.
And so it was that just about the entire capital city and the environs took to the streets either as participants in the numerous floats that formed the Mashramani parade or as spectators who also needed to enjoy a picnic atmosphere.
The smiles and shouts told the story of a people in need of entertainment, a people who needed an event that could be family-oriented. Indeed, many people rarely have the opportunity to take their family out to a public activity that could be both affordable and entertaining.
But, there is a greater aspect to all this. We, as a people, have presented ourselves to the world as being separated by ethnic conflict; as a people who have problems of racial insecurity and as human beings who have no racial tolerance.
If the truth be told, none of us could live without the other. Indeed, we have racial preferences but those preferences are often overshadowed by our general respect for each other.
Circumstances have dictated that some of us will be merchants who must depend on the shoppers and there are those of us who for one reason or the other, have gravitated to other areas, all of which are important to national life.
There will be successes and failures, and wherever there are failures we tend to blame the other ethnic group. We see the letters in the press that seek to perpetuate the myth that nothing good happened prior to the advent of this government to office. We have also seen the letters that subtly seek to cast blame for one ill or the other on the actions of the other ethnic group.
The comments are merely the views of one individual and those views may be supported by others of the same ilk, but the truth is far from that. We are responsible for whatever we produce.
It is true that there are times when the absence of co-operation could lead to disaster but these are few and far between. No entrepreneur would allow some minor conflict to halt or to even impact on his operations.
Knowing that his money is at stake, the entrepreneur would often seek a resolution that could see him taking a position against someone who may be of the same ethnic background.
This was often the case during the construction of some of the new hotels and other facilities being erected in the city. The petty squabbles on the work site were resolved in a manner that prevented any recurrence. People got the message and they worked as any people on a work site should.
On the social scale there is precious little to separate one ethnic group from the others and if this trend should continue we could look forward to an end to the nonsense of ethnic difference in the not too distant future.
They seek out the same social events, enjoy the same things and are not afraid to be seen in each other's company.
Children do not see ethnic differences. They are colour-blind and are incapable of understanding their parents' actions when it comes to other people. But social habits are learnt and this would explain the difference in attitude as children grow older.
However, there is evidence that the younger people are saying that they have no interest in ethnicity and this could only augur well for the country as a whole.
Of course the clash of cultures is common in any state in which there are people of different ethnicities. The United States after more than 200 years as an independent nation still appears averse to electing a president that is considered Black.