Failure to address deep racial division before oil, another huge mistake by Govt. – Ramson
“We risk being taken advantage of by those who love the divide and conquer technique; and, if we perfect the division on our own, then we really making it easy for the outsiders.”
By Abena Rockcliffe-Campbell
“Blacks are thieves and hardcore criminals; Indians are greedy, scamps.
Attorney-at-Law and former MP, Charles Ramson
“Unfortunately, in this day and age, this is how we see each other. But one of the worst things that we can do to ourselves as a nation is to allow this sort of division to continue as we move closer to becoming an oil producing nation.”
Attorney-at-law and politician, Charles Ramson Junior said this yesterday during an interview with this newspaper.
He recalled his comments of Guyana’s state of ill preparedness for oil in face of the likelihood that production will begin next year.
Ramson said, “Remember I spoke about the fact that the government has little in place to manage the sector? I highlighted the fact that we have absolutely no policy in place, no Sovereign Wealth Fund, no Local Content Policy and a very small budget for the Department of Energy. Well all of that is bad and tell us that we will struggle. But, just as bad is the fact that the government is doing little to nothing to address the deep racial division that exists in our country.”
The former People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) Member of Parliament said that oil often brings its own problems, “Literally too numerous to mention.”
Ramson said that the government has been warned about how oil can destroy a country with ethnic rivalry.
The lawyer recalled that the Carter Center had warned, in a report following the 2015 election, that the “anticipated influx of oil revenue has the potential to exacerbate ethnic and political conflicts.”
Ramson said that the Carter Center spoke about that as it highlighted the need for Constitutional Reform.
Ramson said that if Guyana continues on its current trajectory, the country would never reach the “potential of which we, politicians, like to speak.”
The lawyer said that one of the most dangerous things about deep division in an oil producing country is that “we risk being taken advantage by those who love the divide and conquer technique and if we create the division on our own, then we really making it easy for the outsiders.”
“Only recently, I spoke extensively about the need to address division. This was at the forum hosted by the Institute of Chartered Accountants.” He said that the topic then was, “a changing society from the controversial and often understudied perspective of race looking specifically at a way forward.”
Ramson said that, during his presentation, he made reference to the many daily comments on Facebook that spew race hate. “But I also pointed out that things can get worse.”
The lawyer said that he is convinced that Guyanese cannot continue to ignore the racial issues with the hope that somehow, time will heal all wounds and the problem will fix itself.
“Why am I convinced of this? Well, it has been 180 years since the two main races have been here together and things vacillate from good to bad to good to bad in a perpetual cyclical way.”
Ramson said that a read of the Report of the Wismar, Christianburg, Mackenzie Commission, termed the “Wismar Report” gives a good understanding into how bad things were and how bad it can get.
He said that the report was a result of the enquiry of a Commission appointed in 1964 by the Governor of British Guiana into what is famously called the Wismar Massacre.
Ramson recalled that the Wismar Massacre was a race war when people were killed, homes were burned; buses and a boat were bombed; women were raped and many were beaten and maimed.
Ramson said, “This has left generational scarring. And if you think we are so far from that today, think again. As recent as May 2015, at the end of the election, we were on the precipice of something similar when the two main ethnic groups were arming and preparing themselves to come to Georgetown, which would have resulted in a lot of bloodshed. This was only averted when a call was made in my presence, having discovered what was taking place, for one of the two groups to stand down.”
“On the bright side, I genuinely feel that the mood of the nation is that we are ready to move on but we just do not know how,” said Ramson.
The politician said that the time to act, in order to minimize the risks of the bad that can happen, is yesterday.
He said that while he feels that too much time has been wasted, government can still make efforts to address the division.
He said that a simple but effective step would be to make the work force equal.
According to Ramson, “A fierce battle to obtain and protect state jobs created a totally unbalanced and unfair state employment. Have a look at the public service and you will see domination by one ethnic group. When you add to that the security forces – the police, and the army – the distrust really starts to resonate. No society can be at ease with itself once there is distrust especially in the state institutions, which you depend on for your protection.”
He said that there needs to be housing programmes that can foster integrated living.
Ramson said, “Generally, as we moved out of Africa, we changed our pigmentation together. So the point is we are not only comfortable in our own skin but among our own skin –this comfort is instinctive. So that is the basis of our race instincts. It’s tribal. But, it should not mean that we cannot live together.”
“The construct of how we live breeds racial conflict and tension leading to racism. We have black villages like Nabacalis, Buxton, Victoria. Then we have Indian villages like Enterprise and Annandale. Even within our capital, we have pockets of areas where you find mostly Indians—Prasad Nagar and Campbellville on the Western Side of Sheriff and other areas where there are mostly blacks such as Tucville, Albouystown, and South Ruimveldt.”
Ramson said that a serious effort now has to be made to focus on building social housing upwards within the city. He said that should be allocated to persons based on the principle of racial integration. “If we cannot literally live together, we really are just skirting around the issue.”
Ramson said that schools must now look to teach racial integration.
“Our education system is no longer fit for purpose in a modern world where the market dominates our way of life. Reading, writing and math are important yes, but we need more.
Ramson said that each citizen also has his or her role to play.
“We have bought into this notion that unless I look like you, I cannot represent you and there are politicians who, for selfish purposes, reinforce that destructive notion throughout the generations.” He said that it is time citizens put aside racial politics and vote for policies. The country needs young fresh leadership.
“Our society will never be able to be at ease with itself and will never be able to develop and realize its full potential if we do not fix it. And what happens if we do not, well, we keep fighting ourselves and foreign agents enter our world and capitalize on our division taking the lion’s share of our natural resources.”
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