Time for a full apology, Mr. Green
Dear Editor,
Over the period of a year I have been meticulously noting the contributions
made to this letter forum by Mr. Hamilton Green, the Mayor of
Georgetown. I have noticed a trend of emollience and conciliation in the
underlying tones of his letters and it seems to me that Mr. Green is in the
mode of atonement.
Wismar_massacre_British_Guiana
As a Guyanese I feel that the ball is now in our court and we must seize this
seeming 'road to damascus conversion' that has presented itself. As a matter
of principle we must impress upon Mr. Green to make a noble gesture of apology
to all Guyanese for the past ills of the P.N.C., by so doing unlatching a
selective silence and revealing the unpalatable truths about the darkest
period in our history.
All Guyanese must support Mr. Green in this act of catharsis as this gesture
will be most critical to the national healing process. This will bring closure
to many of the unresolved issues of the Burnham era. In his most recent letter
to this forum, dated 23.10.02, Mr. Green stated as follows, "truly, until
and unless we understand our history- all of it, we remain ignorant of the
common enemy." Yes Mr. Green, all of it, and this includes the unsavoury
component such as the assassination of Walter Rodney.
The cathartic release from Mr. Green must be candid and honest, not selective
and delphic. This must include the warts and all. During the introduction to
his letter Mr. Green lamented on falling standards and erosion of 'cherished
values', but the reality is that erosion of values and falling standards in
every facet of social life in Guyana have their genesis in the Burnham era.
The P.N.C did some naughty things during its tenure in government and many of the problems today, from skill shortages to issues of law and order, are inherited and transferred problems from the P.N.C era.
The much debated state of despair and hopelessness which currently plagues sections of theAfrican-Guyanese community has its antecedents in the abusive relationship of convenience between the black working class and the P.N.C. With the glibness of a courting suitor the P.N.C visited its black voting patronage once every 4 -5 years, exploiting the ethnic insecurities, and once secure in office abandoned this 'expendable class' in preference to the Afrosaxons. The P.N.C. must apologise to all Guyanese, now.
Yours faithfully,
Joseph B. Collins
Sunday, October 27, 2002