There is no room for racist behaviour--Adam Harris

MAY 24, 2015 | BY KNEWS | FILED UNDER FEATURES / COLUMNISTS, MY COLUMN

When one is caught up in something, one fails to see the big picture. More recently it happened in the world of the newspaper. For too long people simply took what was presented to them, although they knew that what was being told to them was far from the truth. For example, Kaieteur News from information provided by people inside the government learnt that there was fraud and corruption. It was a case of the people in power showering money on their friends and associates. There was the drug deal that allowed a sole supplier to enjoy making millions legitimately, although there was nothing legitimate about the pricing. At the same time, we found out that there were numerous other favours. There were contracts for which a senior officer in the Ministry of Finance requested four per cent. We never spoke about this because the contractor was reluctant to talk since he felt that he would be blacklisted. One contractor did not pay and such was the embarrassment that the individual sent a former Finance Minister to apologise. Properties changed hands and people who were no better than a salaried employee suddenly became among the one per cent who could consider themselves rich by any standard. These things added up and at last people were free to talk about corruption. Corruption played a significant part in the just concluded elections. Then it happened. People came to Kaieteur News to offer their gratitude for exposing those things that would have been swept under the rug. They all believed that Kaieteur News played a significant role in helping the coalition come to power. Freddie Kissoon was one of the people who felt that had the People’s Progressive Party won the elections Kaieteur News would have been persecuted and its leaders probably imprisoned just to shut them up. I can say that I breathed easier when the results were declared. But there were some ugly incidents that made me realize that race hate is just below the surface. I have been called all manner of names by people who were supposed to be the national leaders, many of them referring to my blackness. It did not bother me, because I know that I am black, both ethnically and in colour. Indeed the previous administration favoured people of Indian ancestry. In the libel case brought by Bharrat Jagdeo against Freddie Kissoon, lawyers got the administration to admit that the government could not find one black person to serve in diplomatic missions. I remember when my sister, Paulette Cornette, left to take up a posting in New York at the end of the 1992 elections. She cried. Her words were, “Adam, I wish I was leaving under happier conditions.” Soon after, she encountered Clement Rohee who was the Foreign Minister. He asked her to justify to him why he should not send her back. My sister said to him that she could not care less. She eventually left the diplomatic service for a variety of reasons which I would not mention here, except to say that she was never a prize pup. But I got angry at reports that my kith and kin actually found it fit to accost people of Indian ancestry. There were reports of black people saying to people of Indian ancestry that this is “our time.” In one case, Nazima Raghubir had cause to accost some of them. And she was right. If only blacks had voted for the coalition there would have been no victory at the polls. Fact is, too, that most of the campaign funding came from people of East Indian ancestry. They wanted to see the back of the PPP and they put their money. There is one businessman whose name I will not call, but who poured millions of dollars into the campaign. One man of Indian ancestry called me to say that he wanted to give some money to the coalition. I set up the meeting. Because of these things I got angry when I heard about some black people talking trash to East Indians. They did not have much but their vote to see the coalition in power. The bottom line is that Guyana is for all, but I am tempted to say that there is no room for the racists among us. It is uncomfortable when your friends who are ethnically different feel that they should be critical of people of your race because of some silly occurrence. I still remember some of the post-1992 comments. Above all, I travelled to the United States and saw black people picking up the cudgel for their fellow Guyanese of Indian ancestry. On that occasion, I concluded that people had to leave Guyana to recognize that the national bond was stronger than any other thing… until the United States election of 2012 came around. I was in Queens when I heard some Guyanese of Indian ancestry talking about not voting ‘for that black man.” The person in question was Barack Obama. I realized that for some Guyanese being black was a curse. It is almost the same in Trinidad. Having said that, I must now focus on the job that the government has ahead of it. I was there when President David Granger met with the public servants. In the assembly were people who had quit being public servants to campaign in the political fray. Some of them, at the end of the elections when the results were announced, decided to rescind their resignations. Granger says, “Sorry, too late.” It was Cheddi Jagan who politicized the public service and it is now left to David Granger to get it back on track. I am a professional, but I was involved in party politics when I worked for the People’s National Congress. My political loyalty remains my business, but in the world of work I maintained my professionalism. Even people in the PPP hierarchy acknowledged this. So it was with many public servants, some because they knew that if they had poked their head inside the political arena it would have been lopped off. At the same time, I am one for a professional public service. I want to see the media landscape rid of the party hacks, some of whom cried openly when the PPP lost. Above all, I want to see Guyana use every available skill and I know that President Granger would see to that.