DR. David Hinds is not a ‘hero’ for African Guyanese who understand political history, grassroots and contemporary politics.
Let’s be clear, he is no hero for many African Guyanese who live and toil in this part of the globe for their rights and freedoms which are now ingrained in the Constitution of our land.
Those are men and women who fought and died for this land, and endured the darkness of slavery and the pre-independence era.
Hinds came on the scene in the post-independence era, it would seem, and is slightly remembered kindly. Yes, he was imprisoned by the late President Forbes Burnham of the People’s National Congress (PNC) and almost lost his sight. Yes, even after that, he continued to speak out, albeit quietly and respectfully, against perceived injustices of the State.
Dr. Hinds faded slightly into the dark, but would always use political watershed moments to resurface with rhetoric which was considered tough, irrational, not useful, and racist. He started to sound like an African Supremist; hateful and angry. He has been doing this slowly since the early 2000s, pushing the envelope and hiding in the Working People’s Alliance Party.
Soon, several prominent members of the WPA would go their way because the party was no longer practising the teachings and ways of its founding leader, Dr. Walter Rodney. Dr. Rodney’s party had been infiltrated by leaders of Dr. Hinds’ ilk, and was committed to seeking ‘revenge’, not justice or fair treatment, of all races from the State.
The WPA joined the party that killed its founder. Soon after the WPA, which had already lost its way and became distinguishable from Rodney-Politics, was subsumed into APNU, and later morphed into the APNU+AFC. Dr. Hinds lost his voice, and, arguably, did not utter anything about African Guyanese rights, lands and treatment then.
This led him to accept a “cushy job” as the General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo said on Thursday. When the APNU+AFC Government, during the period 2015 to 2020, had siphoned off the resources of the State, he said nothing. When they fired the sugar workers, Africans among them, he said nothing.
When the coalition government hid the signing bonus from the country, he said nothing. When they treated squatters at Sophia and several other black villages and communities badly, he said nothing.
When they sold large acreages of land in several regions of this country, well under the market price, to black supporters as opposed to the grassroots communities and individuals, he said nothing.
When the APNU+AFC government snatched leased lands out of the hands of black Guyanese in Berbice, he said nothing. When corruption was high and mismanagement of our resources was evident, he said nothing. When the WPA was treated badly, he said nothing then.
Where was Dr. Hinds during the years when the African Guyanese community needed a hero? Where was Dr. Hinds when African leaders were treating their own so poorly during the Granger presidency? Where was the leader when they were siphoning off the money, illegally awarding contracts, and involved in subverting democracy?
Where was this so-called ‘freedom fighter’ of the African and all Guyanese during those years when the State did nothing to correct the social and economic injustices that he allegedly claims were meted out to his own for decades?
The truth is, Dr. Hinds was right there, front and centre, when the APNU+AFC wreaked havoc on not just Afro-Guyanese but Guyanese at large. He could see the injustices and unfair treatment of so many black boys and girls at the hands of the police. Yet, he chose to do and say nothing, publicly, at least.
So, Guyanese people will have to think seriously about what Dr. Hinds said. After all, he can or should never be mentioned in the same breath as Dr. Rodney, who is well-respected at home and abroad.
Dr. Rodney was considered radical, but his ‘radicalism’ was often seen as just because he was fighting against Apartheid and a broken-down system that allowed for the continued oppression of the Africans. He was seeking justice and equality for all, but particularly his race. This was admirable, considering the options which he had at his disposal at the time.
Dr. Hinds did, and is doing none of these things.
As a political leader, Dr. Hinds knew what he was doing when he made offensive and reprehensible statements about some Africans in Guyana, even if it was the words of a Trinidadian Calypsonian.
Take Cro Cro’s original words away and let us say that those are Hinds’ words. They are hurtful, and should never be strung together, more so when speaking publicly. There is no excuse for the vitriol of words.
In Guyana, every person has the right to choose any party they desire to be a part of. Dr. Hinds knows this, as an intellectual, one assumes. They should never come under attack. Their free choices should never be viewed as a movement of ill will, or be seen as some intended harm to one’s movement against injustice or bad treatment by the State.
In Guyana, Dr. Rodney and Dr. Cheddi Jagan, and so many of our leaders fought against this thinking that one racial group is owned and controlled by one race. Therefore, Dr. Hinds, WPA, PNC, PPP or the AFC does not and will never own Africans in Guyana. They should not seek to control them.
They are not African slaves. What struggle does Dr. Hinds want them to be a part of in this modern political movement? What is the oppression, and where is it taking place? One cannot fathom that Dr. Hinds is calling the experience of all Africans in Guyana a struggle.
As regards the vote-buying allegation that Dr. Hinds is advancing now to save himself from the public’s outcry that is taking place, where is the evidence? If the PPP/C is using the State resources and campaigning to get votes, then take the evidence before the ERC, Guyana Police Force, and US FBI or expose it for all to see.
But Dr. Hinds would not do this! It is just another excuse to not offer an apology for something said out of frustration. Why say that frustration made Dr. Hinds utter the words to Elson Low but not to the public?
History will not be kind to Dr. Hinds for insulting and speaking down to people who he would like to govern. Man up! Say one is wrong and earn the respect of so many Guyanese, Africans amongst them! Stop explaining it away because it will not go gently into that good night!
The government is sharing the resources to all Guyanese, and they are not saying how the public should vote. What is the issue? Why condemn the black man for the practice described but not any other grouping in the country?
Dr. Hinds wants to rile up the public and start an atmosphere of deep division and unrest amongst and between the African race in Guyana. The APNU and PNC, maybe, have made a terrible mistake.
They must say there is no place for people like Dr. Hinds in opposition politics in this day and age. Aubrey Norton sheepishly stopped short of condemning Dr. Hinds. He claimed he would not use better language. Nobody wants to hear that. Will the opposition leader join thousands of Guyanese and condemn it?
Is Dr. Hinds seeking to pit them against one another and believe that out of the process somehow, they will emerge enlightened, grounded and committed to the struggle? That’s not smart, and will inevitably fail.
No other opposition politician will come out with words of support or endearment. Dr. Hinds must look at his colleagues in opposition and question if he is standing alone. Apart from those wanna-be politicians who seek relevancy and attention, nobody believes in what Dr. Hinds labelled some Africans in Guyana.
Dr. Rodney would never endorse those words spoken in the context in which they were spoken. Dr. Roney was different, and had a sharper vocabulary. Maybe, that is why Dr. Hinds was nothing more than a foot soldier and footnote in the great story of Dr. Rodney. Alas! Desperation is gripping Dr. Hinds and the other merrymen who are supporting him.
Finally, the reason Caesar was assassinated was because a group of Roman senators, including Brutus and Cassius, feared Caesar was amassing too much power, and becoming a king, leading them to plot his murder. Similarly, Dr. Hinds, Norton, Nigel Hughes and their great coalition fear the PPP/C Government and party will retain the power, so they will band together to destroy it, and more particularly Jagdeo, figuratively speaking. The African Guyanese and all Guyanese are just collateral damage. Before it gets to that, the PPP/C will win, the people will be saved, and these politicians will count their losses. Dr. Rodney expected better from Dr. Hinds. He knows it.