Following my letter to Minister Manickchand, I am happy to report that she responded and we had a lengthy exchange lasting well into the night. Here is an extract of the conversation: Priya Manickchand dear mr roberts, firstly i know of no other guyanese who has this as a burning question as you suggest. however, before i answer you i will ask you this: you have followed me, you have paid attention to my work and my life and you seem to be very interested in Guyanas politics. do you think/feel i am a racist? 11 hours ago • Like • 2 Cosford Roberts Minister, my response your question is frankly No, but I have seen the remarks on FB and I am concerned and I believe that I should ask you directly. Recall my comment on your Emancipation Day message and my promise to hold you to it. I would much appreciate if you are kind enough to give an answer to my question, and if your response is that your are not a racist, I would be very happy if you would unconditionally renounce this malady which exist in some quarters of our society. 11 hours ago • Like Cosford Roberts Pardon, I forgot my manners. I should have expressed my thanks for your response, Minister. I await your answer. 11 hours ago • Like Priya Manickchand the short answer is no. i am not racist nor a racist. i do not love based on the ethnicity of the recipient of my love. i do not serve based on the race of the person i serve. i do not in any way differentiate between or amongst persons based on ethnicity, gender geography.... i am never afraid to discuss or frontally face the issue of race/ethnicity even as i recognize that we live in a world where many do. i will never be afraid to make a decision that seeks balance one way or another because one or another may be influenced by ones own prejudices. i have however learnt that too many persons are influenced by their own known or unknown prejudices for my attestations to matter much to them so i avoid offering reasons such as i am not racist, and this decision is not based on ... i have resolved that the way i live, serve, love and am, will or will eventually inform about who i am. so to answer you directly i am not a racist. 11 hours ago • Like • 5 Cosford Roberts Thank you Priya. I regard your response as an unconditional renunciation of racism unless you state otherwise. And even if our politics is different I look forward to us sharing ground on that issue. I shall be sure to reproduce our discussion on other pages where my letter to you was distributed. Thanks again. Have a peaceful night, and utmost regards to your family. 11 hours ago • Like • 1 Priya Manickchand i do also wish to address your comments about the inclusion of my name in the post to which you referred. i do not know priya persaud jagdeo and as far as i know i have never met her. we are fb friends and i continue to be impressed by her deep understanding of issues and her ability to represent her views. i have not seen the entire conversation and would hesitate to say as you have said that what she has said is clear. my experience with posters who have agendas. particularly the AFC ones is that they deliberately misrepresent what is said, extract a piece of that and make it into whatever suits their agenda. i will list for you just a few examples. 1. today nagamootoo (who has turned out to be for me one of the most duplicitous agents around) says that we objected to the US ambassador calling for local govt elections. as far as i know he holds himself out to be literate and even literary and we have said clearly that we objected to the ambassador denigrating the President of the country, the General Secretary of the PPP and calling for a rise up in arms of guyanese citizens. he deliberately misrepresented our objections to suit his purposes. 2. recently there was a flurry of conversation started by AFC sympathizers about where my children were born and whether i have citizenship elsewhere. these particular people must know the truth since they have visited my home at the birth of my children etc. ( to them i say we have dual citizenship: timbuktoo and Guyana and the kids were born in Papa New Guniea!) 3. not so long ago my sister in exercising her democratic right to comment expressed a view that essentially said she believed the police when they said they were under attack and as a result returned fire. she also said in that same conversation that she does not believe in and/or support police brutality and that she would have felt the same way irrespective of the ethnicity of the alleged perpetrators of crime. a snapshot, quite like the one you have attached here, was taken of a piece of her conversation and she was called racist, which is a bit of a joke if you know anything at all about my sister. who lead that campaign against her? the AFC and their boys including the ramsaroops, nagamotoos (hiding under anonymity), rams of the AFC. so i would caution you not to use a piece of a conversation and believe that it makes clear anything about anyone especially if it is ones of the usual suspects trying to make a point. 11 hours ago • Edited • Like • 2 Priya Manickchand having said that i have no hesitation in denouncing any racist comment/view made by anyone. in this i would include those who maliciously use race as a factor to whip up sympathies one way or another which i believe may very well be what ramsaroop here intended to do. fortunately, we arent all gullible. 10 hours ago • Like • 2 Art Ricknauth Cosford Roberts, I can say without fear of contradiction that Minister Manickchand knows no race, neither does she promote ethnic cleavage. 10 hours ago • Like • 2 Cosford Roberts Pryia, regardless of how otherwise intelligent your FB friend may seem, as a Leader and Politician, you cannot afford to be associated with any self proclaimed racist. It impugns both you and the Government as well as undermine the Guyanese ideals. I understand the issue of Social Media friendships and sometimes you notice comments when it has already done the damage. If I may suggest; You need to find that comment and disassociate yourself from it. In my case, I defriend such persons and those who are vulgar and un-becoming. It is your call, Minister. 10 hours ago • Like Cosford Roberts Art Ricknauth, good for you. Well let us all join hands and fight this thing. I have spoken out about it from time to time and it has been quite difficult because I have people I dearly love in almost every ethnic group. And sometimes, you fear that you are misunderstood. But the difficult task has to be done..... FOR LOVE OF COUNTRY. 10 hours ago • Like • 1 Priya Manickchand cosford i would have to see the entire conversation. priya persaud jagdeo is a supporter of progress and unhesitatingly and unapologetically supports (in the posts i have seen her make...although i cant claim to have seen them all) the PPP. because she is incisive and effective she will automatically be a target. because we still suffer the consequences of those dictatorial days when freedom of expression was still a thing to be sought after... because she is a woman i expect the attack will be stronger and harsher. but by the same token you should unfriend anyone who uses race as an issue to divide, so that snapshot and poster of same should be roundly condemned by you (assuming, of course you are like me in that you believe that the sole aim of his post was to do just that). i am off to sleep now. thank you for your continued interest in our beloved Guyana. sleep well 10 hours ago • Like • 1 Cosford Roberts Minister.... No!! The woman has declared herself a racist. There is absolutely no defense for that, unless she is going to prove that she did not make that comment on FB, and I believe that she did. You simply do not want to be anywhere near that unless you want to carry the burden of her association. 10 hours ago • Edited • Like Priya Persaud-Jagdeo • 41 mutual friends Goodmorning Mr. Cosford Roberts, I have a question for you, since when its acceptable in society for a supporter of Progress to be silenced by his/her identiy, name and who is on her fb page? 3 hours ago • Like Cosford Roberts Good morning Priya. Are boldly regarding your admission to being a racist as being Progressive? Frankly, it is the most regressive and ignorant position a person can take. Stop and take a look at what is going on in India, Pakistan, the USA and many other parts in the world and you call that progressive. I dont wish to silence you. Had you not spoken, Guyanese would not have known of your malady. What I would advocate is that people such as you have no place with humanity unless get yourselves seriously rehabilitated. BTW are you holding any public office in Guyana or any place in the world. You can only be working in your own establishment and I really hope that you have no employees. I will investigate that. 59 minutes ago • Like Priya Persaud-Jagdeo • 41 mutual friends Mr. Cosford Roberts, what makes you a non racist then? Just to confirm, I am curently employing 11 staff who are well paid in addition to that their taxes, medical benefits and nis are up to date. 45 minutes ago • Edited • Like Cosford Roberts The answer is simple Priya, I have not let a foolish belief system become a part of my disposition because I know better both from the scientific, religious and common sense perspectives. We do not only bleed the same blood, we are of a single humanity..... separated only by our inability to understand the truth of the universe. Your dilemma may well be the deep tradition of the Caste System that orients you to be disdainful not only to other races but to those of your own race whom you deem to be of a lower Caste. It is profoundly nonsensical and has no place in Guyana. Interesting that you should mention how well you pay your staff and their benefits because thats the limit of your intellectual capacities. Do you respect them as your equal in humanity? I bet that did not even occur to you.
Posted on: Mon, 11 Aug 2014 14:44:39 +0000
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