The Wismar Massacre highlighted has to be seen in a more comprehensive context

On Page 19 of May 23rd edition of the Stabroek News, there was the most articulate contribution entitled “May 26th should be a day of remembrance of the Wismar Massacre.” It alludes specifically to “the disturbances in WismarChristianburg-Mackenzie area on May 25th 1964.” (Incidentally, the foregoing is located on this side of the Demerara River). In the script was the mention of British troops. Interestingly, there was no explanation of why the British troops were in the country at that time. For the year 1964 was the climactic year of three years of sugar industry-wide strikes, which were accompanied by the burning of the cane fields, and the homes of some non-strikers. GAWU had been striking for recognition from 1962.

What heated up the coastal belt in 1964 was Cheddi Jagan’s failure at the Lancaster House talks to persuade the Colonial Secretary, Duncan Sandys, not to agree to Forbes Burnham’s request for Proportional Representation at the upcoming elections. Professor Clem Seecharran noted in his well-researched book titled “Sweetening Bitter Sugar”: “Jagan’s party newspaper, the Mirror, when he agreed to the imposition, asked caustically “why this admission of Guyanese inferiority and why the supine and humiliating acceptance of white supremacy; and why the acknowledgment of a Master Race.””

There was more. However, the result was that the party followers went on a rampage throughout the sugar industry with a prolonged strike and a series of fires, perhaps most celebrated was the earlier incident of the death of Kowsilia, a female weeder over-run (whether by accident or design was hotly debated) by a non-striking tractor driver at Leonora Estate. Events escalated with non-strikers under siege from counterpart strikers, their houses being burnt, while estates became nightly bonfires – between the 16th February and the 17th July, an estimated two million dollars ($2M) of cane was burnt. At Blairmont Estate where I was stationed as Assistant Personnel Manager, the senior staff had to do nightly firefighting.

But it was there that occurred the most personal racial attack where one African fire watchman was assaulted on his way from Ithaca Village through the Blairmont Exclusive Extra Nuclear Housing Area. A police patrol rescued him and rushed him across to the New Amsterdam hospital where he recovered consciousness after seventy-two (72) hours. It is against this background of conflict along the sugar belt that the explosion on the launch “Son Chapman” which traversed the Upper Demerara River area, occurred, killing all of the “Africans” on board in the month of May, 1964.

The incident highlighted in the newspaper has to be seen in a more comprehensive context – observing the celebration of the whole month of May by all of the sufferers. GAWU did not call off the strike until the 26th July 1964.

Sincerely,

E.B. John

Retired Human Resources Director Booker Sugar Estates