rootsandculture

  By Clairmont Chung The comparisons between the removal of Freddie Kissoon from the faculty and the denial of employment for Dr. Walter Rodney, at the same University of Guyana, cannot be overdone. The accusations of political involvement, the response of students and staff, the positions of the unions and the role of political hacks are all very similar and very important comparisons. But these comparisons often deteriorate into trading stories that purport to show which of the two regimes were worse: Burnham or Jagan, PNC or PPP, then or now. It’s a practice even Freddie Kissoon often indulges. A recent letter to the Kaieteur News, not from Kissoon, pointed out that even under Burnham, while Rodney was denied a job, Clive Thomas, Rupert Roopnaraine, Omowale and others were allowed to remain at UG. It seems more an admission, not a comparison, perhaps resignation that political interference determined whether one went or stayed, then as now. But I think we need wider comparis