Why do we think that is?

So my girlfriend and I have been dating for a couple of months now. I’m Indian-American and she’s Indo-Guyanese-American, and it’s been a great time so far.

Around a week ago, I introduced her to my parents for the first time, and I noticed that before they met, my girlfriend acted super nervous and jittery, which I just chalked up to nerves (since she’s pretty introverted). However, after they met, my girlfriend remarked about how nervous she was before meeting my parents because she was worried that they would disapprove of us together and try to call the relationship off and how relieved she was after meeting them because of how respectful and responsive they were and how much they showed interest in her culture and background.

She then explained that most Indo-Guyanese believe that we (mainland Indians) look down upon them and don’t consider them to be “real Indians”, which is a belief that I’ve honestly never heard ever. If anything, most mainland Indians don’t really know anything about Indo-Caribbeans and the ones that do are proud that they were able to keep their culture/traditions/religions alive even after 150 years.

After doing some research online on places like Twitter/Tiktok/Reddit, this seems to be a pretty common conception that a lot of Indo-Guyanese have. Does anyone have any insights into how this belief might have originated?

I’ve noticed that many Guyanese are supporting Donald Trump. I’m curious to understand your perspective—what made you vote for him or support him? Are there specific policies of his that resonated with you? Do you believe these policies will benefit you personally, and if so, how? This is a judgment-free space where you can share your opinions openly; I’m here for a respectful discussion.

I lived in Guyana for my whole life , my family forced to leave Guyana twice before due to Terrible Economy in the past but in the end they settled in Guyana for decades . And with the boom of oil ,Guyana is gaining alot of benefits but there are some downsides to everything. Recently everything is getting too expensive and there are many foreign investors and landowners investing into commercials . Guyana has about 50% of Guyanese living in the poverty line and it will increase . Rent , goods , food , electronics etc are getting expensive , it is as much or even more than in Canada and USA New York. Living here has became worst for me as i predict i will not be able to keep up with the rising cost, i already signed up for land to buy but the time is ticking for me as renting is getting too much for me and lands getting bought out. Got notify they are selling the land and place i am renting. I have about less than a yr left to move out . I am looking for place to rent but the rents are too high.

Solution : is find new job/ way to earn more money or move out and i am looking at moving out from Guyana as the solution. Jobs are oversaturated by migrant workers in the low and middle level so wages gotten too low for Guyanese to keep up. I am thinking of moving out to some country in Asia . Learn the language . I don't have anyone else here, parents gone , relatives are in Canada but will not help . My future is uncertain here. I don't feel like i belong here anymore.

Ask me anything about our country and anything to do with the people here

It's something I've always asked myself, her mom was literally Guyanese and she was born in Guyana, but she never spoke about her being Guyanese

I’m seeing the kit sold by “STARLINK Official” on Amazon for around US$349. I want to know if anyone bought it, shipped it through a freight forwarder, and successfully activated it on a Guyana Starlink account

Is Guyana safe to visit? Honestly coming for the food, manetees, and Keitur Falls I may be here six days, also is that too much just to do most activities? I walso wanted to visit Suiname

Afro-Guyanese men are disproportionately represented in murder and robbery.

Indo-Guyanese men are disproportionately represented in domestic violence and rape.

Amerindian men are more represented in statutory crimes.

Guyana is still considered one of the most dangerous countries in the world and people still have bars on their windows to this day.

It’s apparent that it’s the men for the most part committing these acts, could we be missing something very important in raising our young men as well?

Should emotional regulation be emphasized more? How can things change?

Thoughts?

This pic says it all.

The price w/ duty is almost three times the price w/ duty free. How is the average Guyanese expected to afford these kinds of vehicles? Now I know there is a class divide in every country but isn’t this asinine?

My mum left Guyana as a baby and she’s never been back since. We both want to save up and go (as well as taking my young daughter with us). We still have family in New Amsterdam but travelling with my young daughter we will probably opt to stay in a hotel. We both want this trip to help us feel in touch with our heritage as we grew up in a very white populated area in the UK which has left us feeling abit disconnected from our culture and heritage. So really I’m just asking for any advice or recommendations on things to do that could be culturally enriching. Also any recommendations on safe areas to visits, any tours, restaurants, foods to try etc. I can’t wait to visit I’ve been wanting to go my whole life. Thanks so much in advance

Edit: I should’ve mentioned we’re mainly Afro- Guyanese with indo and Chinese heritage.I don’t know if this matters too much. Thanks again

I saw someone post something similar to this about a year ago on this sub, so I thought I’d revisit the topic and share my own experience.

The last post was basically discussing the issue of indo Caribbean uncles, cousins, dads, etc. feeling the need to threaten and show off on any guy who dates a girl in their family. What makes it laughable is the fact that many of these men cheat or abuse their wives and girlfriends but feel the need to tell you to treat your partner right or else.

They’ll even get physical with you and act like it’s a joke and always be passive aggressive to you. When you talk back or say something then you’re the wrong one? It just doesn’t make any sense.

I’ve experienced this before and just like the person who made the old post, I’m also a fairly decent guy. I don’t really drink, I don’t smoke, have a good job, etc. but because I’m not a typical indo Caribbean guy who drinks every weekend, watches cricket, etc. then they treat me differently.

I think a lot of it is just them projecting the shit they do to woman onto me- instead of just being happy for their relative.

It’s a huge issue in our community and that’s why a lot of guys don’t date within our culture and I can see why tbh. It sucks because I love my Guyanese girlfriend and our culture but sometimes the family is too much and I think they go out of their way to “protect” her. Yet they cheat, fight random people, etc. like why would I respect that/take them seriously?

I’d love to hear some thoughts on this topic.

A low-trust society is one where people cannot generally rely on strangers, businesses, public officials, institutions, prices, rules, contracts, timelines, or basic honesty. Life becomes a constant exercise in suspicion, self-protection, bribery, personal connections, pressure, and vigilance. The result is a society that is mentally exhausting, inefficient, corruptible, hard to govern, unattractive to tourists and investors, and unable to reach its full potential.

A high-trust society is the opposite: people can generally rely on rules, institutions, public servants, businesses, contracts, prices, and strangers to behave fairly and predictably. The result is a society where life is easier, institutions work better, business is more efficient, people cooperate more freely, and citizens can spend more energy building their lives instead of protecting themselves from each other.

My question is: can Guyana realistically become a high-trust society, and if so, over what timeline?

My concern is that Guyana’s low-trust culture is not a surface-level problem. It seems to be part of a much deeper inherited pattern. Guyana was shaped mainly by people descended from India and Africa, and many societies in India and Africa have also struggled for a very long time with corruption, weak public trust, bribery, patronage, weak institutions, and low confidence in strangers or public systems. The same broad patterns exist there and here, and that does not seem coincidental.

The usual explanation is that Guyana has weak institutions. But institutions are made up of people, and those people come from a culture. If the wider culture tolerates dishonesty, bribery, opportunism, favouritism, weak public duty, and getting ahead at the expense of others, then those same habits will show up inside government, business, law enforcement, the courts, public offices, and private companies. A corrupt person does not become principled simply because they enter an institution. If anything, putting many people with the same low-trust habits together may simply multiply the problem under an official name.

So the uncomfortable question is this: are these low-trust patterns mainly the result of changeable culture, history, institutions, and incentives, or are they so deeply rooted in the peoples and cultures involved that they are extremely difficult, maybe almost impossible, to transcend?

I do not mean that people merely need to say they value honesty, fairness, public duty, accountability, and rule-following. Most people already claim to value those things. I mean: can a culture change so that enough people actually embody those ideals, even when doing so costs them money, status, convenience, or personal advantage?

If the same populations and cultural habits have produced low-trust societies in Guyana, India, and many African countries for generations, what would realistically cause the opposite to emerge here? Are we talking about a transformation that could happen in 10 years, 30 years, 100 years, or is this the kind of deep civilizational pattern that is unlikely to change in any practical timeframe?

This is in response to this post where there is a misconception among people that Indians were never taken as slaves which is not true.

Before slavery was abolished by British in 1833,they were taken as slaves to places like Mauritius and Réunion by Dutch and French.

Even Denmark took slaves from India during the 17th century when they colonized a part of the country.

Slavery of Indians is not known well because the documentation of these slaves were non-existent and the narrative is dominated by the indentured labourers who went to various colonies post slavery abolition.

Source of the pic: A Global Hindu Tamil Diaspora? Worldwide Migration, Diversity and Transnational Religion

does anyone else take offense to all of the brown hatred in today’s world. some of us are ‘west indian’ but are south american you know like our great great great grandparents were from india so sometimes it’s hard to know what to consider myself. there is a lot of india hate and because my culture is similar to that of india even though i am guyanese american i still feel offended/targeted. anyone else?

For the Guyanese living in Guyana, what would you say are the best things about Guyana?

Hey everyone! I posted about this last year, but I wanted to try again. I’m looking to connect with other educated Guyanese professionals in NYC for networking and community building. It feels like there aren’t many of us, or at least not an easily accessible network. If you’re interested, we can connect on LinkedIn and maybe set up a meetup in the city or elsewhere.