Haiti – The Politics of a Human Disaster
“Never let a good crisis go to waste.”-Rahm Immanuel, Chief of Staff, President Obama
On Sunday, January 17 the BBC reported from Port-au-Prince: “We have been hearing the constant roar of high-powered engines for days as transport planes take off and land. But like the people of Haiti, we have wondered why the cargo has not been getting to its final destination.
The incidents of unrest over food and water have been few and far between, but many people still want answers.
At one of the makeshift camps in the capital, hundreds of people made homeless by the earthquake shelter from the intense heat under a patchwork quilt of tarpaulin, zinc sheet, and blankets.
There are hundreds of men, women and children on the rough ground surviving without the basics.”
While we watch the Democratic machine go in to over-drive to raise funds for Haiti – the country has just become another photo opportunity for President Obama and his cabinet. Or hearts go out to the brothers and sisters and their families who have lost loved ones.
President Obama, who has not addressed the state of Black America, or for that matter stated his position on Africa, might have to finally take a strong stance in regards to the people of Haiti.
Haiti was a human disaster long before the earthquake. Haiti is a by-product of the United States’ gross neglect. The problems with Haiti’s infrastructure could have been addressed decades ago– but we have to keep in mind, this is a Black-led nation. What is most sad is that Haitians were living a nightmare even before this horrible situation (their unemployment rate is 65%), and we need to see the nightmare come to an end.
Long after the fanfare is over, Haiti will continue to be a “human disaster area” much like New Orleans.
Haiti’s regional, historical and cultural position is unique for several reasons. It was the first independent nation in the Americas, the first post-colonial independent Black-led nation in the world. The independence of Haiti was gained in 1791 via a successful revolt of enslaved Africans and free people of color who overthrew the slave regime and the colonial system at the same time.
Why does this become an issue for the Obama administration?
When US President Barack Obama announced that one of the biggest relief efforts in US history would be heading for Haiti, he highlighted the close ties between the two nations. President Obama said, “With just a few hundred miles of ocean between us and a long history that binds us together, Haitians are our neighbors in the Americas and here at home.”
Hundreds of thousands of Haitians have indeed become neighbors of Americans.
Some 420,000 live in the US legally, according to census figures. Estimates of the number of Haitians in the country illegally vary from some 30,000 to 125,000.
The history that ‘binds us (Blacks) together” is Slavery and our Blackness.
Haiti has been a poor country past, present and will be in the future. The so-called “curse” of Haiti is its perpetual poverty and the United States’ continuous interference with Haiti’s government, while overlooking the needs of its people. The basics, “food, water and shelter” have never been the top priority- shaping the government to the desires of the U.S. has. The people of Haiti have been starving for too long.
Why does it take a disaster to address an on-going disaster?
American administrations from President Nixon to Obama have well known the true state of Haiti. They knew that the Haitian people mixed dirt with sugar to make “cookies” to have something to eat. A significant part of the population of Port-au-Prince eats dinner out the garbage cans of tourists from the First World.
The catastrophic disaster in Haiti has gained worldwide attention. Nations like Haiti deserve the assistance of the United Nations in a humanitarian way, without the politics of government interference.
Haitian native, Wyclef Jean’s Yele Haiti at www.yele.org, has come under-fire by larger charities for his fund raising that have gone on long before all eyes where on Haiti. This blog endorses Wyclef and his ongoing efforts to assist his homeland.
Americans give over $100 billion dollars per year to churches, so if we simply gave one month of tithes to genuine Haitian charities, this would be nearly 8 times the Haitian government’s annual budget. Sure, there might be some corruption in charitable fund-raising, but there is corruption everywhere, including the US government.
*See the parallel between New Orleans and Haiti by reading this story posted on the Black Agenda Report: Katrina’s Legacy: Poor Blacks Have No Right to “Be”.
Why The US Owes Haiti Billions
The Briefest History…
By Bill Quigley / Originally posted on the Dissident Voice
(Editors Note: Bill Quigley represented Pere Jean-Juste many times in Haiti along with the Bureau des Avocats Internationaux in Port au Prince and the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti. Bill is on leave from Loyola University College of Law in New Orleans serving as Legal Director of the Center for Constitutional Rights. He can be reached at: quigley77@gmail.com. Read other articles by Bill, or visit Bill’s website.)
Why does the US owe Haiti Billions? Colin Powell, former US Secretary of State, stated his foreign policy view as the “Pottery Barn rule.” That is: “if you break it, you own it.”
The US has worked to break Haiti for over 200 years. We owe Haiti. Not charity. We owe Haiti as a matter of justice. Reparations. And not the $100 million promised by President Obama either – that is Powerball money. The US owes Haiti Billions – with a big B.
The US has worked for centuries to break Haiti. The US has used Haiti like a plantation. The US helped bleed the country economically since it freed itself, repeatedly invaded the country militarily, supported dictators who abused the people, used the country as a dumping ground for our own economic advantage, ruined their roads and agriculture, and toppled popularly elected officials. The US has even used Haiti like the old plantation owner and slipped over there repeatedly for sexual recreation.
Here is the briefest history of some of the major US efforts to break Haiti.
In 1804, when Haiti achieved its freedom from France in the world’s first successful slave revolution, the United States refused to recognize the country. The US continued to refuse recognition to Haiti for 60 more years. Why? Because the US continued to enslave millions of its own citizens and feared recognizing Haiti would encourage slave revolution in the US.
After the 1804 revolution, Haiti was the subject of a crippling economic embargo by France and the US. US sanctions lasted until 1863. France ultimately used its military power to force Haiti to pay reparations for the slaves who were freed. The reparations were 150 million francs. (France sold the entire Louisiana territory to the US for 80 million francs!)
Haiti was forced to borrow money from banks in France and the US to pay reparations to France. A major loan from the US to pay off the French was finally paid off in 1947. The current value of the money Haiti was forced to pay to French and US banks? Over $20 Billion — with a big B. Read more
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