It’s
racism, plain and simple.
Not the racism of
individual people who hold racist notions, or subscribe to racist ideologies,
but Endemic Institutional Racism. Of course there is an interest in labeling
Haiti as a “shithole countr[y]” - because Haiti is the first independent nation
of Latin America and the Caribbean, the second republic in the Americas, and
the only nation in the world established as a result of a successful slave
revolt.
If it’s a “shithole”, a failed State, then it just “proves” that Black and
Brown people simply can’t govern themselves. We in the “civilized” West have made
an example of Haiti 🇭🇹. Why? 🤔
James Baldwin had the insight way back in
the 60s when he said,
“What white people have to do, is try and find out in their own hearts why it was necessary to have a nigger in the first place, because I'm not a nigger, I'm a man, but if you think I'm a nigger, it means you need it.”
Why do we
need Haiti to be poor?
Why do we need Haiti to be
a shithole?
Why do we need Haiti to be our nigger? 🤔
Indefensible,
if you simply look at the history. Here, Jonathan M. Katz (@KatzOnEarth) sums up the history of why Haiti is poor, and how the US and
Europe are complicit in that. Read the whole thread, it’s worth the
two minutes to fully understand the politics and economics behind Haiti’s poverty
(and that of other “shithole countries”).
Lot of folks, from the alt-right to @RichLowry, think they’re making a great argument in the president’s defense tonight by noting that Haiti and El Salvador are, in fact, poor.— Jonathan M. Katz (@KatzOnEarth) January 12, 2018
But they’re just revealing their own racism. Here’s why:
In order to do a victory lap around the GDP difference between, say, Norway and Haiti, you have to know nothing about the history of the world.— Jonathan M. Katz (@KatzOnEarth) January 12, 2018
That includes, especially, knowing nothing real about the history of the United States.
You’d have to not know that the French colony that became Haiti provided the wealth that fueled the French Empire — and 2/3 of the sugar and 3/4 of the coffee that Europe consumed.— Jonathan M. Katz (@KatzOnEarth) January 12, 2018
You’d have to not know how rich slave traders got off their system of kidnapping, rape, and murder
Slave Trade Route from West Africa to Haiti
You’d have to not know that Haiti got recognition by agreeing to pay 150 million gold francs to French landowners in compensation for their own freedom.— Jonathan M. Katz (@KatzOnEarth) January 12, 2018
You’d have to not know that Haiti paid it, and that it took them almost all of the 19th century to do so.
.@RichLowry would have to not know about the chaos that ensued, and the 19-year US military occupation of Haiti that followed (at a time when the US was invading and occupying much of Central America and the Caribbean).— Jonathan M. Katz (@KatzOnEarth) January 12, 2018
... the use of the IMF and World Bank to impose new loans and destructive trade policies, including the now-famous rice tariff gutting that Bill Clinton apologized for but had been a policy since Reagan, and on and on ...— Jonathan M. Katz (@KatzOnEarth) January 12, 2018
In short, you’d have to know nothing about WHY Haiti is poor (or El Salvador in kind), and WHY the United States (and Norway) are wealthy.— Jonathan M. Katz (@KatzOnEarth) January 12, 2018
But far worse than that, you’d have to not even be interested in asking the question.
And that’s where they really tell on themselves ...
Racists have needed Haiti to be poor since it was founded. They pushed for its poverty. They have celebrated its poverty. They have tried to profit from its poverty.— Jonathan M. Katz (@KatzOnEarth) January 12, 2018
They wanted it to be a shithole. And they still do.
So if anyone tonight tries to trap you in a contest of “where would you rather live”—or “what about cholera” or “yeah but isn’t poverty bad?”—ask them what they know about how things got that way.— Jonathan M. Katz (@KatzOnEarth) January 12, 2018
And then ask them why they’re ok with it.
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| Artistic/Cultural Wealth of Haiti |
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| Natural Wealth of Haiti |
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| Architectural of Haiti, Port-au-Prince (at night) |
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| Architecture of Haiti, Port-au-Prince |
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| Human/Cultural Wealth of Haiti |
Fun fact: In French, Haiti's
nickname is the Pearl of the Antilles (La Perle des Antilles) both because of
its natural beauty and the amount of wealth it accumulated for the Kingdom of
France, as it was considered the richest colony owned by any of the European
powers at the time. So, why is Haiti so poor now? It’s not because it’s
ungovernable. Who has an interest in keeping Haiti poor? Think about it. 🤔
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