Let’s end this myth for good. The people of Haiti do not deserve to suffer – regardless if they practice Voodoo. I am pretty sure most of us know this, yet we here in Guyana cling to this explanation, I think, because we are trying to rationalise why they suffer so much in comparison to us. We want to believe the world is fair, and that people get what they deserve, so on some level, we are trying to find a reason to blame Haitians for what has happened to them. Some of us try to appear more “rational”, saying Haitians are poor simply because they are lazy, but this could not be further from the truth.
Those of us who did Caribbean History in school would have had to read about how Haiti fell into the state of poverty it currently is. Whenever we speak of Haiti, in the same breath, we say “the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere”, but we never say “the first Black Republic”, or “the first country in the Western Hemisphere to abolish slavery”. The Haitian Revolution, followed shortly after the French Revolution in 1789. The Revolution, which saw the passing of the rights of man and the citizen, brought up the question of how these rights would be applied in Haiti, and in 1791, uprisings began.
However Haiti’s struggle to independence, was just that: a struggle. Following the uprising, there was a gruelling battle between Haitians and the forces of the French and other European allies, which lasted for a good part of 12 years. After this war, on January 1, 1804, Haiti was officially declared independent. However, the war had emaciated the country, destroying infrastructure and plantations. If this wasn’t enough, in order to become diplomatically recognised by the French, the country was forced to pay an exorbitant sum of reparations (150 million francs), which it simply could not afford.
Consequently, it took out enormous loans with extremely high rates of interest from American, German and French banks to repay reparations. These rates of interest translated to Haiti being deep in debt even after finally paying off the initial reparations in 1947. The country began spending about 80 per cent of its budget on debt repayment by 1900. This does not even begin to cover the following periods of political instability and the 12 years of US occupation (after fear that Haiti would default on its debts). And then after we finish that, we have to talk about the corruption of Haiti’s own Presidents.
And then finally, we get to the issue of natural disasters.
The point of the story is that Haiti’s problems are not caused by the virtue of the people living in Haiti today. Although History is not the only factor, it is a huge one, most time ignored in casual conversation. Why have I chosen to talk about this? Trump’s comments of course! If you haven’t been paying attention, the President of the United States made degrading comments of the country as well of other African nations. He is even reported to have said that the US should be taking more people in from places such as Norway. Now I understand people are trying to defend the comment saying that the President referred to the country, but not the people from the country, and that the people had to know that their countries are “sh*tholes” since they wanted to leave so badly. Yet, my question is, if the country is not a reflection of the person, then on what grounds would the President have to say that they should take PEOPLE from other countries?
It is clear that he does not have respect for the people of those countries, and that he is perhaps guilty of blaming the people for a situation that they cannot control. Haiti is not suffering because Haitians are lazy and unproductive, but because of numerous other reasons. The countless Haitians who migrate and become productive members of the US society prove this. Is Trump to say that he would prefer a Norwegian immigrant to a Haitian or African immigrant if they were both equally contributive to American society? Sounds a bit more racist when put it that way, doesn’t it?
Don’t be a part of the problem. Don’t be a voice that denounces the people of Haiti. Read about the country, its culture and perhaps most importantly, its struggle. Learn to see Haiti as more than just some conversational trope used to describe poverty, and correct people who blame Haitians for the suffering that they face. It is not their fault.
