Way to spread the hate! Good timing. Bravo. -Cameron
On Wed, Jan 20, 2010 at 7:25 AM, Vivec <[email protected]> wrote: > > The Hate and the Quake > Published on: 1/17/2010 by Sir Hilary Beckles > > THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES is in the process of conceiving how > best to deliver a major conference on the theme Rethinking And > Rebuilding Haiti. > > I am very keen to provide an input into this exercise because for too > long there has been a popular perception that somehow the Haitian > nation-building project, launched on January 1, 1804, has failed on > account of mismanagement, ineptitude, corruption. > > Buried beneath the rubble of imperial propaganda, out of both Western > Europe and the United States, is the evidence which shows that Haiti's > independence was defeated by an aggressive North-Atlantic alliance > that could not imagine their world inhabited by a free regime of > Africans as representatives of the newly emerging democracy. > > The evidence is striking, especially in the context of France. > > The Haitians fought for their freedom and won, as did the Americans > fifty years earlier. The Americans declared their independence and > crafted an extraordinary constitution that set out a clear message > about the value of humanity and the right to freedom, justice, and > liberty. > In the midst of this brilliant discourse, they chose to retain slavery > as the basis of the new nation state. The founding fathers therefore > could not see beyond race, as the free state was built on a slavery > foundation. > > The water was poisoned in the well; the Americans went back to the > battlefield a century later to resolve the fact that slavery and > freedom could not comfortably co-exist in the same place. > > The French, also, declared freedom, fraternity and equality as the new > philosophies of their national transformation and gave the modern > world a tremendous progressive boost by so doing. > They abolished slavery, but Napoleon Bonaparte could not imagine the > republic without slavery and targeted the Haitians for a new, more > intense regime of slavery. The British agreed, as did the Dutch, > Spanish and Portuguese. > > All were linked in communion over the 500 000 Blacks in Haiti, the > most populous and prosperous Caribbean colony. > As the jewel of the Caribbean, they all wanted to get their hands on > it. With a massive slave base, the English, French and Dutch salivated > over owning it - and the people. > > The people won a ten-year war, the bloodiest in modern history, and > declared their independence. Every other country in the Americas was > based on slavery. > Haiti was freedom, and proceeded to place in its 1805 Independence > Constitution that any person of African descent who arrived on its > shores would be declared free, and a citizen of the republic. > > For the first time since slavery had commenced, Blacks were the > subjects of mass freedom and citizenship in a nation. > The French refused to recognise Haiti's independence and declared it > an illegal pariah state. The Americans, whom the Haitians looked to in > solidarity as their mentor in independence, refused to recognise them, > and offered solidarity instead to the French. The British, who were > negotiating with the French to obtain the ownership title to Haiti, > also moved in solidarity, as did every other nation-state the Western > world. > Haiti was isolated at birth - ostracised and denied access to world > trade, finance, and institutional development. It was the most vicious > example of national strangulation recorded in modern history. > The Cubans, at least, have had Russia, China, and Vietnam. The > Haitians were alone from inception. The crumbling began. > > Then came 1825; the moment of full truth. The republic is celebrating > its 21st anniversary. There is national euphoria in the streets of > Port-au-Prince. > The economy is bankrupt; the political leadership isolated. The > cabinet took the decision that the state of affairs could not > continue. > The country had to find a way to be inserted back into the world > economy. The French government was invited to a summit. > Officials arrived and told the Haitian government that they were > willing to recognise the country as a sovereign nation but it would > have to pay compensation and reparation in exchange. The Haitians, > with backs to the wall, agreed to pay the French. > > The French government sent a team of accountants and actuaries into > Haiti in order to place a value on all lands, all physical assets, the > 500 000 citizens were who formerly enslaved, animals, and all other > commercial properties and services. > The sums amounted to 150 million gold francs. Haiti was told to pay > this reparation to France in return for national recognition. > The Haitian government agreed; payments began immediately. Members of > the Cabinet were also valued because they had been enslaved people > before independence. > Thus began the systematic destruction of the Republic of Haiti. The > French government bled the nation and rendered it a failed state. It > was a merciless exploitation that was designed and guaranteed to > collapse the Haitian economy and society. > > Haiti was forced to pay this sum until 1922 when the last instalment > was made. During the long 19th century, the payment to France amounted > to up to 70 per cent of the country's foreign exchange earnings. > Jamaica today pays up to 70 per cent in order to service its > international and domestic debt. Haiti was crushed by this debt > payment. It descended into financial and social chaos. > > The republic did not stand a chance. France was enriched and it took > pleasure from the fact that having been defeated by Haitians on the > battlefield, it had won on the field of finance. In the years when the > coffee crops failed, or the sugar yield was down, the Haitian > government borrowed on the French money market at double the going > interest rate in order to repay the French government. > > When the Americans invaded the country in the early 20th century, one > of the reasons offered was to assist the French in collecting its > reparations. > The collapse of the Haitian nation resides at the feet of France and > America, especially. These two nations betrayed, failed, and destroyed > the dream that was Haiti; crushed to dust in an effort to destroy the > flower of freedom and the seed of justice. > > Haiti did not fail. It was destroyed by two of the most powerful > nations on earth, both of which continue to have a primary interest in > its current condition. > > The sudden quake has come in the aftermath of summers of hate. In many > ways the quake has been less destructive than the hate. > Human life was snuffed out by the quake, while the hate has been a > long and inhumane suffocation - a crime against humanity. > During the 2001 UN Conference on Race in Durban, South Africa, strong > representation was made to the French government to repay the 150 > million francs. > > The value of this amount was estimated by financial actuaries as US$21 > billion. This sum of capital could rebuild Haiti and place it in a > position to re-engage the modern world. It was illegally extracted > from the Haitian people and should be repaid. > It is stolen wealth. In so doing, France could discharge its moral > obligation to the Haitian people. > For a nation that prides itself in the celebration of modern > diplomacy, France, in order to exist with the moral authority of this > diplomacy in this post-modern world, should do the just and legal > thing. > > Such an act at the outset of this century would open the door for a > sophisticated interface of past and present, and set the Haitian > nation free at last. > > Sir Hilary Beckles is pro-vice-chancellor and Principal of the Cave > Hill Campus, UWI. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Want to reach the ColdFusion community with something they want? Let them know on the House of Fusion mailing lists Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:310807 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5
