The worse way to tell a story is to start at the beginning and then skip to the end. Any child will tell you that "it's not fair" and the middle parts matter. So it is with Haiti. There is more than independence glory and the post-earthquake quagmire. The slide from hope trope may be compelling in its simplicity, but it is not Haiti's story.
It also grates against the sense that something great happened in this place, something that hasn’t been fully appreciated, assimilated, or even realized. But it cannot be otherwise, unless we start making the connections between things, people and events.
Here is a game: When you come across a history of the American or French revolutions, go to the index and look for Haiti or Saint Domingue. It is shocking how many attempt the story without reference to the place that paid the bills, a place richer than all 13 American colonies combined.
It takes multi-layered understanding to gain proper perspective on the many deficits on display (financial, governmental, environmental, social and humanitarian) against the background of poverty, illiteracy, environmental devastation, political violence, and drug trafficking.
If you want to do something about it, you need to know what is the 'it' you want to do something about.
A detail: much is made of France forcing the newly formed Haiti to indemnify French former property owners. It is not often remarked that it was the Haitian President Alexandre Petion (veteran of the revolutionary wars) who offered to pay France, and his successor President Boyer who accepted to borrow the money from French banks.
Not sure exactly why yet, but this does seem like an important thing to know.
It also grates against the sense that something great happened in this place, something that hasn’t been fully appreciated, assimilated, or even realized. But it cannot be otherwise, unless we start making the connections between things, people and events.
Here is a game: When you come across a history of the American or French revolutions, go to the index and look for Haiti or Saint Domingue. It is shocking how many attempt the story without reference to the place that paid the bills, a place richer than all 13 American colonies combined.
It takes multi-layered understanding to gain proper perspective on the many deficits on display (financial, governmental, environmental, social and humanitarian) against the background of poverty, illiteracy, environmental devastation, political violence, and drug trafficking.
If you want to do something about it, you need to know what is the 'it' you want to do something about.
A detail: much is made of France forcing the newly formed Haiti to indemnify French former property owners. It is not often remarked that it was the Haitian President Alexandre Petion (veteran of the revolutionary wars) who offered to pay France, and his successor President Boyer who accepted to borrow the money from French banks.
Not sure exactly why yet, but this does seem like an important thing to know.
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