Garvey's Ghost: Black Talk

Complaining Is Our Specialty

I hope people didn't think I was ignorant in not noting that Jan 1st represented the 200th anniversary of the independence of Haiti. I have a poster of Jean-Jaques Dessalines on my wall. It is no doubt that what Boukman, Toussaint and Dessalines did was a pivotal event in the history of the "new world." It inspired many people including a favorite of mine, Denmark Vesey. The independence of Haiti brought on the wrath of many European governments and the United States of America as well. Jimmy Carter's support of the Duvalier regime and the exploits of the United Fruit Company are things that should never be forgotten. But there are other things that at this juncture we need to look at. Duvalier is long gone yet Haiti seems no better off than during his regime. Indeed in many parts of the black world, where blacks supposedly rule themselves, there is greater misery and exploitation than before and we need to look at this.

The Black World Today posted a declaration by the Haitian Studies Association in which they list of a number of resolutions and beliefs. Though the organization claimed neutrality regarding the legitimacy of the government of Aristide, they go on to demand an assortment of understandable and mostly common sense things. It is not what they demanded of the government that I am most interested in, it is what was demanded of the citizenry of Haiti that I was interested in. There were none. One of the problems of the legacy of Colonialism and exploitation is that black people, by and large do not trust government and authority. Most of these same people also expect government to do and solve all of their problems (some even their personal problems). Indeed you'll find that many political parties will rise and fall on their promises to "provide jobs" and then fail to do. Maybe it's only me, but I was under the assumption that government provided services and security; not jobs. The government provides these services based on the taxes that it raises from the population. These taxes are based on the value of property, income and sales of goods. If the country has a poor population then the government has little revenue and therefore services go by the wayside. This is the situation that is in Haiti. At least that is the economic situation. The political situation is that there are many moles and agent provocateurs in Haiti. Many of them from the US and their job are simply to keep Haiti "under control." Under control means that they don't want another Cuba. Lets get back to the economic situation first though.

Under a situation where the government is economically weak a couple of things happen. firstly people in the country try their best to get into government because even with the little money the government has, there is better chance of getting paid if you’re a minister of some sort. being in the government can also facilitate leaving the country or at least sending your family overseas. The last thing is that companies that want to do business in Haiti (read dump products and get cheap slave labor), know they must bribe all the right people in order to get through whatever bureaucracy has been set up and to "assure" that no unionizing, or other "threats" to "legitimate business" occurs. Let us make no mistake once people become old enough to understand the game, there is intense pressure and desire to get into government by any means deemed necessary. Here is where the agent provocateur comes in, he (and it is certainly a he) founds some "democratic peoples movement" and organizes people around what the government isn't doing for them. They point out all the problems with the society and claims that if they were in power they would change things. This person is guaranteed to earn the ire of the local "law enforcement" agent. See this agent has a vested interest in the ruling party because most likely that's how he got his job. So this person can be counted on to commit violations of human rights that can be used as further evidence of the corruption of the ruling party. Oft times these actions are completely unknown by the President and denied by everyone around him (who themselves may be on various intelligent agency payrolls).

Inevitably enough "non-progress" occurs and the new "democratic peoples movement" gains popular strength. The President must go. There are street protests and boycotts of businesses that only really hurt themselves as biz owners simply pass on the lost business to the ordinary Haitian in the form of higher prices the days following the boycotts. The American media shows up on cue and much videotape is rolled capturing "pro democracy protests" and getting "the locals" on film. The locals, glad to be getting attention is unaware of news media rule #1: Find the most talkative but stupid niggro and stick a camera and mic in his face.

So back to the Haitian Studies department. what was missing from their declaration was what the responsibility of the Haitian people were. What can Haitians do for themselves? While they may have valid concerns for the government, what do they think should be done, what are their plans for dealing with the multitude of problems that plague Haiti? Maybe Aristide has become out of touch with the ordinary Haitian. Maybe Aristide, having been thrust on the international stage and learning that running a country is not like running a church has had to deal with issues that the average Haitian has no clue about. The man is in his second year of his five-year term. The parliament is supposedly now defunct and he is ruling by decree. a dictatorship? Probably, but given that Haiti's problems started long before he was put into office and before this defunct parliament, how much different was the "democracy" before it?

While protests may be good camera candy, in the situation that exists in Haiti it really is a waste of time. These opposition parties, if they are indeed legitimate peoples parties and not fronts for US interests or the interests of the economic elite, should be drafting proposals on how to address the common problems of Haiti in specific ways. The unemployed should not be sitting on the streets doing nothing all day waiting for a government job to pop up. They should be cleaning the streets with their free time. They should be creating community economies that allow them to create jobs that would be independent of government action.

So long as Haitians and other blacks continue to look to governments to provide things that government really should not be providing and expecting overnight results from newly elected governments, the cycle of elections followed by ousters and result less protests will continue. These are the things that the Haitian Studies Associations ought to be spending their time contemplating.

links:
http://www.tbwt.org/home/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=77&Itemid=1