In his Feb. 1 column, "Haiti: where morality meets reality," Brian Judge '11 ended on a strong note: "But in the end, it isn't about us and what we want for Haiti. It is about what Haitians want for Haiti." The logic there is unimpeachable, though the rest of Judge's article argues a rather different point: "If we want to feel good about our dogmas, then we should go on saying that Haiti is just fine as it is, and it is only our own prejudice that says that it ought to be different. If we want to actually mitigate suffering, then we need to be willing to be paternalistic." That's where disagreement arises.
No one has said that Haiti is just fine as it is, but the idea that Haiti could develop along the path of Taiwan by hosting American sweatshops is absurd. Haiti's problem has never been a lack of integration into the capitalist world economy, or even insufficient "Protestant work ethic." On the contrary, the "Protestant work ethic" that powered capitalism in countries like England and the Netherlands was built on protectionism at home, access to capital and the coerced work ethic of people bought and sold as slaves in Jamaica and Barbados, Curacao and Suriname.
While Haiti has certainly fared worse than many other ex-colonies for numerous historical reasons, no country has pulled itself up from such thorough subjugation. Taiwan had access to significant amounts of capital and development aid, and like China, Japan and South Korea, has enjoyed a degree of autonomy that no Atlantic World colony has ever seen.
That said, the international community has the opportunity to be either helpful or harmful.
The appropriate course of action is, of course, to honor the policies that (as Judge said), "Haitians want for Haiti." But not all Haitians speak with one voice, and perhaps more importantly, Haitian politics are circumscribed in a larger world political system where "what Haitians want" is systematically ignored. In 1825, Haiti was required to pay reparations to France for the latter's loss in slave property resulting from the successful rebellion of Generals Toussaint and Dessalines. Opening the twentieth century, the United States occupied the country militarily from 1915 to 1934, creating the conditions for the brutal father-son regimes of François and Jean-Claude Duvalier. If that all seems like ancient history, the nation's first democratically elected president, the immensely popular priest Jean-Bertrand Aristide, was overthrown for the second time in 2004 with American support.
In short, Haitians do not need a change of culture, for it is not Haitian culture that has impeded "progress" for centuries. Rather, it is the "international community" (read: ex-colonial powers) that needs to change its culture; for it is those same nations of the "developed world" that have consistently jeopardized the wellbeing of Haitians as a people over the past two centuries. To merely drop Haiti into competition for the scraps of industrialization that America leaves to other countries (i.e. textiles) is a grotesque policy in light of Haiti's history and the enormous debt that the former colonial powers owe to Haiti and, yes, scores of other former colonies they have left in the same position.
To that end, I believe the appropriate steps are clearer than many would like to admit. First, large amounts of money need to be issued to Haiti, with no strings attached. Haiti must not be left open to predatory creditors and corporations. Secondly, money should go to Haitians to the greatest extent possible. It should go to the Haitian government and to Haitian organizations. Institutions like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, led by countries like the United States, have controlled Haiti for more than long enough; the idea that they know best is almost laughable by now. Finally, all is for naught if Haitians do not have a democratic government in which they have faith. The least that the U.S can do to that end is not undermine democracy where it does exist. The answers for Haiti will have to come from its neighborhoods, labor and community organizations and churches rather than American banks.
I am not Haitian, and I obviously do not speak for the Haitian people. Unfortunately, the final decisions about how to deal with Haiti will most likely be made in the United States and Europe, giving the residents of those countries a degree of responsibility in seeing justice done. There are already grassroots organizations in Haiti organizing for a better future for their country, and the same organizing needs to be done here in the United States. Opposing the predetermined policies of powerful banks and corporations, at home and abroad, is an uphill battle, but the stakes of losing are simply too high to not take it up.
Alex Campbell '10 is a history concentrator from Louisville, Kentucky.
He can be reached at
alexander_campbell at brown.edu.
