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Haiti: How They Raped Her...How She is Yet To Recover

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Haiti: How They Raped Her...How She is Yet To Recover

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Haiti's history has always been a cauldron of tumultuous events. To understand why Haiti is said to be the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, we must examine her historical time line.

The mass of land that houses Haiti and the Dominican Republic was first named Hispaniola when Columbus and his men landed in 1492. It was the 1st island they set foot on in the New World and of course they brought with them their inevitable plague of destruction and instability. The arrival of the Europeans resulted in the Tainos acquiring Old World diseases from which they possessed no immunity, such as measles, chicken pox and syphilis. When they realized that Haiti could do nothing for them in their greed driven quest for gold, their interest in her waned and the neglect began. After almost 200 years of volatile rule, the Spaniards relinquished control of the western side of Hispaniola to the French. The western side was the side vulnerable to attacks by other European forces. With the French now in control of what they renamed Saint-Domingue , another era of mistreatment and abuse commenced. They transformed the colony into a money pig, manufacturing and exporting large quantities of sugar and coffee. It was said that majority of the world's coffee came from little Saint-Domingue.

The introduction of the new sugar and coffee industry further lessened the Neo Indian population and led to the start of the importation of African slaves to the Caribbean. It was said that a third of all the slaves that came went to Haiti. This diversification created a highly structured hierarchy being formed with its basis deep in complexion, social standing and wealth. At the very bottom were the African enslaved, a close second were mulatto slaves and free mulatto and at the very top, the Whites. As the 18th century progressed turmoil unleashed with numerous slave rebellions occurring. There was a deterioration of the colony's civil order and Haiti became engulfed in terror. Several Haitian Africans fought for Haiti to gain its Independence but when she did it was obvious that she could not function as a lone unit. Soon after her economy and political system was in shambles.

This is only part of Haiti's history and a very brief part at that but it illustrates the beginning of the mayhem that presently exists there. Haiti's narrative from the "get go" has been one of trials and tribulations. I sometimes like to believe that Haiti was given a "raw deal" or in other words an unfair start to life. A combination of malicious intent by the French and years of unstable internal political affairs may be to blame for Haiti being unable to get on her feet. Today, Haiti is still quite impoverished and still seems to be in shambles economically, politically and socially.

It is with great hope that I expect that one day very soon, maybe with the help of the rest of the Caribbean, Haiti would rise and fulfill her greatest potential.

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Chimamanda Adichi, in her video, highlights a common occurrence that she coins as the "Single Story".

The term "single story" describes the situation where one perspective of a person or a thing become the main perspective of the said person or thing. This view over powers any other that may be present or that may try to present itself. Allowing yourself to go away with a single story results in rampant spread misconceptions and misunderstandings.

We encounter many examples of a "Single Story" throughout the Foun 1101 course:
The first example involves the Europeans, namely the Spaniards, and the Neo Indians whom they met inhabiting the islands upon their arrival. The European arriving to Caribbean was the first interaction between the Neo-Indian population and the Europeans. They, the Europeans, soon fabricated stories about the Neo Indians that they would later use as excuses to mistreat and abuse them. In the opinion of the Spaniards, the Neo Indians were primitive, backward savages. A German historian writes:

"These Caribees had ideas of their own. In their wars, an enemy who fell in battle was meat for their leader. From their cabins, human legs hung like smoked hams." (German Arciniegas. Sea  of the New World. Ian Rindle. Kingston. 2004 Reprint)

The Spaniards spread their ethnocentric perspective of the Neo Indian way of life and culture and corrupted the minds of those who did not better. If one was to source their knowledge of the Neo Indians solely from the Europeans, they would go away with the notion that the Neo Indians were cannibalistic and uncultured pagan society of people. If it were not for historians bringing us the fact of what actually occurred, we, too, would  believe that the Neo Indians were "uncivilized" and lacked structure to their society. We now know that the Europeans' claims were baseless and were as result of their selfish and evil agendas.

This was also the case with the Europeans and Africans. They fabricated stories that painted the Africans as soulless and made it easier to regard them as chattel or property. The Europeans made it "known" widespread that the Africans had no culture or civilization before their arrival when in truth, African societies were eons ahead of the Europeans in their advancements.

These two examples show us the danger of a single story or a lone perspective. A single story narrows the bigger picture and does not allow a full and accurate view of the actual situation.

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Only through greater knowledge of the past can we gain a greater understanding of the present.

Foun 1101 has stimulated a new found appreciation and love for Caribbean History. It has expanded my previous knowledge on the struggles endured by my African ancestors and has helped me understand how these struggles have shaped the Caribbean as it is today and by extension me as an individual. I felt as though I was able to vividly see and experience through my mind's eye the trials and tribulations that were experienced by my forefathers. Foun 1101 stirred up a lot of dormant unexplored ideas and feelings that I was unaware that I possessed and ended up being quite an emotional course for me.

I believe that this course has had a great impact on me as a young adult and has made me more self aware. I now do not take things seen as "simple" for granted. I now am aware that the luxuries I today enjoy were fought for by someone who thought about me long before I could think about myself. I am now aware that someone died for me to live.I am now aware that "I AM MY ANCESTORS' WILDEST DREAMS".

Thanks to Foun 1101, I now wholly and completely accept my ancestry, my dark skin tone, my kinky hair, my broad nose, my wide hips. I ACCEPT ME!

To my ancestors,
I am forever indebted.
Jemila Forde.

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Holder, Ak. “The Issue of Colourism.” Trinidad and Tobago Express (2012). Website. 28 November 2017. <http://www.trinidadexpress.com/woman-magazine/The_Issue_of_Colorism-146560645.html>.

Webb, Sarah L. “Colorism: Roots and Routes.” Colorism Healing (2013). 28 November 2017. <https://colorismhealing.org/colorism-roots-and-routes/>.

Campbell,John F. "Defining A Caribbean Civilisation." Online lecture (18 Sept,2017). University of The West Indies.

“History of Haiti.” Nations Online (n.d.). Website. 1 December 2017. <http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/History/Haiti-history.htm>.

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Colorism can be described as the discrimination or prejudice against persons due to the colour of their skin. Colorism is usually directed toward darker toned people.

The origin of colorism is believed to stem from the slavery era where the ideology that the closer one’s skin tone was to white was the more the acceptable or more beautiful they were. This afforded many of lighter skin preferential treatment over those who were darker. It was used as a divisive medium by the whites to keep Africans separated and created animosity. Out of slavery came the inevitable mixing of races to produce children of both black and white ancestry. This expanded the spectrum of skin tones that the enslaved came in. Usually, fairer mixed enslaved were allowed more privileges and were considered more intelligent and stronger because of their white heritage.

This ideology is still present in our Modern Caribbean society and is boldly reflected in our everyday living. Prime examples being Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and Brazil. In societies such as Jamaica's, skin bleaching is prevalent and is a major indicator of the long lasting effect of colonial breed colorism.  Colorism is also perpetuated by Caribbean culture, namely, in the music. For example, Vybz Kartel's Cake Soap (2010) where he says:

"Cool like mi wash mi face wit di cake soap"...."Gyal from every area, me dem waan fi tear it up"...."inna my inna my inna my scheme, di gyal dem a seh mi a dem ice cream."

In this song, Kartel glorifies the use of cake soap (skin bleaching agent) and boasts of how desired he is by females because of his now "clean" skin.

Another popular example is Buja Banton's Brownin( early 1990's), where Buju explicitly expresses his love and preference for lightskinned females(brownings):

"Mi love mi car, mi love mi house, mi love mi money and ting but most of mi love mi browning."

The Jamaican singer received major backlash from the predominantly dark skinned population and attempted to appease the situation by releasing "Love Black Woman".

From experience, I can say that as a very dark female, I know what the second hand and derogatory treatment handed down to dark skinned people feels like. I have also experienced first hand the emotions that go along with the treatment. It is sad that I have grown somewhat accustomed to the phrases "pretty for a dark skinned girl' and " I don't usually like dark skinned girls but...". It is sad that when I like someone I first wonder if they like girls my complexion before i think of anything else. I have great hopes that one day ALL darkskinned people are able to feel equal and beautiful.

BLACK GIRL SO SWEET- Ella Ab
My skin is infused with rich melanin
Shining, glistening in the light
My lips are plump echoeing the song
Beautiful a capella, melody strong
The sweet honey stare of my eyes
Looking up at the heavens into the skies
My natural hair it never flows
A blooming flower it still grows
The span of my hips so wide
Up and down in confidence I stride
Because I am black.
I am beautiful.