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The Danger of a Single Story’

This presentation done by the Nigerian author, Chimamanda Adichie, excellently depicts how we are all guilty of perpetuating stereotypes that create single stories, whether intentional or unintentional. In her speech she describes how much of an impression the amount of British books she read had made on her, so much that she began to think that books were to be about foreigners and a life she could not relate to. She shows us how powerful stories can be, and how dangerous it is only knowing one story about a group of people.

She goes on to tell us about all the times she judged people or people were judged based on a single story but what stood out to me was the one with an American student who read her novel about an abusive nigerian father and assumed all Nigerians were abusive. Her response was perfect for the situation but what caught me, was that we would not be quick to call all American men serial killers, but why? As we recall from the units, in the period after enslavement was when books such as the ones she used to read as a kid were implemented, concretising the idea of superiority of the Metropole and portraying Caribbean colonies as inferior and insignificant. I believe that the issue here is really about power because there are many stories about the dominant culture (Americans) so the single story really only affects groups that are already disempowered. As she most perfectly said, ‘Show people as one thing over and over again, and that’s what they become.’

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CONCEPT OF CIVILIZATION

When Columbus arrived in the Caribbean in 1492, he was greeted by a group of inhabitants known as the Neo-Indians. These peoples were shown to come moving from North-South America. From settlements of Trinidad, they moved through the chain of islands on to the Greater Antilles island of Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica & Puerto Rico. these peoples were advanced as they had complex social organizations, practised agriculture and produced fine ceramics. But as we learnt, they were not the first people to dwell in the Caribbean. This was a lie as history discovered other groups that were here before Columbus was even close to discovering our islands. These peoples are known as the Paleo-Indians and the Meso-Indians.

These Paleo-Indians arrived approximately 5000 B.C. from South and Central America. They settled in the larger islands of the greater Antilles. These  ‘pre-ceramic’, ‘lithic’ or ‘stone age’ group of peoples lived by the seaside and their way of life was by hunting  and gathering, with a heavy reliance on shellfish and reet fish for sustenances.

The Meso-Indians came approximately 500 B.C. Compared to the Paleo-Indians, they were more skilled in the areas of pottery and making tools. Their settlement was not limited to the seaside, as some settled on land also. These peoples first settled in trinidad, and gradually headed north into the Greater Antilles.

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Immigration Situation between Haiti and Dominican Republic

‘The influx from our poorer neighbor is overwhelming. They steal jobs. They are dangerous. They take advantage of our laws.’
but from another perspective

‘They are seeking better lives. They do the labor-intensive jobs locals won't. They contribute to the economy.’

The immigration issue between these two countries today stems back to the massacre that occurred about 80 decades ago. In early October, 1937, General Rafael Leonidas Trujillo, dictator of the Dominican Republic, authorized an ‘ethnic-cleansing’ campaign along the Dominican-Haitian border aiming to expunge all dark-skinned Haitians. Trujillo had soldiers line the borders and asked the people to say perejil (spanish for parsely) since they knew that Haitians were unable to pronounce the ‘r’ correctly, giving it the name ‘Parsely Massacre’. People who were unable to say it were killed, leaving between 20,00 - 30,000 people dead. This massacre lasted roughly 2 weeks. Even when Trujillo tried to cover it up a year later when he offered 100,000 visas and 26,000 acres, it was more to ‘whiten’ the country than out of his good graces. This was the same aim he had for the massacre the year before.

We can see this mentality is still present today, as Dominicans are once again using ‘the cloak of a modest amount of good to hide a poisonous reality fraught with problems’. Thousands of Haitian migrants and Dominicans of Haitian decent are being deported to Haiti in both forced and ‘voluntary’ leaves. They were basically stripped of their citizenship and forced to prove they were born in the D.R.

The dominican Republic believes that they are at a higher standard than Haiti, and by having them dwelling permanently in their country would lower their standards. They claim that Haiti is stealing their jobs when all they are the ones importing them most of the time. And the majority of jobs the Haitians do, the people of the Dominican Republic won’t do. It is just a matter of race and class, but it needs to end.

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REFLECTION
At the beginning of my programme, I was very disappointed that I had to do a History course again because I really disliked History. To me, the past should stay past. I always used to say it didn’t make sense learning about the past because people would still go ahead and make the same mistakes as our ancestors. But yes I was generally upset that I had to do a History course again, seeing as I had dropped History back in Form 3. But to be honest, after completing this course, I am glad i did it. Besides the fact that it took away from my time to complete assignments and etcetera, the course was very enjoyable to me as I learnt a lot of new things. Now i know that there is no such thing as ‘Caribs’ and ‘Arawaks’, which proved how up to this day people’s minds are still filled with the lies that the British sold to our ancestors in their ‘education system’ after enslavement. I say this because back in forms 1-3 when i did History, we were taught about the Caribs, Arawaks, Mayans etc. and taught that Columbus discovered us. All these things had me really amazed at how they really shaped our way of thinking. We should really do something about those primary and secondary school history books because they are teaching children lies! But besides this, as I was saying, this course was a mind opener to me and i don’t regret taking it.

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LEARNING ACTIVITY 7.2 November 5th. 2017 

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LEARNING ACTIVITY 7.2 November 5th. 2017 

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What is the purpose of education?

To me, the purpose of education is to bring people to a full realization as possible of what it is to be a human being. Education is basically to prepare one for citizenship, to cultivate a skilled workforce, to teach cultural literacy, help in becoming critical thinker, and to open students up to competing in a global marketplace.

Is education the gateway to happiness?

I do not think education is the gateway to happiness. Education can grant you some measure of happiness- happiness in the fact that you can reach somewhere in life, now that you have been educated, happiness in knowing that you can find a job, and so on. But some people are just built on expanding their education that they become depressed trying to reach their aim. Some people even forget about other things life has to offer. This saying is also seen as a misunderstanding that most people get. Education is not needed to be happy. One can be most educated, and still someone who is not as educated as them can be more happy than they are. In life you have to make your own happiness. Depending on education to bring you happiness can shape your entire perspective on happiness, making some even think than happiness is impossible to achieve, when it is right there.

Should the main purpose of education be to get a job?

It should be a purpose, but we should not make it the main purpose. It is okay to just get an education to better oneself, as in being able to read and write. It shouldn’t be the main reason for educations.

Is there a role for education in Caribbean nation building?

Yes there is a role for education. Education helps us caribbean people better ourselves, so that we can reach further in life, just like the whites, or even further than them. It is to make ourselves more knowledgeable so we would not be taken advantage of. It is to change our ‘single story’ that we are just people who ‘relax all day on the beach' or always party and drink rum.

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23rd September,2017. UNIT 1 - Learning Activity 1.1 

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23rd September,2017. UNIT 1 - Learning Activity 1.1 

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REFLECTION ON ‘PRE-HISTORY’

A Civilized society.

A civilized society is defined as one to have a state of culture and social development; showing evidence of moral and intellectual advancement;humane, ethical and reasonable.

The early Caribbean people could be considered a civilised society as their societies were all dependent on hunting as a means of survival.

Although later down in the years, the people developed practises in agriculture, fine ceramics, had complex social organizations and developed other cultures on their own.

An Uncivilized society.

An uncivilized society is defined as one that is lacking in culture or sophistication. This society has not yet developed a culture as its way of life. The people who came to the Caribbean about 5000 years ago ( lithic or Stone age) lacked culture and were not sophisticated. They just had the basic material culture ( flint and related stones and shells) and is considered as uncivilized.

Despite this knowledge, it isn’t right to say one society’s civilization was better than the other since civilizations are supposed to be equal. As time passed, the people gradually began to show different levels of technological innovations and techniques and socially develop.

A Developing society.

A developing society is defined as one that is always growing and maturing together. They also tend to show a somewhat high level of advancement. In the case of the early Caribbean peoples, they are said to be a developing society as their different cultural practices, ethnic groups and new techniques were gradually expanding over time. These new techniques and innovations pertained to newly developed ways of agriculture and other practises.

An Advanced Society.

An Advanced society is defined as a society that has been integrated and developed deeply and extensively in culture and governance for a prolonged period. It could be said that the Neo-Indians  were an advanced society as they were advanced in their cultural practises and agricultural practises. They were more advanced than the previous Paleo-Indians.

1. In each of these definitions, the biases which were implicit was the way the different groups were compared. It was unfair to compare the Paleo-indian group to the Neo-Indians to indicate which one was an ‘advanced society’ as they all displayed their cultures through the knowledge that they had at that given time.

The same applies to all the other definitions stated above, as it would be unfair to compare their civilizations and developments.

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TUTORIAL SESSION 						October 31st, 2017.

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TUTORIAL SESSION 						October 31st, 2017.

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Group 1

1. What were the causes of the Haitian Revolution?

2. Political activism and theories underpinned revolution. Discuss them. (French and African political Antecedents)

They were a French colony.

Causes

- The declaration of the right of man.

- The overwork

- Fact that they wanted to be free.

Watch words of French revolution

- Liberty

- Equality

The enslaved took these watchwords and used it to rebel. During French revolution, word travelled fast so in Haiti when they heard about it saying that everyone is free they thought that they were free to so they started to rebel.
There was also civil war in the Congo that carried these same ideals about freedom,
There was a lot of people coming from the Congo where civil arrest was happening and they took that with them when they came to Haiti.
So it was not only the French revolution.

Group 2

1. Describe details of the Haitian Revolution. How long was it? Which groups were fighting which? How did the revolution end etc.

2. Why were the enslaved Africans and free coloureds and Blacks successful?

Haitian revolution lasted for 30 years (1794-1804)

It was successful. During the 12 years they were fighting the French the British and the Spanish. They won. Beat all of them.
They were successful because they planned and they had skills and tactics.
Touseé tactisc and planning were responsible and significantly contributed to them being successful. When nepolean came and wanted to reintroduced enslavrment,he crushed the French.
Desolee declared Haiti independent in 1804. Another reason was saint domingae was very divided. Some wanted to remain a French colony , some didn't. Poor whites and petite blacks were upset because the free colors had more freedom than then. They were together by the cords.

Group 3

1. Discuss Haiti’s debt to France after the Haitian Revolution.

2. Why various nations (say which ones) did not want to trade with them?

21.7 billion dollars.

The money was half that price in today's money

They brought in 7.2 million dollars per yr in that time. $6000 was $5mil in that time.

Nations like Spain, France,British and Us didn't want to trade with them.

Group 4

1. How did debt and isolation impact Haiti’s economy and society?

2. What did the revolution symbolise for Haiti and for the Caribbean? What did it mean for Haitian and Caribbean Identity?

Isolation
Noone wanted to trade with them so they had to find alternate methods of making money.

The debt caused the evolution of the country to he on hold since as they made money they had to put it to paying back debt and not developing country.

Revolution symbolised empowerment.  After Haitian revolt, the there Caribbean countries began to take their freedom as well. Haiti is the frst black revolution in the western country.

Natural disasters, corrupt leaders, allot of debt.

They had to pay France. Frace came back when they won and said that if they don't pay them back they would have reinstituted slavery so they began to pay back. They basically won the war and had to pay the loser for the war.

In 2001 the president demanded that France pay back Haiti . When they heard this they were appalled and said no. Coincidentally in 2004 the UN came to Haiti and raped people ,contaminated the water etc.

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This relic is to show how great of a tutorial teacher Ms. Rea Anne Alexander was. She asked the most relevant questions and ensured that she gave us a chance to attempt it and when we did not know she would explain it to us in the simplest of ways to ensure we understood. It is because of her i have a greater appreciation for this course. This relic would just be showing some of the group questions asked and our responses.

Who determined that Neo-Indian people were uncivilised and why?

The Europeans saw them as uncivilised. This was because they, being a literate society saw these people as ‘preliterate’ and inferior so they strived to destroy them since they would be of no good use to them. These Neo-Indians actually were not ‘pre-literate’. They were literate in their own way given the resources they had. It was also wrong of Columbus to say they were uncivilised since he was just saying that based on their Eucentric standards. But these people were well over civilised in their own manner. They put use to what they were given and made alot of weapons etc.

Caribs and Arawaks? Discuss.

There is no such thing as ‘Caribs’ and ‘Arawaks’. This was a name given to the Neo-Indian people by the British. The Europeans saw it fit to use these terms to simplify their mission as they discovered the Caribbean. When the natives attacked them. These were seen as savage and were given the name ‘Caribs’. The other set who were more submissive and friendly were given the name Arawaks. Columbus should not have done this when really and truly these people were just one Neo-Indian society.

Different Cultures in Neolithic societies.

Neo-Indians practised agriculture, produced fine ceramics, and had complex social organizations. They were copper coloured, had high cheeckbones aand narrowed eyelids. Columbus described them as ‘very well-built; handsome bodies and faces’.

These Neo-Indians were sub-divided into different groups or cultures, using stylistic elements found among their ceramics as their markers. Markers included attributes such as firing temperature, thickness of body, painted surfaces, or decorated logs or adornos.

In the lesser Antilles, the names of these divisions ranged from ‘Soladoids’ who made much finer ceramics decorated with abstract designs and painted with red & white, to ‘Suazioids’ which made thicker cruder ceramics, monotone and characterised by the presence of decorative handles or logs which portray a variety of animals. There were two other groups in the middle called ‘Barrancoids’ and ‘Toumassoids’ who made in ceramics in between what the above two made.

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Story Mariano Castillo, CNNPhotography Fernando Decillis for CNN. "Faces Of A Divided Island". CNN, 2017. http://edition.cnn.com/2016/04/12/world/dominican-republic-haiti-immigration/index.html.

King, Ruby. "EDUCATION IN THE BRITISH CARIBBEAN: THE LEGACY OF THE 19Th CENTURY". Educas.Org, 2017. https://www.educoas.org/Portal/bdigital/contenido/interamer/BkIACD/Interamer/Interamerhtml/Millerhtml/mil_king.htm.

Wucker, McLeary, Anderson, Schwartz, Zakheim, Brooks, Boot, and Boot. "The Dominican Republic's Shameful Deportation Legacy". Foreign Policy, 2017. http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/10/08/dominican-republic-haiti-trujillo-immigration-deportation/.