July 9, 2021
The news of Haitian president Jovenel Moise being assassinated allegedly at his home early Wednesday morning has sent a buzz around the world. But, what did we expect to happen after months of the turmoil and confusion and chaos in Haiti? Did we expect it all to work out in the end if we all sat by and did nothing but offer empty press statements and worthless press releases? No.
It’s not as easy as throwing money at the problem either. Haiti has a problem that is bigger than money. Money can’t solve their problem, but it can help find the solution as well as give relief right now to people that are hurting until the problem is solved.
Fact of the matter is, and we don’t want to talk about it, but we may as well lay it out here, the problem is no one truly gives a damn about what former US president Donald Trump called “shithole countries.” Especially if the shithole country doesn’t speak English.
Let’s just talk the truth, we don’t care what Haitians have to say, we don’t care about their children suffering in poverty and we don’t care about anybody else aside from the White man who gives us a dollar every now and then, whether it is from American tourists or foreign investors from Europe.
To go even further, because Haitians don’t speak English at all and perhaps many of them are illiterate to boot with their own language- no matter how much pride they tell you they have, they are largely illiterate people at their literacy rate is 62 percent—they don’t have consistent access to modern political and economic thought and behaviour and people to have one on one dialogue with on consistent basis to let them know this is not how we do things anymore. Not every political leader is out to be a dictator and if he is out to be a despot there are institutions that can be put in place to fix that.
As simple as fixing the language barrier and letting better thought and new ways seep into the culture of Haiti is a start. I’m not ashamed to say that many of the English speaking Caribbean countries are a language away from destroying one another for the same reason why Haiti is being neglected- who wants to learn creole and translate modern thoughts and principles into English for them? Who cares?
If the Trinidad’s and Jamaica’ and Bahamas’s of this world did not have English as their first language where at least they can watch a MTV or Lifetime every now and then they would be no better off than Haiti is right now. I’ve seen the madness perpetrated by so called leaders in these countries and I say God help us all. They are trying their best, however, but oftentimes the flesh of the Negro man takes control of him and he thinks he can get away with more than what the God in heaven has endowed him with. That’s why we have institutions and thankfully we have access to critical information to help tweak and develop those institutions, oftentimes are painstakingly difficult rates, despite the mindless demi-god in charge at the time.
That doesn’t mean that institutions aren’t slipping away: Tell yourself, we turn our noses at Haiti, but how many of our little rocks in these Caribbean waters have Freedom of Information Acts and if we do, when was the last time it was revised to suit today’s socio-economic climate? Do we have strong institutions that monitor the police forces? We see the videos come across our desk too frequently of police brutality throughout this region. God sees you too.
I can go to a Caribbean map blindfolded and pick out any country and put on them sleaze, corruption, whoremongering and theft just like it would have in Haiti with its broken institutions and then some.
But yet, as we send empty press releases and find the dirty of who killed Jovenel Moise, the blight, chaos and confusion continues in Haiti. But at least finding sorrow when people are hurting is something the good-book tells us to do in Romans 12:15: “Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.”