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#4417: Morse comments on "11" : Grey replies
From:Racine125@aol.com
Excuse me Richard - I do not agree with a little bit of what you have said,
but I will defend to the death your right to say it! :-)
Specifically, I find your references to "blanc" offensive, retrograde and
racist. "Blanc" is this and "blanc" is that, as though there were only one
"blanc" or as if all white people think the same way. As you know well,
there are many progressive whites working in Haiti, in fact quite a few of
them are your personal friends and acquaintances. They deserve better from
you.
<<I know a Haitian revolutionary who got into a pretty horrible jam and was
bailed out by blanc. As soon as he was voted into office he began shouting
"get maman blanc" on the streets. Now that he is no longer in office, he has
returned to blanc for support. Sound familiar?>>
LOL! Did he ever finally return the car he "borrowed" from that nice "blanc"
lady?
Actually, way back in '98 I put up some pages on my Haitian Consulting site
about "... the Mad Mayor of Port-au-Prince". It's out of date, but it's
still there at http://members.aol.com/haiconsul/manindex.html, a series of
AHP articles translated into English including some perspective from his
predecessor Evans Paul and also from the OPL.
Back then, a representative of Haitian Consulting who accompanied a Haitian
citizen to the mayor's office for minor business was threatened by armed
thugs, and when the incident was reported Mayor Charlemagne, he screamed
profanities and obscenities, and declared that the Mayor's Office of
Port-au-Prince is his personal property.
At that time, the Haitian government was trying to disarm Manno and his armed
goon squad, to little effect. Manno refused to obey the lwa, or to submit to
constitutional order, on the remarkable premise that he "bought the guns with
his own money!" Some things never change.
<<I see how quickly boat people with little education adapt in Miami, to
renting their own homes, paying monthly bills, receiving hourly wages,
driving their own cars and I realize that its the Haitian leadership thats
not moving fast enough for change in Haiti. >>
Oh, GOOD POINT! That is very true.
<<Everyone voted "11", now its up to "11" to show a mature leadership and get
the whole train on the track, not just the personal dining car. It won't be
easy, but those are the expectations.>>
I shudder to think what would happen if the majority of Haitians reversed
their opinion on Aristide! The resulting upheaval... well, who knows?
Peace and love,
Mambo Racine