a1197: Re: a1187: Re: Aristide campaigns for peace and unity! (#a1185) (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: kevin pina <kpinbox@hotmail.com>

From: amedard@gte.net

But his demagogue’s speeches are also revealing of his shortcomings.
According to the BBC transcript and translation of Radio Nationale, he said:
“[Aristide] When you smell of sweat, do they like to get close to you?
“[Crowd] No.
“[Aristide] When you are not well dressed, do they like to get close to you?
“[Crowd] No.”


I fail to see how this is demogogery. In my hometown, in the good ole US of
A, we have a lot of poor folks who walk the streets smelling of sweat and
are not well dressed either. Quite a few of my friends there take offense to
those poor souls approaching and asking them for anything including the time
of day. A common refrain is "why can't they get a job like the rest of us"?
In Haiti I guess that question really would be absurd given the current
realities. The truth is that there is a class of people in this country,
just like my own, who detest the poor for being poor and really wish they
would be poor somewhere else. Some wish they would simply go away but that
is easier said than done given that the poor majority also happen to be the
largest constituency in Haiti that overwhelmingly voted for Lavalas,
technicalities or anything else withstanding. I think that fact more than
anything else is what disturbs that "special class" who heretofore have
always had things their way whether by force of arms or outright theft. Now,
for Aristide to acknowledge this reality seems to come more from a sense of
seeking a common bridge with the poor as opposed to going out his way to
offend your, or anyone else's sensibilities for that matter. You really
either get it or you don't. Personally I don't find it all that complicated.

BTW, nobody pays me to speak my mind or do "PR" for them. I am compelled to
speak my mind by virtue of the relationships I have with the poor here.
That's probably equally as difficult for some to understand.


Peace,


kp

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