a1567: Re: AP FWD: Workers: Voodoo Signs Present Before Union Vote (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Racine125@aol.com

This Associated Press article describes "voodoo" activities being used to sway the results of a union vote.  I note several things:

1)  "Voodoo" is presented as a series of magical attempts to intimidate others.  Black beads, cups of water, and rows of pennies are the physical objects relating to "voodoo" in this article.

2)  The people supposedly "using voodoo" did so very openly and publicly, they did not go off and have a private ceremony to influence the outcome of the vote, which I find rather unusual.

3)  Trained, educated heath care professionals were easily frightened into an "atmosphere of fear of voodoo".

4)  The practice of Vodou is misrepresented.  For instance, "Avernell Merle Simmons, a cook and dietary aide, said ... black beads are prayed over in voodoo to accomplish one's goals."  I am not sure if Simmons knows better and is deliberately lying, or if Haitian workers told her this to frighten her, or if she imagined this on her own.

In fact, I don't know what those folks with the black beads and so forth were thinking!  If they were trying to intimidate other people, then that is just as objectionable as it would be if Roman Catholics lined the way to the voting booth with images of saints and with laypeople warning of damnation for those who voted "wrongly".

The article says that the nursing home has a large Haitian-American work force.  They need the Haitian vote to get the union ratified, apparently.  So I am not clear whether a few pro-union Haitians are trying to give a push to many other Haitians, or what.

Sad to say, based on the political history of Haiti, most Haitian Vodouisants would see nothing wrong in these type of intimidation tactics, they would feel that Vodou is "something extra" that they have, which the other side does not have, and they would feel perfectly justified in using it as a fear tactic.  Respect for diversity and the separation of church and state are cultural values recently evolved in the USA, and not at all in Haiti.

Peace and love,

Bon Mambo Racine Sans Bout Sa Te La Daginen

"Se bon ki ra" - Good is rare
     Haitian proverb

The VODOU Page - http://members.aol.com/racine125/index.html

(Posting from Jacmel, Haiti)