12952: Re: 12936: 12923: The "Elite" who does this refer to? posted by Dennis Williams (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Maxetluc@aol.com

In my experience "the elite" refers to whomever the person using the term happens to hold a grudge against.

What is always amazing to me is that this term (and its kreyol corollary "gran manje") is generally used derisively by people who are themselves considered "elite" by the vast majority in Haiti, i.e., diaspora, Americans, middle class and wealthy Haitians.

My favorite example of this came while I still lived in Haiti. In early 2000, then-president Preval made a speech assailing the "gran manje" (big eaters) of La Plaine because, he claimed, his administration couldn't find enough available land to dig wells for the poor.  He quickly retreated from this statement, though, when he learned that among the biggest (in terms of carreaux owned) "gran manje" who hadn't donated land to the project were several members of his cabinent as well as his predecessor (and successor) in the Palais Nationale.