14791: Dorvilus: Re:14783: Sanba: Re:14775: Chevalier: Re: 14739: Dorvilus: Slaveryexists in Haiti today. (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Arsene Dorvilus <arsenedorvilus@phayze.com>

Sanba,

On the surface, your argument is quite logical. After all, our ancestors
did manage to dismantle an abominable system, and that should be cause for
celebration. What does it say about us when we then recreate the system and
manage to make it as abominable, even if it is on a smaller scale, than
what the French and the Spaniards did to African slaves before that? What
should we celebrate: that we freed ourselves so that we could do the same
thing to our little brothers and sisters? The logic escapes me.

You call what is being done to restaveks a "faulty practice against a
social class."  What an understatement! I guess being worked like a dog
from dawn to dusk, not being allowed the chance to attend school, being
beaten at the whim of the masters, being raped or sexually abused, being
fed less than the others while doing most of the work, sleeping in horrible
conditions while the others have better living accommodations, etc. is just
a teeny-weenie little fault in that great society of ours.  You truly took
my breath away on that one.

I believe we should take a very hard look at our society (or multiple
societies) and determine what we need to do to truly get out of the mess we
are in ... and I am not talking about the current political crisis which
pales in comparison to the deeper problems we are confronting.

Any celebration which lauds the heroes of independance but fails to address
the wrongs we managed to inflict upon ourselves after independence will
ring quite hollow to me, not to say that it will be hypocrisy of the
highest form. Here is my question to the list: since it seems my post has
probably irritated quite a few patriots, what are the truly outstanding
achievements we should be celebrating in 2004?