15330: jhudicourtb on reparations

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: JHUDICOURTB@aol.com
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Sorry to see that nobody liked Boyer.  I like him because he is my most
famous
ancestor.  I still agree that paying the "independence debt" was a
mistake.
Now the French should admit that it was a mistake too.  I think that Haiti
should ask for "in-kind" restitution.  I think we should has for 2 things:
a
rail system because the French are very good at that, and a new city.  I
suggest a large research and industry center at the edge of Gonaives, cite
de
l'independance.  We have all that ugly land with white dust north of
Gonaives
and we have Savane Desolee South of Gonaives.  The French would build a
modern
city with international airport, modern dock for large boats, electrical
hydrogen plant, university and research center, space for factories,
elementary
schools and adult training centers. Then they should commit to financing
the
functioning of the place for 20 years, and decrease their involvement
gradually
for the next 50 years.  Cash doesn't need to go into the Haitian
government's
hands.  The only problem with that idea is that when French people come to
work
in Haiti they still think it's their colony, even after Boyer paid them.
Plus
there are some Haitians who think that anyone who know French has a
superior
education, so the French machine operators are looked up to for no reason
other
than that they speak French.  We are a little confused about what French
and
the French represent in our society.