15372: Saint-Vil answers du Tuyau Re: 15355: White supremacy and Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Jean Saint-Vil <jafrikayiti@hotmail.com>

Onè du Tuyau and fellow Corbetters,<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

 I hope everyone had an excellent long week-end and that we all have the
necessary energy to face and contribute positively – where ever we can - to the
next phase of Haiti’s struggle. The month of April is promising to be quite
eventful indeed with all kinds of meetings to “fix” Haiti being spearheaded by
Jesse Helms’ best pupils at the OAS and all. So, the questions raised by du
Tuyau are indeed good food for thought, in these crazy days.

Denouncing the factually observable anti-Haitian (anti-African) stance of many
black Haitians and contrasting it with equally factual pro-Haitian
(pro-African) stance of many whites dealing with things Haitian, Du Tuyau
reasonaly asked “who is the white supremacist here”?

As I have argued on this forum and elsewhere before, I understand white
supremacy to be an ideology, NOT a race-specific genetic disease. If today this
ideology is apparently well and alive in Haiti, in the United States, in
Europe, in international politics, it is not because of what “white people”
have or haven’t done. Rather, I contend that it is because of what human beings
(of all racial backgrounds) have and have not done to eradicate and replace
this wicked ideology since it first became deadly powerful in the 15th century.
After much struggling, colonialism (the form of government) finally ended –
except disguised in a few places (Martinique, Guadeloupe, Hawai etc...) but
white supremacy (the ideology) is still thriving thanks to the support people
of all colour and religious persuasuions give to it willingly as well as
unwillingly but also thanks to the timidity and inconsistency of the fight
that people of all colour and religious persuasions have put up against it.

Brother Du Tuyau, when Edouard Galeano writes categorically that “the history
of the abuse of Haiti, which in our lifetime has become a tragedy, is also the
story of western civilization’s racism” or when Stan Goff indicates in his book
that Haitian revolution “shattered the myth of white supremacy” and “as
punishment, Haiti has been attacked, exploited, and vilified ever since”, do
you accuse them of claiming “all white people racist, and almost all black
people saints” ? When you read Dr. Kendall Clark’s articles at
www.whiteprivilege.com, the various interviews given by Dr. Paul Farmer, Noam
Chomsky etc…isn’t it clear enough that the beast that so many of us black
Haitians have felt “not allowed to” denounce, is not only visible to the naked
eye, but blacks as well as whites have been fighting it since the 15th
century. Indeed, every time I raise this fundamental question on this list, it
gets trivialized, bamboozled, tip-toed around as if folks really didn’t
understand what I was talking about?  I say this is nothing but a symptom of
intellectual "marronage" being practiced on a grand scale.

Brother du Tuyau also speaks of my perceived “anger”. Tell me friends, when
will we stop playing this game? Martin Luther King – angry said the Baptist
powers, therefore: angry as charged he was – until killed and then redeemed!
Dessalines,  Huey P. Newton, Kwame Ture, Malcom X, Lumumba, Winnie and Nelson
Mandela, Biko, Bob Marley, Spike Lee, Aristide, Sankharra, Fignolé, Paul
Robeson, Walter Rodney, Frantz Fanon, Michael Eric Dyson, Marguerite
Laurent…even Tavis Smiley – ANGRY they are called whenever they dared to attack
white supremacy ! The only ones who are never dubbed “angry” are Pierre
Toussaint, Aunt Jemima and our beloved Uncles Ben and Tom. Why is it, in 2003,
so many black men and women think they must receive “adult” permission before
they can stand with their people and for their collective interest?  Even Harry
Belafonte gets a bad rap for calling Colin Powell what he has proven himself to
be – not since 2000 mind you, but since his early days in the black
widow-making army in which he has served so obediently and ever so
efficiently.

 Brother du tuyau, I will address the French Zenglendo ransom in yet another
post. But let me end this one by recommending to you an excellent film titled
“Miss Evers’ boys” starring Alfre Woodard. I believe there is a striking
similarity between the Tuskeegee medical experiment which it addresses and the
socio-political-medical experiments currently going on in our beloved Haiti.

 The question we, Haitians, must ask ourselves is the following: will we stand
up to stop this latest Dr. Frankestein experiment on our people or will we,
like the "good" doctors and nurses (black and white) who were aware of the real
deal at Tuskeegee very early on, wash our hands and conscience and go along
with the plan – jumping hill after hills – all the while making sure we are
“seen to be” providing our brothers and sisters the best “mercury back rubs”,
the best entertainment, the best aspirin, the best pain killers that we can put
our hands upon. Or, will we instead stand and face the nasty consequences of
fighting white supremacy head on to secure for our people the "penicillin"
(MAJORITY RULE THROUGH PARTICIPATIVE DEMOCRACY) that we know they need and
deserve.

It’s not about black and white brother Du Tuyau. Jacques Roumain could have
“passed”, as they used to say, yet he decided to stand with his people. Jacques
Stephen Alexis could have collaborated, instead he fought till he dropped - as
did Dessalines, Makandal, Kebinda, Boukman and Sanite Bélair. It’s about
choosing between fighting for Affranchi privileges versus fighting for true
freedom, uncompromising justice and sustainable peace – for ALL.

 By the way, our lady Condo Rice is as Black as Anne Fidèle was. I trust you
know the story of Anne and Kebinda during the wicked days when white supremacy
ruled by outright direct racial slavery in Haiti. Jean Fouchard tells us a bit
about them in his amazing book “les marrons de la liberté”. I would love to
hear what more our on line historians could tell us about them. Their story is
so related to the present discussion. Brother Bellegarde-Smith, I know you have
the goods and are in the house, so please do represent.

 Kenbe la !


Jafrikayiti
«Depi nan Ginen bon nèg ap ede nèg!»
http://www.i-port.net/sd-in-j/

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