29747: Durban (comment): (Way) Beyond Bourgeosie Bashing... (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

Lance Durban <lpdurban@yahoo.com> responds to Du Tuyau's friend, the
puppetmaster (#29726), Simidor (#29718), and Pierre (#29706)...

It's a bit surprising that so few on Corbett's list have commented on
the offensive negative stereotypes propagated by our three
bourgeoisie-bashing buddies.  Now, I suppose there may be a grain of
truth in any stereotype, and heck, I'd be the first to agree that the
wealthy folks in Haiti are part of the problem in Haiti's lack of
development.  BUT, if you want offensive negative sterotypes, I can
come up with a few that are just as offensive and might hit closer to
home.  Let me try out a few "explanations" of Haiti's pathetic state of
development:

1.  Lack of honesty inherent in all Haitians
   This has been discussed previously on this list and the general
concensus was, to put it charitably, that Haitians have a hard time
telling the truth.   Put another way, there is a underlying dishonesty
that makes all Haitians understandably distrustful of other Haitians.
Hard to build a country when you can't trust anyone else.  Lying is an
ingrained habit that carries no onus in Haiti.  It probably dates from
colonial days when it was perfectly alright to lie to the French
master... as long as you didn't get caught.  Are Haitian-Americans any
different?  Well, common sense says maybe in a few generations when
they have had a chance to shake off their unfortunate roots...

2.  Lack of generosity in all Haitians
   According to the NGO's I've spoken to, charities in Haiti have a
hard time collecting funds unless they are church-related.  And church
collections are motivated by a desire to buy protection against those
evil voodoo spirits, hardly to help society's less fortunate.  Raising
charitable contributions from Haitian-Americans?  Forget about it.
While Haitian-Americans will send money to family members back home,
the NGO's I have talked to have had remarkably little success getting
Haitian-Americans to invest in development projects in Haiti... maybe
because they are distrustful (see #1) of Haitians in-country, or maybe
they'd just rather keep the money in their own pockets.  With everyone
looking out for himself and ignoring those less fortunate countrymen,
Darwin's survival of the fittest hits Haiti with a vengeance.

3.  Lack of basic intelligence (IQ) in all Haitians
    This one comes from a Central American sociologist who spent many
years in Haiti and explained to me, and I paraphrase, "of course Haiti
was going to be underdeveloped;  most of the people came from Africa,
the least developed of continents."  He went on to explain that the
original slaves washing up on Haiti's shores were, in fact, Africa's
losers... the ones who had been captured and sold off by stronger and
smarter Africans.  So, genetically-speaking, it was no surprise to him
that Haitians were so dumb!
    I thought of this guy just the other day as a former human rights
observer in Haiti e-mailed me her recent impressions of the Sudan, a
place I had long imagined must be just awful (think Darfur).  Her
comments, and I quote... "Sudan's prospects for coming out of misery
are much greater than Haiti's.  There's something too about tribal
heritage; it has some very positive sides.  The traditional courts for
instance, while they discriminate against women and individual rights
in general, (they) help hold society together.  There are rules that
people respect."  She's not really talking IQ, mind you, but it is
disturbing to find yourself compared unfavorably to the Sudan!
     -----------------------------------------------------------

Obviously, I've intentionally contrived these negative stereotypes to
offend.  But, they're no worse than the recent bourgeoisie-bashing
posts we've been treated to.  So, if you three gentlemen feel
yourselves offended, I would suggest you might re-read your own posts.
Sometimes it is wiser to disregard that "grain of truth" and recognize
that stereotyping usually does more harm than good.  Simidor and Du
Tuyau's puppetmaster are intelligent enough to recognize what negative
stereotyping is all about.  Might be a bit beyond M. Pierre, though,
stuck as he is in 19th century Marxist class conflict.

L. Durban