#4417: Morse comments on "11" : Grey replies

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

From:Racine125@aol.com

Excuse me Richard - I do not agree with a little bit of what you have said, 
but I will defend to the death your right to say it!  :-)

Specifically, I find your references to "blanc" offensive, retrograde and 
racist.  "Blanc" is this and "blanc" is that, as though there were only one 
"blanc" or as if all white people think the same way.  As you know well, 
there are many progressive whites working in Haiti, in fact quite a few of 
them are your personal friends and acquaintances.  They deserve better from 
you.

<<I know a Haitian revolutionary who got into a pretty horrible jam and was 
bailed out by blanc. As soon as he was voted into office he began shouting 
"get maman blanc" on the streets. Now that he is no longer in office, he has 
returned to blanc for support. Sound familiar?>>

LOL!  Did he ever finally return the car he "borrowed" from that nice "blanc" 
lady?

Actually, way back in '98 I put up some pages on my Haitian Consulting site 
about "... the Mad Mayor of Port-au-Prince".  It's out of date, but it's 
still there at http://members.aol.com/haiconsul/manindex.html, a series of 
AHP articles translated into English including some perspective from his 
predecessor Evans Paul and also from the OPL.

Back then, a representative of Haitian Consulting who accompanied a Haitian 
citizen to the mayor's office for minor business was threatened by armed 
thugs, and when the incident was reported Mayor Charlemagne, he screamed 
profanities and obscenities, and declared that the Mayor's Office of 
Port-au-Prince is his personal property.

At that time, the Haitian government was trying to disarm Manno and his armed 
goon squad, to little effect. Manno refused to obey the lwa, or to submit to 
constitutional order, on the remarkable premise that he "bought the guns with 
his own money!"  Some things never change.

<<I see how quickly boat people with little education adapt in Miami, to 
renting their own homes, paying monthly bills, receiving hourly wages, 
driving their own cars and I realize that its the Haitian leadership thats 
not moving fast enough for change in Haiti. >>

Oh, GOOD POINT!  That is very true.

<<Everyone voted "11", now its up to "11" to show a mature leadership and get 
the whole train on the track, not just the personal dining car. It won't be 
easy, but those are the expectations.>>

I shudder to think what would happen if the majority of Haitians reversed 
their opinion on Aristide!  The resulting upheaval... well, who knows?

Peace and love,

Mambo Racine