5844: Violence against foreigners in Haiti and deportees (Saint-Vil) (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

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

Onè,

Manbo Kathy wrote : «Blaming the American victims of these criminals for 
their criminal activities is RIDICULOUS». I agree! And this is why I did not 
blame the victims of the criminals. Neither do I claim these criminals to be 
nice boys from the hood. Obviously, we are dealing with hardened criminals 
and they should be held accountable for their actions.  All I am saying is 
this : The «friends of Haiti» have greatly contributed to the worsening of 
the zenglendo problem in Haiti, with these deportees.  I suppose you are 
right to say they are Haitians. Because, inasmuch as we like to claim Wyclef 
Jean and Bruny Surin as our very own, the bad apples also belong to our 
people - although they received all their education in the mean streets of 
Bronx or Montréal Nord - some of them not even fluent in Kreyòl as they land 
in Port-au-Prince. But they are bad apples afrom our Haitian diaspora 
communities - thus Haitians just the same. I grant you this.

As for the use of the term « blan», we have gone through this several times 
before on this list. As a Manbo who have been to Haiti time and time again 
you must know that it is used to identify foreigners. More often, foreigners 
of european descent but not exclusively so. There is no need to get 
sensitive over the use of the term blan. We must get over this language 
barrier. We are living in a post-colonial world where race is still a taboo 
subject - but the terms used have specific meanings and we are all aware of 
this fact. So why not speak in plain but respectful language?

In anycase, it is obvious that the type of violence prevalent in Haiti has 
changed. It is no longer limited to petty theft, political repression or mob 
revolt. Today, there are professional criminals operating in Haiti and, to 
my humble opinion, the new deportees have greatly contributed to this 
change. I further speculate that the change in attitude displayed towards 
foreigners can easily have been influenced by this same factor.
You may agree, you may disagree. But, please do not try to insinuate that by 
saying this, I am claiming that hostility displayed towards european 
foreigners is justified. No, I do not claim is it worst when Haitians fall 
victim of the «friends of Haiti» deportees. I could just as easily asked 
whether some of the recent victims on this list consider the reverse to be 
true?  Especially when you consider the attention that is provided to the 
fact that a couple of foreigners have known close encounters with the 
criminals - compared to the hundreds of Haitians who fall victim of these 
same criminals every week.

The fact remains that violence begets violence. Eventually, even the 
untouchables fall prey to the violent policies of their political leaders 
towards empovrished nations.  Remember, Haitians must deal with this fear 
24/7 and 365 days a year.  The Haitian state has its responsibility in all 
this. So do the «friends of Haiti». As for ourselves, unless we are willing 
to discuss these issues like common folks, instead of politically-correct 
diplomats, we are far from seeing a better day in our beloved Ayiti.

Peace

Jafrikayiti
«renmen Ayiti vle di renmen Ayisyen!»


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