#1638: haiti/cuba : Antoine comments (fwd)

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

From: Guy Antoine <GuyAntoine@windowsonhaiti.com>

Richard Morse wrote:

> granted the lousy politics leads to lousy economics, but whats 
> the bottom line?

The bottom line is one of image, one that is deeply ensconced 
in the psyche of the helmsian electorate. The Haitian fleeing 
political terror from his homeland is dirt poor, charcoal-skinned, 
practices black magic "voodoo", is illiterate, and speaks broken 
french, all attributes of a helmsian definition of an "economic 
refugee".
  
The Cuban abandoning his homeland could be seeking to make 
a better living, but he probably is not dirt poor, he is generally 
fair-skinned, he is literate, he gives a black eye to Castro, he 
becomes part of a community that finances the elections of the 
right wing in Congress, all attributes of a helmsian definition of 
a "political refugee".

Distinctions between political and economic refugees have 
always been fluid, and are not likely to be found in books of 
Political Science, Law, Economics, Philosophy, Logic, or 
mere dictionaries.

Image is everything.  If there's ever a practical reason to fight 
hard against those who sully the image of the Haitian, this is it.

Thanks, Richard, for your thoughtful questions, but we don't 
need a "johnny cochran", what we need is Madison Avenue. 
Put a positive spin on the ball and let it fly...

Guy S. Antoine
Look thru & Imagine!
http://windowsonhaiti.com