a424: a422: (re a406) Michael Dash's book (fwd) Hudicourtb toChamberlain (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: JHUDICOURTB@aol.com

> I heard this quote by Mark Twain on TV the other night.
> It probably applies in this case:   "There are many funny
> things in this world one of which is the notion by the
> white man that he is less savage than all the other
> savages."

Chamberlain responds:
Before we go any further on the intentions etc.
of Michael Dash, it should be noted that he is
an East Indian from Trinidad, who has lived
much of his life in Jamaica and whose wife is
a black/African from Guadeloupe.  That does
not give him any special virtues, but he is not
a white man writing about Haiti.


        Greg Chamberlain
JHB  response:
It's OK Mr. Chamberlain.  It just goes to show that race actually a cultural
concept (biologists are now saying that it has no biological basis).  It's
not necessarily about your skin color but about what you think and what you
do.  I won't tell you my color or the color of the person I married.  Mark
Twain was a white man , but he was a genius, who understood the world better
than most of his comtemporaries, and whose ideas seems to be timeless (and
colorless).  Mark Twain's observation came after he had been on a speaking
tour in Africa at the beginning of the 20th century, and he was able to
observe non-American whites being outrageously savage towards native
Africans.  We must admit that as savage as some of the violence in Haiti may
seem these, it is only recently in the history of the world that people of
European decent have seriously tried to stand up together against physical
violence.  There are certainly many people in Haiti trying to get their
voices heard against physical violence.  But as they now say in America:
Violence begets violence, and it is very hard to break the cycle of violence.

We have seen many Haitians and others on this list participating in verbal
bashing of the Haitian culture and people. Those Haitians may have decided
that other cultures are clearly superior to ours.  There are all kinds of
people in every society, and there is certainly a problem with the culture of
those who choose to run things in Haiti.  But the Haitian people show
extraordinary brilliance, creativity, and  discipline in many ways.  Academic
should at least try to WORK on objectivity and see beyond their own culture.
If you want to hear more racist slurs, I'll tell you one coming out of
African-Americans from my area:  they say that Haitians are Carribbean Jews.
There is some truth to that racial slur and included in it is a sort of
compliment:  we travel the world looking for survival money and we do take
advantage of opportunity.
I have heard a missionary living in Haiti, working next to a school serving
1500 students, saying that his own children had no one to play with.  I don't
understand that.  These people leave their own country to help poor Haitians
but don't really think of us as real humans.
I could go on and on about this subject because work in education.  I can
tell that the violence in America has not truly subsided.  It has taken
another form by which the ruling class of European Americans are  hard at
work creating social barriers for others.  The prime example of this is
George Bush the father's 1989 plan called "Goal 2000" which has now created a
disaster in the American Education system, and has just been crowned by Baby
George's  new education bill.  What they call High Standards in American
education today is simply High Gates to keep the minorities out of higher
education.  There is no such thing as objectivity, and if I was to set the
standards, the current American rulers  wouldn't pass my tests.  These days
in America objectivity, cultural difference,  and diversity of opinions not
acceptable and are punishable.
You may think this is all digression but to me it is all one and the same.