Prior to this week's earthquake, when I thought of Haiti, I thought of the 2008 Haitian food riots. My grip on Haitian history is poor, but an anthropologist said something interesting to me about Haiti this summer. She said that because they were the site of a successful slave revolt, they have been punished ever since. That, she said, is why they are the poorest country in the western hemisphere. Sure enough, as the reports about the quake have delved into some of Haiti's history, they have mentioned the successful slave revolt that established the nation of Haiti, as well as United States' unhappiness with the revolt because (at the time) we didn't want the Haitians to give our own slaves any good ideas. But clearly much has happened in the 200 years between now and then that made the human toll of the quake so much worse.
Right now our immediate goal should of course be aid to the people of Haiti. First, emergency medical help as well as whatever is required to dig people out of the ruins and clothe, feed, and house everyone who is now without basic needs. Food First calls on us to support grassroots organizations as we do this, recommending that we donate to Doctors Without Borders and Partners in Health for the short term, Haiti Action and Grassroots International for help to Haiti once the emergency medical needs die down, and Agricultural Missions for the long term. A friend of mine is a "doctor without borders" - so involved in the organization, in fact, that she and her husband personally received the 4am phone call alerting them that Doctors Without Borders won the Nobel Peace Prize... followed by a congratulatory call by President Clinton. She's told me quite a bit about the work she's done overseas in numerous warzones and disaster situations and I'm a strong supporter of her work and her entire organization. I'd also like to add the International Rescue Committee as a wonderful organization I've had some contact with here in San Diego that also does work in Haiti. The IRC's work is vast and multi-faceted, but among the things that they do in San Diego, they are a leader in food system reform, food justice, and urban agriculture. If I had any money, I'd be delighted to give it to them, knowing that they would put it to fantastic use to help the victims of the quake.
After the immediate earthquake aftermath dies down, we should then give thought as to how humans played a role in increasing the tragedy of this quake. What has the world done, economically and politically, that contributed to the suffering?
Going back a century, in 1910-11, the U.S. State Department backed a group of American investors in gaining control of the Banque National d'Haïti, Haiti's only commercial bank and the government treasury. When Haiti wound up deeply in debt to American banks, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson occupied Haiti - and we stayed there until 1934. In 1917, FDR (yes, the future U.S. president) wrote a constitution for Haiti that took away a very pesky (to us) law that prohibited foreign ownership of Haitian land. The Haitian government refused to approve it so we dissolved their government and had the constitution approved by an election in 1919 in which under 5 percent of the population actually voted.
While in Haiti, we behaved very much like the British in India. We built roads (well, actually we made the Haitians do it with what was basically slave labor) to serve our own purposes and introduced export cash crops instead of promoting Haitian food sovereignty. We even one-upped the British by introducing Jim Crow laws in Haiti, which was founded as a black republic. The Haitians didn't accept this lying down - the period was marked with revolts - and the U.S. left during the Great Depression but kept control over Haiti's external finances until 1947.
After another coup or two, Haiti elected "Papa Doc" (Dr. Francois Duvalier) in 1957. He carried out a brutal rule and proclaimed himself president for life, which turned out to be until 1971. He was succeeded by his son, "Baby Doc," a 19-year-old playboy and kleptocrat. The U.S. had cut off aid to Haiti during the Kennedy Administration, but they restored it in 1971. Still, Baby Doc's time in office was no picnic for Haitians, and he was forced into exile by the Haitian military in 1986.
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Haiti and the Global Food Crisis by Jill Richardson
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Haiti and the Global Food Crisis
By Jill Richardson
La Vida Locavore, January 14, 2010
Straight to the Source
