6mo ago

White People Have Never Forgiven Haitians for Claiming Their Freedom

www.thenation.com White People Have Never Forgiven Haitians for Claiming Their Freedom

Behind the vicious Trump-Vance attacks on Haitian immigrants is a long history of making the people of Haiti pay for the audacity of their revolution.

Edit: Fellow white people, please read the article before just reading the title and reflexively commenting to make it about yourselves, thx

20 comments

Um, is this a blatantly racist title? As a white person who never even got offended at Haitians claiming freedom in the first place, I think it is.
- It's a shitty, incendiary, clickbait title.
  If you have to gain equality by dragging someone down instead of elevating yourself, then we all end up down in the mud. Hate is not progress.
- I wouldn't call it blatantly racist, it's obviously biased coming from someone of Haitian heritage. But I think they over-sell it.
  Your average American likely doesn't think about Haiti at all, positively or negatively.
  
  Yeah, if you asked Trump supporters to find Haiti on a map, I'm guessing a single-digit percentage is getting it right. Their prejudice towards immigrants is not some calculated, historically-informed position. It's a basal fear of the other.
- I don't even know what they got independence from. France, hundreds of years ago? Why would I care? To equate white people with the French definitely seems racist to me.
- It's no different than the US blowing stuff up in the developing world. It's not about you specifically.
- Are you sure you’re not offended?
  
  Considering most Americans don't know the history of Haiti, nor could even point it out on a map. So I doubt many are offended

Not so sure it’s white people in general. France, obviously yes. I don’t think any other country ever demanded “reparations” for the loss of slave labor. That said, the US has had a complicated and at times troubling relationship with Haiti, intervening on France’s side during Jefferson’s presidency (Jefferson was a slave owner and shit was fucked).
- Britain required former slaves to work for 2 years unpaid before they were free to go post abolition. Slave owners received £17bn in today's money in reparations.
  
  Interesting, thanks.
- The United States actually paid reparations to slavers. We paid slavers in DC the equivalent of $9000 per slave.
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compensated_emancipation
- Gotta make an example out of 'em or all our people who are "property" in the USA might get ideas. /s but not really, that was the thinking.
- Not all white people...

Oh shit, we haven't? Do I... do I have to start saying stuff about eating pets?
- And here I thought I agreed with the Haitians, and thought that people like John Brown did nothing wrong...
  Turns out I'm Big Mad?

Nothing like a little racism to point out some other racism

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20 comments