Unapologetic Chinaperson
nj_dem
Jr. Member
Posts: leet
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« on: January 11, 2018, 10:37:03 PM » |
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Perhaps we should look at the root cause of Haiti's situation, which lies in its history of brutal slavery, a French Revolution inspired slave revolt that overthrew their French slavemasters, and the subsequent period of chronic indebtedness to Western imperial powers for the sole purpose of receiving guarantees that their country wouldn't be invaded and enslaved again.
That "Double French Debt" became a triple debt to the US and France, which forced Haiti to begin borrowing simply to fund its national expenditures by the 1880s. Foreign pressure to repay debts forced Haiti to borrow even more from French private banks, thereby ensuring that by the end of the 19th century around 80% of the nation's wealth was devoted to serving external debts to France, Germany, and the US. By the 1890s the situation was so bad that the Banque Nationale de la Republique d'Haiti (BNRH) came under the tutelage of France's Societe Generale, which became the official treasury of the country. Haitian finances were horribly mismanaged and exploited by the bank, which then opened another branch of the BNRH in America, due to the shifting of global power and Haitian debt along with it, to America; a branch was open at National City Bank (US Citibank).
So, even if Haiti is a "sh**hole," which is a completely inaccurate description of a country systematically exploited and oppressed by White colonial powers, the fault lies not with the Haitian people, but with the "Western" imperialists.
Trump's comments are not only racist and xenophobic but incredibly ignorant of Haitian and African history (which deserves far, far more detailed explanation of its exploitation and abuse than could be described in a single comment here). Like his bigoted, know-nothing supporters, they don't know nor care to know about these facts; all they see is an underdeveloped country and people with dark skin who, to them, are basically all the same.
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