Haiti's Troubled History

The earthquake in Haiti has finally brought some light to this long-forgotten country. For a long time in history, Haiti lay forgotten, unknown, buried in the sands of time. It was the earthquake, perhaps the second biggest in history, which flattened the earth and killed thousands of people that got aid and the attention of the Big World. The earthquake was a natural disaster and yes, a very sad one. But before the natural disaster, the Haitian land has been hit by many other disasters of the man-made variety.

Has the Big World ever cared to sit up and notice? Nope. Check the history of Haiti and you would begin to understand what I mean. It was a French colony and from there it achieved independence and then it went into new rulers who were equally bad or worse than the colonizers. So, what did the Big World do then? Nothing. They just sat and watched.

Haiti has had a history of human rights abuses. In November 2004, the University of Miami School of Law carried out a Human Rights Investigation in Haiti and they documented serious human rights abuses.

Bob Corbett's History of Haiti Course is a nice read on the subject. It is quite extensive and is exclusively taught online at http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/43a/index-aa.html

I would like you to look at another view of Haiti from the eyes of Ti Noel, the slave in Alejo Carpentier's great novel, Kingdom of This World, where Carpentier tracks the transition of Haiti from slavery to emancipation, from colony to republic. However, the kind of freedom that the country gets is a matter of conjecture.

Another take on Haiti would be a Mayra Montero novel. This novel is In the Palm of Darkness. It is a novel that again casts light on the violence in the country.

There have been so many accounts, so many miseries, so many tormented and troubled personal and social histories in Haiti yet the Big World waited for the great natural catastrophe to strike the nation, when they could open up their hearts in a great outpouring.

Such a pity.