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Silence by the Region in Response to Haitian Cleansing Next Door

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Senator Maxine McClean, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Senator Maxine McClean, Minister of Foreign Affairs

The loud silence by the government of Barbados, traditional media and other actors to the deportation (‘cleansing’)  of Haitians from the Dominican Republic betrays why attempts at regional integration is a pipe dream. Yet again Haitians find themselves […] in an invidious position because they are of the Black race, or so it seems. In recent times silence by Caricom in response to injustices in Guyana, St. Kitts and Nevis and a few others is a reminder of the supine nature of regional leadership. It is ironic to observe the Prime Minister of Bahamas is the current Chair of Caricom. The decision by the Bahamas government in the recent past to treat harshly with Haitian refuges (boat people) is well documented. There is no reason if Prime Minister Perry Christie domestic policy challenges that of wider Caricom why a one policy cannot be agreed on by the Caricom Secretariat. In fact Minister of Foreign Affairs Maxine McClean would be forgiven if she were to be very strident on how Haitians are being treated by the Dominican Republic.

One does not have to be a Caribbean history major  to appreciate the important role Haiti played in the emancipation of the slave trade in the region. Even if our knowledge of Haitian history is limited, surely from a humanitarian perspective, it is wrong to be silent while they are persecuted. How quickly many have forgotten January  10, 2010 when a devastating earthquake struck Haiti and the international world pledged financial and other support to rebuild Haiti. Many used the opportunity to enrich themselves and disrespect the proud Black country of Haiti.  Man used the opportunity to show ‘love’ for Haiti.

There is a feeling of anger which should overwhelm any Black human being when they observe how Haitians continue to be persecuted by others, even by their kind. If Barbadians and others possessed a fraction of the indomitable spirit of the Haitian people the region would be better for it. Barbados as a predominately Black country needs to lead on this issue even if our neighbours are reluctant to do so by their ignorance. What bona fides do we have as a region if we fail to represent the interest of our kind from next door?

Related Link:

The Dominican Republic is expected to begin deporting an estimated 500,000 undocumented immigrants after the deadline to file paperwork for adjustment of status expired on June 17. The specter of mass deportations has raised alarms about an unfolding humanitarian disaster. Yet the crisis has generated little international attention, much less condemnation from world leaders.

Stop mass deportation from the Dominican Republic to Haiti

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83 responses to “Silence by the Region in Response to Haitian Cleansing Next Door”

  1. islandgal246 Avatar
    islandgal246

    The world was also silent when Jews and others were sent to the gas chambers. Until there is some massive bloodshed the world will be still asleep. The bigger countries are hoping that the Black Dominicans of Haitian descent will go tho the gas chambers quietly.

  2. Mr Watson Parkinson Avatar
    Mr Watson Parkinson

    I cannot truly say exactly what I want to for the fear of upsetting people! However, I will say this, supporters in the UK & U.S. are working tirelessly on the matter of freedom for all…!

  3. Ping Pong Avatar
    Ping Pong

    http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/lead-stories/20150619/jamaica-defends-caricom-over-dom-rep-citizenship-issue

  4. David Avatar
    David

    Here is the editorial from Trinidad:

    http://www.trinidadexpress.com/20150619/editorial/haitian-dominicans-need-us

    As a commenter wrote on the Jamaican editorial what if all countries around the world decided to do what DR is doing.

  5. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    What is the solution?
    ….Just let everyone who want to, move to where ever they want to, when ever they want to…. undocumented?

    What could we tolerate in Barbados if arrangements could be made for easy access here to Haitians ….or indeed any people who sought better conditions?
    Who are we to dictate to DR what they should tolerate? If we are unable or unprepared to HELP to solve the overall problem at least we could STFU.

    These are complex issues that are best handled with wisdom and intelligence.

    It is therefore best for CARICOM to keep their donkeys shut.

  6. David Avatar
    David

    @Bush Tea

    What is the system issue?

    It is how we continue to manage the Haiti problem at home. The movement of undocumented Haitians is a result of the failing.

  7. MoneyBrain Avatar
    MoneyBrain

    The fact is that Haitians in the DR have been treated literally as SLAVES for many, many years. They are offered work on Sugar plantations and literally enslaved, documents confiscated, placed in a hut and worked from dawn to dusk.

    We have so called self appointed “leaders” in Bim that talk sweeeett BUT what action do they take on the obvious situations where Black peeps are being truly treated as Slaves in the DR, Sudan et al?

    Is it because the perpetrators are NOT White? In Sudan the perps are dark mainly Muslim and the victims are very dark and mainly Christian. In the DR they are mainly mid to darker Brown and the Dominicans dont care about the generally darker Haitans, they consider them totally inferior.

    Watch the documentary via Google DR: Modern day sugar slavery.

  8. De Ingrunt Word Avatar
    De Ingrunt Word

    DR and Haiti, Hispaniola of old. There is no better better example of the stark nature of skin-color and the politics of race than seen on this island separated by a border but divided by a lifetime of racial inequality that have exploded into grave disdain in the last 15-20 years.

    This action by the DR government has been in the mix at least since 10 years ago when measures were proposed to identify Haitians in DR.

    As is the case with the influx of South Americans (predominately Mexicans) in the US this as a vexed and racially charged problem but rhetoric and emotions aside it can really only be fixed with solutions for employment and development in the country of origin.

    Caricom can palaver all they want but unless they and the industrialized world can help Haiti solve their infrastructure problems and thus boost opportunities and living standards the streams of Haitians will flow across the border and to The Bahamas and elsewhere; and the DR government will continue their stout resistance against the impact on their own infrastructure.

    It isn’t pretty but which nation does not push back against ‘unwanted immigrants’.

  9. islandgal246 Avatar
    islandgal246

    BUHSTEA I am appalled by your callous response. Man you have shocked me to the bone! Where is your compassion? You are one SICK SOB Ah dun wid you! I declare you my enemy from now on yuh STINKING Christian Hypocrite!

  10. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    @ David
    Money B has a point…..it need some sharpening, but it is a point…

    This problem is MUCH broader that Haiti or Caricom. It is ultimately about human selfishness and greed. It is the identical situation in Europe with the influx of people into Italy.
    We all sit in our own ivory towers and focus on what is good for US. We care not one shiite about neighbours and even less for those down the street…
    CARICOM should not be about poor people being able to run around looking for easy conditions that others have established by hard work, but should have been about RICH, SUCCESSFUL Caribbean folks using their success to develop OTHER less fortunate ones to raise their conditions.
    All like SOL, COW, Money B and others should, AS A MATTER OF COURSE, have been using their successes to improve conditions in such jurisdictions ….and this should have been encouraged (if not MANDATED) as a matter of regional policy.

    What we have instead is all these rich folks (people with resources) moving to safe places like Barbados (and Canada in the case of Money B and Lawson) with their wealth in their selfish ambitions to focus ONLY on their own family’s well being….

    THAT is the systemic problem.

    When the poor and dispossessed try to follow suit, we all can easily see the weakness of that approach.

    Those damn stupid Europeans and Americans who went and destroyed (RATHER THAN BUILD UP) Iraq Syria and Libya in pursuit of their own selfish ends are now seeing that “what sweeten goat mouth does burn his tail…..”

    The Bible’s approach to solving a situation such as this was called ‘Tithing’ – where everyone was required to contribute 10% of their wealth to the development of the less fortunate…(NOT to a shiite church)

    Imagine what such a policy at the REGIONAL level would have achieved over the past 50 years….

  11. islandgal246 Avatar
    islandgal246

    “The Bible’s approach to solving a situation such as this was called ‘Tithing’ – where everyone was required to contribute 10% of their wealth to the development of the less fortunate…(NOT to a shiite church)”

    The Bible’s approach is also to enslave, take their lands and kill them, man, woman and child.

  12. Dompey Avatar
    Dompey

    Islandgal

    Who said the world was silent in its response to the genocidal- extermination of the Jewish people? The truth of the matter is the world wasn’t fully aware of the nature of the war-crimes committed against the Jews at the time, but their were those who took seriously the bits and pieces of information which were circulating about the Jewish suffering at the hands of the Nazis at the time. So I beg to differ with your misrepresentation of this historical fact. The world may have been slow in its response to the alleged rumors as it related to the mistreatment of the Jews by the Nazis, but its wasn’t in any intention way silent as you have so wrongfully concluded.

  13. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    @ Islandgal
    …well go long nuh… 🙂 you have not been forthcoming with the bushman of late anyhow…
    Islandguy like he getting everything….

    Your solution is a 2X4 ent it?
    How many can you accommodate down there in your big place…..?
    …or were you just counting on OTHERS elsewhere to accommodate these undocumented persons so that you can feel good…?

  14. De Ingrunt Word Avatar
    De Ingrunt Word

    Islandgal, it can be argued that your attitude (though likely tongue in cheek) is what has Haiti in this situation in the very first place.

    If you stop and consider how the two sides of this same island have evolved and you put aside the ‘acts of God’ -significant though they be- you are left with the politics and attitude of the people involved.

    So if after all the internal destruction wrought on Haiti by Haitian leaders and cold disdain by the powerful nations after those many years of dictatorship you expect that wonderful words and half-hearted actions of Caricom will make the definitive change then you are in a ‘very happy place’ and not taking the matter seriously.

    There is much to do but there seems to be a fundamental problem in Haiti itself that needs to be overcome first.

    And yes the DR government must play a part but this particular action is also wrapped in their own internal politics so as Bushie said “who are we to dictate to DR what they should tolerate?”

  15. David Avatar
    David

    With Bahamas Chair and Jamaica ‘spokesman’ for foreign policy it is no surprise Caricom is silent. These two countries have been the most affected by undocumented Haitians fleeing to their shores.

  16. MoneyBrain Avatar
    MoneyBrain

    Bushie wrote:
    What we have instead is all these rich folks (people with resources) moving to safe places like Barbados (and Canada in the case of Money B and Lawson) with their wealth in their selfish ambitions to focus ONLY on their own family’s well being….

    Really? What about the darker peeps who have conducted themselves very well in the North and have $$$$$$$$? Charity begins at home. If all Bajans took responsibility for developing their children fully that would solve nuffty problems. I dont go out whoring, getting drunk and let my kids run wild!

    Bushie it is my understanding that U are a successful fella, dynamic in life and all that. How much, what proportion of your income, wealth and life are you gifting to what organisations to what ends???????????? Teach me nuh!

    Bushie again: CARICOM should not be about poor people being able to run around looking for easy conditions that others have established by hard work, but should have been about RICH, SUCCESSFUL Caribbean folks using their success to develop OTHER less fortunate ones to raise their conditions.

    Skippa U ent hear bout RIDICULOUSLY High Taxes? Tom lashing a youngster (me) for 70% marginal,– Bonus swivel up from $3000 to $900 in my pocket? Wuhloss! That is sophisticated Slavery and I had to throw off those shackles early and migrate to the promised land of Milk, Honey and Money. Notice , I did not move to kick down the ladder and others of darker pigmentation followed my lead to their great personal advantage.

    We left the field of play open to those who stayed and now they have elected those of Corruption, who are Equal Opportunity Destroyers. My best advice is to first focus on Solving Bim’s manifold problems. Bajans are powerless to do lil more than scream at the perps in the DR. Sudan et al. Those types only understand real power from the barrel of the gun to parphrase Mao.

  17. St George's Dragon Avatar
    St George’s Dragon

    On the “tithing” suggestion, we could do something like this:
    “The UK has passed a bill that enshrines in law its commitment to spend 0.7% of its gross national income (GNI) on aid every year, making it the first G7 country to meet the UN’s 45-year-old aid spending target.”

  18. De Ingrunt Word Avatar
    De Ingrunt Word

    Bushie you does talk real real sweet though. You could sell the proverbial ice to that family of Eskimos. LOL. You sharpened Money B point with some interesting remarks which taken together real sweet but your slant was still quite distorted from a historical perspective.

    You said: “What we have instead is all these rich folks (people with resources) …. When the poor and dispossessed try to follow suit, we all can easily see the weakness of that approach.”

    Is it not also true that thousands among thousands of poor and dispossessed folks journeyed successfully to the US, Canada and Europe over many eons ago and became successful?

    Would it not be fair to say that even as every industrialized country is harshly restricting immigration of these poor and dispossessed NOW that they have in recent years still accepted certain numbers even as they battle with their own local issues of poor and dispossessed?

    Your overall premise is proper but we can go back to Eric Williams’ work about the underdevelopment of the third world by the industrialized world or others before and since and come all the way back to your remarks.

    The rich must help the poor, But that has been happening. Maybe out of damn guilt from theft and ‘underdevelopment’

    So what is also happening is that the powerful keep the powerless in a state of disarray with those escapades into Iraq and Libya you mentioned and the related major strife it causes around the world.

    This dip-si-doddle will not change. There is another invasion being planned as we speak or another explosion, so the poor will always be on the move and the rich pulling their strings.

    We can help and soothe but can we really solve the Haitian nightmare or the African immigrants into Europe unless unless peace, stability and progressive development break out in these locales !

    The work of the Googles and Facebook executives and Bill Gates and others to spread connectivity, education and reduce disease are probably as meaningful good steps in that direction as any other but there will be a lot more grief before those actions show wide-spread solid results

  19. MoneyBrain Avatar
    MoneyBrain

    Wait a second here, Are we to believe that here are peeps leaving Black lead African nations like Nigeria, Ghana et al and said persons are taking the RISK of traversing not only the Sahara Desert but the Med in a rickety old ship, built eons ago to carry a quarter of the peeps and said operations are conducted by non Whites in order to deliver, at ridiculous cost, Black peeps to Europe, the very centre of the White Satanic World?

    Why would such venturing be undertaken? Are these Blacks totally stupid? OR are they desperate for a chance to develop themselves and prosper? Who treats them better the ship conveyors/ the coyotes OR the Europeans? Who spends time and $MN on recovering people from sinking vessels and peeps destined for entry to Davy Jones’s Locker?

    Many thousands make the journey each year from Africa, maybe we need an advertising campaign to warn them NOT to come to terrible Whitey Europe?

  20. Dompey Avatar
    Dompey

    Listen! Here is my take on this entire issue. I recall with some measure optimism at the time of the Haitian disaster, listening to President Obama on CNN articulating how better off the Haitian people were going to be after the economic -support the United States and others countries around the world were supposed to be giving them. President Obama even went as far as to commissioned President Clinton and President W. Bush to going to Haiti, and for what? we have yet to determining the nature of their visited and what impacted it has had on the disaster to date. But one thing is certain about President Obama’s statement; he has obviously turned out to be one of the biggest bullshitters in the hearts and minds of the Haitian people. His very words were proven to be mixed with quicksand because let’s face it: the situation there in Haiti ought to have been better.The situation there in Haiti for those who care to know, hasn’t improve much. My very pastor just visited Haiti this year on a mission to build houses for the Haitian people. And what he related as well as what we saw by way of video was heartbreaking. Because men, women children are still living without the necessary plumbing, and the sanitation situation there in Haiti is atrocious for the lack of a better word.

    Now, is the government of the Dominican Republic immoral in its anticipatory deportation of such a large number of Haitian refugees? No. What the government of the Dominican Republic ought to have done ( if it hadn’t already) before embarking on such stringent- measures; was to call upon the governments of the Caribbean to assist in anyway possible. Now, deportation is probably the only viable option the government of the Dominican Republic has at its disposal at this time because one could only start to imagine the kind of pressure these Haitian refugees have brought to bear upon the economic- resources of that country. Bush Tea, has spoken about the SELFISHNESS and GREED which is at the core of the problem -which Haiti is faced with today, and probably so, but who has more so of a moral responsibility to the Haitian people? The European or the African? Yes, in divine terms we ought to be or her brother’s keeper, but in reality, we have somehow relinquish our responsibility to those who bore our skin colour in view of our past experiences. The Jew or the East Indian for that matter, are probably in a better position financially to help, and wouldn’t leave their brothers or sisters hanging as some of us who bore the same skin colour as the Haitian have done, if faced with the same situation.

  21. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    LOL @ Money B
    Man you too easy to rattle…
    Wuh Hants tek he money and run from Tom taxes too …but look how calm he tekking he whacking 🙂

    Seriously though, you are right that many poor folks (black and white and others) have migrated FROM their depressed circumstances and ‘done better’ in strange countries.
    That does NOT mean that this is the best overall solution….
    What percentage end up in jail / dead / broke and homeless/ desperate for every one that ‘succeeds’ in the lands of plenty?
    You, Lawson and Hants (three of Bim’s brightest) are NOT typical examples…

    In the final analysis, opportunities for true success are MUCH higher when people are allowed, encouraged and supported to improve their circumstances in their own NATURAL environment…both for them AND for the host society.

    Don’t bother to go down the line about Bushie’s personal approach. Bushie is blessed precisely because of the EXTENT to which the bushman has contributed unselfishly to neighbours and strangers over the past decades….
    It is why Bushie KNOWS that ‘casting your bread over the waters…’ works….!!!

    @ Dee Word
    If Bushie could talk so sweet how come he can’t get past you or your friend GP..? LOL…

    The rich countries encourage immigration WHERE IT HELPS THEM to fulfil a need. They take the gems …and jail /deport / criminalise the rejects…. PURE SELFISHNESS.
    This approach is also coming to burn them in the belly….

    If they were to instead share knowledge with lesser developed countries; give fair and reasonable loans and financial support; help build human capacity for the weak countries; assist with governance issues…. Then EVERYONE would benefit and there would be NO NEED for boat people except due to natural disaster…..

    SELFISHNESS AND GREED are the two most self-destructive vices we know….and we universally suffer at the individual, national and international level with the inevitable consequences

  22. Kevin Avatar
    Kevin

    Chupse, we can be such hypocrites. I do not like what is happening with the Haitians in the DR. But if they came here, given what was said and done about the Guyanese residing here, we would have packed them up and sent them back. We have a short convenient memory.

  23. Ping Pong Avatar
    Ping Pong

    W.E.B Du Bois (1868 – 1963), an acclaimed American sociologist, historian and civil rights activist, once wrote in an essay titled the Talented Tenth that

    "The Negro race, like all races, is going to be saved by its exceptional men. The problem of education, then, among Negroes must first of all deal with the Talented Tenth; it is the problem of developing the Best of this race that they may guide the Mass away from the contamination and death of the Worst.”

    If however this “talented tenth” abandons the other nine tenths then what will happen? Guyana is a case study Barbadians should take note of. Guyana with all its natural resources languished in poverty because the majority of its skilled and talented people had left Guyana. It has taken Guyana 30 years to get back on track.

    It is my belief that the reason that Barbados is quiet and orderly in the face of mounting mismanagement, apparent corruption and a sense of hopelessness is that those Barbadians who could provide solutions to this country’s problems have given up totally on Barbados. Instead of agitating for change and providing leadership, they have decided that it may be better for them to leave and so are quietly exiting the place or making provision for their children to migrate.

    What then will be the fate of those so unfortunate to be left trapped in the barrel that will be Barbados?

  24. MoneyBrain Avatar
    MoneyBrain

    Kevin, U like U understand Human nature.

    Bajans dont like Guyanese, Jammies or anybody else, who they think may effect their income.

  25. David Avatar
    David

    @Ping Pong

    Thanks for feeding the insight. Many of us are unable to see pass our noses when confronted with the problems which challenge us.

  26. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    @ Ping Pong
    ‘…..they have decided that it may be better for them to leave and so are quietly exiting the place or making provision for their children to migrate.’
    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
    …and that is just the overt problem as seen with many of the intelligentsia here on BU…

    ..How about those who retreat behind their guard walls, their tinted windows and A/C and behind their church rituals?
    ..How about those who (unlike the present politicians) ARE bright enough to see that we need to make drastic changes in governance …. but who ain’t rocking no boats.
    ..How about Caswell who has been commissioned to BUP by Bushie …and gone fishing in a little boat called ‘Unity’…?
    ..How about those who can see that selling critical assets to vultures like EMERA and MASSEY is identical to what those black tribal leaders did on the Gold Coast during slavery in selling fellow africans as slaves….
    ….and who just sit quietly on the side since it does not yet touch them…

    SELFISHNESS is a short term tactic…

  27. Exclaimer Avatar
    Exclaimer

    “Caricom again slams Dominican Republic on Haiti row”

    This article was published on March 6th 2015

    http://www.dominicantoday.com/dr/local/2015/3/3/54387/Caricom-again-slams-Dominican-Republic-on-Haiti-row

  28. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    Bajans have an extremely high tolerance for “shite” compared to others.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/13/world/americas/corruption-scandals-driving-protests-in-guatemala-and-honduras.html?_r=0

  29. Sargeant Avatar
    Sargeant

    Is it race or is it xenophobia and/or economics? I can’t dismiss race entirely but there are many Black people in the DR (check out MLB) and it would be interesting to know what relationship they have with their creole or brown skin fellow citizens. How have Bajans reacted when (take your pick) Ghanaians, Guyanese, Jamaicans, Nigerians et al turned up on our shores en masse or in small groups? Has anyone been following the events in South Africa recently where migrants have been attacked and murdered simply because they are not South Africans? Since they are all black is race still a factor? This is repeated in many countries in Africa where accessibility to scare economic resources force people to blame others for their ill fortune.

    That being said the DR’s approach to the issue is inhumane, they are not just deporting recent arrivals but they are deporting people who are citizens after changing the law to strip citizenship from persons born to persons deemed “in transit” after 1929. This effectively invalidates the citizenship of any person or their offspring who has Haitian ancestry, but chances are they will get away with it as the DR is a poor country and will escape censure from the rest of the world.

    Now if the USA or Britain try to pull off this stunt….

  30. MoneyBrain Avatar
    MoneyBrain

    Sarge, surely there is racism, shadism BUT the real problem is HUMANS, they will protect their interests. I forgot about what has been happening in Sth Africa with foreigners. In Sth Africa there are still males who believe that having sex with a virgin or baby will cure AIDS! Do they give a Rodent’s Rectum whether their victim is black? Humans are messed up.

    Then in the US U got a blonde Whitey going to Christian Studies for an hour then murdering 9 Black peeps because they were born black. SICK BASTARD! Should lynch him tonight!

    In Toronto we have Mark Moore, a Black guy who randomly murders 4 black men, 3 of whom he has never even met, so he can build “street cred” and his wrap career?????????? Bizarre! Furthermore these White IDIOTS up here give him 25 yrs when he should be BBQed!!! Why pay $100k pa to house his Ass when that $2-3 MN could EDUCATEand develop some yutes??? Pop off the Colonel and Bernardo sametime too!!!

  31. Colonel Buggy Avatar
    Colonel Buggy

    islandgal246 June 20, 2015 at 10:11 AM #

    BUHSTEA I am appalled by your callous response. Man you have shocked me to the bone! Where is your compassion? You are one SICK SOB Ah dun wid you! I declare you my enemy from now on yuh STINKING Christian Hypocrite!
    ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
    What Bushy has said, is what Caricom Leaders, and many of its people are thinking. “Leh we keep we mout shut, before they try to apportion some of those 500,000 earmarked Haitians to our precious little islands. ” We should realize that the downward spiral which Barbados finds itself, in may well become the next Haiti. As an American blogger ,who travels the Caribbean ,recently stated, ”Had not for Tourism, most of the islands in the Caribbean would be just a string of Haitis.”

  32. millertheanunnaki Avatar
    millertheanunnaki

    @ Sargeant June 20, 2015 at 5:32 PM
    “That being said the DR’s approach to the issue is inhumane, they are not just deporting recent arrivals but they are deporting people who are citizens after changing the law to strip citizenship from persons born to persons deemed “in transit” after 1929.”

    I think they should have gone for the whole kit and caboodle and make it retroactive to 1529. No fcuk (ing) person of European descent has any right to determine who should live where and when in the Caribbean. Santo Domingo is just one big plantation created through the genocidal elimination of the native population and its replacement with black slave labour from West Africa with the European lording over things.

    Why isn’t the Pope not intervening here? Haiti has been one of the most successful profit centres in the Vatican business empire for over 200 years. But it serves black people right.
    Wherever blacks go they adopt other people’s gods. Why is this so? They never worship the God which gave them their black skins to endure such hardships.

    Until blacks come unto the LIGHT and appreciate their true worth to the planet they will always be exploited by other races of humanoids and to be forever hewers of wood and drawers of water. They have been so to the white man for the last 500 years in the West and could be so to the Chinese and Indian for the next 200 leading to their eventual extinction.

  33. Sargeant Avatar
    Sargeant

    I am being educated…..it doesn’t make sense for the Dominican Republic to ship the labourers who do the donkey work at slave wages for their major agricultural export without replacements but the US Labour Dept. has produced a report documenting the ill treatment and the sub human conditions that define the Haitian labourers existence in DR. I would think that sanctions of some sort which would be levelled against the DR and these would include back wages for these workers and their heirs or descendants for all the years that they contributed to the massive profits that the Sugar Industry Barons made from their labour in the DR, a veritable Caribbean reparations of sorts.

    What do the Patrons do? They don’t want to pay these people (greed is good) they get the Gov’t to enact a law to get the Haitians out, without the Haitians on the Plantation or elsewhere there are no claimants and their fortune remains undisturbed, the invisible hand strikes again.

    I hope that people like Randall Robinson start using their influence to fight this evil.

  34. David Avatar
    David

    We have several issues playing out here and one is the down right inhumane manner, undocumented or not, the Haitians are being treated.

    https://www.facebook.com/FranceOwesHaitiReperations/videos/959923567359190/

  35. De Ingrunt Word Avatar
    De Ingrunt Word

    Sargeant your query about race and colour in DR is basically an easy one: the various colors of people get along well enough but as MB said in an earlier post “the Dominicans dont care about the generally darker Haitans, they consider them totally inferior.”

    And that disdain extends to darker folk in generally as a result.

    Remember the long history between these nations is full of hatred, war and death moreso than cross border love and cooperation.

    One scholar described the dynamic between these two countries as” One is Spanish, Catholic and white, as it’s fond of saying. The other is African, black and voodoo”. They also speak of countries like DR as doing much to ensure its ‘whitening’ stays strong.

    So, do the races get along? Yes. Do white, brown skin and light skin folks feel superior. Yes.

    I believe a lot of Bajans would generally think of Brazil as a ‘black’ country because of the popularity of Pele but the country that is touted as having the largest overall ‘African’ population outside the continent of Africa is another example of how skin color seems to pigeon hole those of African descent as less than others. Blacks are significantly under represented in their Parliament (Congress) and too in the corridors of power in business.

    DR is similar in that regard. So too Venezuela and other Latin countries with large black populations. Cuba included but to a lesser degree.

    Its very unlikely to see a person of African descent as the leader in DR or Brazil. But then again its probably unlikely to see a white person as the leader in Barbados, so we are like them in some small regard!

  36. Exclaimer Avatar
    Exclaimer

    The DR is an obnoxious, narrow minded entity with a metis race population in denial of their black ancestry. The Negro-Haitian is an abomination to these people. That so many of these people from the DR have a certain percentage of Negro blood running through their veins infuriates them.

    It would be good if those Caribbean islands with a majority Negro population were to boycott this country. When one looks at the demographics, the history and the mind set of this region (North, Central and South America and the Caribbean region) it becomes clearer by the day that the less adulterated Negro – wherever he finds himself within this region – is surrounded by a hateful and a hostile people.

    Let us face the facts: we are Africans! Our long term future would be better served if we were to recognise this. We need to reach out to Africa. I can assure you that Africa is progressing fast. It has both a long term and a viable future. The same cannot be said of the Caribbean.

    With the Caribbean becoming a rich-man’s paradise what hope is there for the average Negro living within this region? Think about it. Having the third oldest parliament in the world and one of the highest literacy rates in the world will not save us.

  37. Sargeant Avatar
    Sargeant

    @DWord

    What colour? The colonial legacy is shadesim in all these countries, there is no white just an array of different hues where at the lowest level as used to be expressed in Bim is “you/he/she blacker than me” We are attuned to the USA because we have a common language and their media is dominant across the world, if we were able to tune in to Spanish language media within South America the situation currently at play in the USA would be old hat.

    E.G In Brazil where there are more than 50 shades of Black the Police had a death squad that carried out the ultimate sentence against the folk in the favelas for years before the World Press took notice and the Gov’t said they stopped the practice.

    Plus ca change etc….

  38. Exclaimer Avatar
    Exclaimer

    @ David,

    I have just seen the 2 minute clip that you have posted. I’m afraid that none of it came as a surprise. I have always viewed the metis race with a deep suspicion. I believe that under the apartheid era the metis race (coloureds) were allowed to stand for parliament.

  39. David Avatar
    David

    @Exclaimer

    Deport them if you must but remember they are human beings man.

  40. islandgal246 Avatar
    islandgal246

    Thank you Sargeant I watched this video and am horrified that 300 years haven’t changed a thing. This is in our backyards and yet hypocrites like BUSHSHITE will come here and talk nufff shoite. My heart goes out to the people and their champion Father Christopher. This situation is not a question of illegal Haitians but a question of allowing a country to keep people enslaved and then throw them out. Do you all think the Dominicans will replace the cane cutters???

  41. De Ingrunt Word Avatar
    De Ingrunt Word

    Sargeant, what color you ask and thereafter you cite the hilarious “In Brazil where there are more than 50 shades of Black”. So let me answer your query as: 50 shades of Black means still ONLY colour.

    That shadeism you speak of is the same nonsense all people of color do. In DR any visible percentage of white ancestry makes you white or definitely not black as YOUR societal reference. Of course in US jargon the exact opposite is the norm: any percentage of black and you are black.

    All the shades in Brazil speak to that same desire to move away from the Black identity.

    Surely you accept that many people tune to South America and Latin America generally, travel there and follow closely the issues there. DR for example is a favorite tourist spot for many people.

    But indeed racism in Latin America countries is alive and well: the very same issues seen in US are even more pronounced in some places .

    The DR-Haiti situation is a powerful example of the history of racial tension of white/mulattos v black and a good opportunity to really explore the race dynamic in the Spanish Americas if folks previously only paid scant attention.

  42. Colonel Buggy Avatar
    Colonel Buggy

    Sargeant June 20, 2015 at 8:07 PM #
    What is happening in DR is on a much larger scale to what is transpiring at the Barbados Light and Power, under the Canadian choppers . The DR is trimming the “excess baggage” only retaining a figure which is necessary to carry out the donkey work on the plantations. And like the General who commanded a platoon of 12 men to push a heavy gun over a hill, without success,….. until he took out his pistol and shot 6 of them.
    We speak of boycotts, but how much 2-way trade ,excluding Jamaica, does the rest of Caricom do with the DR that will cause then to review their actions.
    But less we forget ,what happened to the many Bajan,and other Caribbean men and some of their Cuban born wives, starting in 1959,when our dear friend Fidel , took control of Cuba. These people were rounded up and sent back to their homelands with just the shirts on their backs.
    Its a myth that lighting never strike the same spot twice.

  43. De Ingrunt Word Avatar
    De Ingrunt Word

    that should have read: …50 shades of Black means still ONLY ONE colour.

  44. Colonel Buggy Avatar
    Colonel Buggy

    Dompey June 20, 2015 at 10:17 AM #

    Islandgal

    Who said the world was silent in its response to the genocidal- extermination of the Jewish people?
    …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
    Like British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, the Europeans were well aware of what Hitler was doing at the Belsens and Dachaus extermination camps, but preferred to keep silent about it , as the cunning Hitler had promised them a a piece of the territories he was about to conquer. The mad rush across the Rhine ,and up to Berlin by the Allied forces on one side and the Russians coming from the opposite direction had sweet FA , about saving the lives of the poor Jews. It was all about the respective forces getting as far pass Berlin as possible, hence the stalemate that ended in a Cold War which lasted for some 44 Years. Rescuing the Jews was incidental.

  45. Exclaimer Avatar
    Exclaimer

    So this backward country calling itself a republic wants to join Caricom! I believe that either Grenada or St Lucia were offering citizenship to citizens from the DR!

    On the subject of citizenship take a look at this, it will make your eyes bulge.

    https://www.isla-offshore.com/second-passport/dominica-best-choice-for-economic-citizenship/

  46. Colonel Buggy Avatar
    Colonel Buggy

    Glenn Losack M.D. This guy has published thousands of unbelievable photographs on Flickr ,of the pathetic lives of mainly blacks, in the Dominican Republic.

  47. Colonel Buggy Avatar
    Colonel Buggy

    Exclaimer June 20, 2015 at 11:00 PM #
    And we may well go the route of selling citizenship too,and as you so rightly mentioned, these are the people who will come into this country and turk the already disadvantaged Bajans, either out, or into little pokey enclaves which this government is providing in Church Village ,St Phillip, Lancaster in St James ,among others. Some of these newbies haven’t even got local citizenship yet ,and are already flexing their muscles in keeping the locals in check, or employing foreigners, “As no suitable local applicants could be found” . Take for example, the recent retrenchment of Barbadian workers at the local power company by a Canadian woman,who at the time the letters of dismissal were hande to the employees, was out on the golf course. Then we heard the Trinidadian HR manager, of the same BL&P .appearing on our airwaves defending the actions taken by the Canadians. Added to our woes, is that much of the traditional merchant class in Barbados, had never considered taking the advice ,that Ronald Jones has recently given to black people in Barbados, ie get more children, and as a consequence, now that the seniors in the commercial sector have reached the age where they want to retire, but have no worthwhile heirs and successors at hand to carry on the business , thus forcing them to form an alliance with , who else but the Trinis, who will eventually take over. Recently we heard of the Goddards Empire teaming up with a Trinidad conglomerate, and a reliable source claims that retrenchment of some workers at Goddards is imminent.
    Who will follow next, Carter and Co, or David Seale?
    Methink that for our 50th year of Independence Celebrations, we should seriously look at rewriting our national anthem.

  48. Sargeant Avatar
    Sargeant

    @DWord
    I believe we are speaking at cross purposes when I wrote “what colour” I was referring to the US metric of “one drop”, I gather your reference is to the Caribbean and Latin America where various hues mean greater or lesser access to opportunities but “50 shades of black” may mean one colour to you but don’t try telling that to the Brazilians.

    The US issues with race are played on a big stage, the race issues in other countries generally fly under the radar, BTW the “one drop” rule has no basis in science as it was an arbitrary rule established by “whites” mostly to do with succession rights i.e. ensure that their estates didn’t fall into the hands of any offspring that resulted from their cohabitation with slaves, this “rule” was codified by some legislatures in the last century. BTW does “one drop” remain forever or is it whitewashed after several generations?

    Thomas Jefferson tried to answer this in 1815 and you can see the results here…..
    http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-08-02-0245

  49. Exclaimer Avatar
    Exclaimer

    Barbados will soon be celebrating her fifty years of independence. The question remains do we as a nation have anything to celebrate? Celebrate your fifty years of independence with gay abundance as you will have nothing to celebrate after 2016.

    Who would have thought that slavery could be reintroduced into the Caribbean and allowed to flourish?

    Who would have believed that our Caricom leaders and our citizens would turn a blind eye to the plight of her Haitian Negro brothers and sisters languishing on some slave plantation in the DR?

    Who would have thought that a region which endured bondage and slavery over a period of four hundred years would have learned nothing from the miserable experiences of their ancestors?

    Who would have thought that our Caricom leaders would engineer a social framework which would allow foreigners to take up citizenship, purchase land and businesses within our region?

    Who would have thought that the Caricom region could have produced a people of such low expectations, stupidity and ignorance?

    The blue print for the demise of the Negro within the Caribbean has already been casted. In Jamaica homosexuals are murdered and harassed. The Caribbean remained silent. The Guyanese and the Trinidadian Indians have been committing genocide against her Negro population for decades. The Caribbean remained silent.

    Our silence is revealing. It is a tacit acceptance on our part that we do not care what takes place in our region.

    Good luck to you guys. You will need it. Oh, I forgot – like good slaves you will leave it all in God’s hands!

    For those of you Negros with some intelligence inside you; look to the continent of Africa. The Caribbean region is a no go zone for progressive Negros.

  50. De Ingrunt Word Avatar
    De Ingrunt Word

    Exclaimer, yes we will celebrate 50 years of great successes and painful failures. We will acclaim our warriors past and present, give praise that we live a free and passion filled life full with the joys of sea-baths, crazy drivers and even corrupt leaders.

    But we will not embrace your diagnosis that we are so racked with disease that our future is doomed.

    European leaders turned blind eyes to the ethnic cleaning in their neighboring nations years ago…they continue to lead their citizens with the very best plans and intentions today. Don’t they?

    Many of your past leaders strongly supported race superiority for many years, as I recall. Yet, life continues apace and Blacks have a strong voice there.

    Has a blue print for the demise of anyone in Europe or the Americas been cast because skin-heads murder homosexuals, hold KKK affiliated meetings or a racist assassinates Black church worshipers in their time of prayer?

    We have a lot or work to do to get our house in order, of that there is no doubt, but the Caribbean region is DEFINITELY NOT a no-go zone like the infamous remarks made about your ‘Muslim’ no-go zones.

    So you have every right to your opinions but your comments about the Caribbean region are irrational.

    On every level they pale in comparison to the actions in your part of the world. Life is complex and cannot be as nicely packaged as you would like it to be.

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