Pacts and Fiction

Hiya I'm not a multi-tasker. I've been working on a new book and it's consumed all of my writing energy for quite some time. My cousin has been nagging me for more than six months to write something here, but every time I sit down to do so, I think of something for the book.
Close this file and open that one.
So, begging your pardon.
The book's mostly finished and it feels good to want to write other stuff now.

Let's talk about pacts with the devil. According to everyone's favorite catastrophe fetishist, Mr. Pat Robertson, Haiti suffered a huge earthquake as part of his 700 Club god's wrath. See, it's because Haiti made a pact with the devil back in the late 1700's in order to rebel from the French.

Here's his exact quote:

Something happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about it. They were under the heel of the French. You know, Napoleon the third, or whatever. And they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said, we will serve you if you will get us free from the French. True story. And so, the devil said, okay it's a deal.
And they kicked the French out. You know, the Haitians revolted and got themselves free. But ever since they have been cursed by one thing after the other. Desperately poor. That island of Hispaniola is one island. It is cut down the middle on the one side is Haiti the other is the Dominican Republic. Dominican Republic is prosperous, healthy, full of resorts, etc. Haiti is in desperate poverty. Same island. They need to have and we need to pray for them a great turning to god and out of this tragedy I'm optimistic something good may come.

A pact was made, and there was a devil involved, but Mr. Pat's got quite a few things backassed. Please allow me to break this down:

Something happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about it.

This "something" that one is led to assume might be a source or shame or secrecy for the Haitian people is a religious ceremony that took place in Bois Caiman in 1791, on the eve of the revolution against French rule. Pat Robertson thinks it's shameful to believe in Vodou, so naturally, he feels comfortable assuming that everyone else does too. Enough people agree with, or at least identify with his ignorance, to assure him a place in the mainstream media every time he spews forth his vile and vitriol into the world. This cultural identification is collaborated by the hideously racist Princess and Frog movie that Disney recently set upon us. It's supposed to be a big deal because it features a black princess. For the privilege of being included in Disney's future marketing tsunami, black folks must sacrifice any dignity around this ancient religion that served many of their ancestors. Vodou is butchered on Disney's happy chopping block.
Even if you don't know about the historic religious ceremony that took place in Bois Caiman, you can tell from Pat's sentence that "something" dark and probably evil took place. In reality, the Africans were, at the time, multi-generational citizens of Hispanola, some free, some slaves. Inspired by the French Revolution, the folks thought, "Dang, freedom and autonomy sounds nice. Let's us go for it just like the French in France." On the eve of such a huge undertaking, why would folks NOT get together and pray to their gods for strength, guidance and courage? Africans have practiced Vodou for thousands of years. It pre-dates pretty much every other religion on the planet. Their parents and grandparents were from Africa. Why would they adopt any other religion than the one that served their forebears? They heard about a revolution far away, and prayed for the victory of freedom at home, big fucking deal. There is no shame in that and if anyone doesn't want to talk about it, it's probably because they don't want to hear ignorant people judging their religion.

They were under the heel of the French. You know, Napoleon the third, or whatever. And they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said, we will serve you if you will get us free from the French. True story. And so, the devil said, okay it's a deal.
And they kicked the French out. You know, the Haitians revolted and got themselves free.

Actually, that's not a true story at all. It is called a true story by Pat Robertson because he is lying and he knows that he is lying. I suspect he also knows who the devil is, and the devil looks a lot like Pat Robertson. The Haitian people would not swear a pact with some Christian villain because they did not observe Christianity. It makes no sense to make a pact with someone you don't know, when a whole host of tried and true gods and goddesses inhabit the religion of your ancestors.

Before Columbus came around, the island of Ayiti, which whites renamed Hispanola, was populated by Arawak and Taino indians. The Arawak/Taino folks had agriculture, religious, economic and political infrastructures firmly ensconced for thousands of years. Columbus figured they'd make great pack mules for carting gold onto his ships to bring to King Phillip and Queen Isabella back in Spain. He brought murder, rape, syphilis, small pox and slavery to the land. This sounds like the devil to me, but then my idea of the devil differs from Columbus and Pat Robertson.
Almost needless to say, the Arawak/Taino population suffered greatly from Columbus and his men, and after numerous rebellions, were eventually all but annihilated.
In this time, and for the next three hundred years, the slave trade was all the rage. Haiti is a geographically unfortunate place, much like Afghanistan. It is a great place to stop in after a long voyage across a vast ocean. When slavery became pre-industry for newly white territories, Haiti was a major port for buyers and sellers to partake in the slave trade. Many Africans were transported to Florida and Louisiana via Haiti.

In the late 1600s, Hispanola was divided. The French got Haiti (then known as Saint-Dominigue) and Spain got the Dominican Republic. The Taino and Arawak got whatever hills and caves they could find to avoid the whites and the Africans who weren't carted off to slavery either joined the indians in the hills and caves or managed to get along with the various whites. This went on for a time, and in this time, free Africans developed a cultural identity and sense of entitlement. Within a hundred years, Saint-Domingue was France's wealthiest colony. The Code Noir was adopted, and was rigidly adhered to. Most of the code involved rules around religion. Everyone was to be Catholic and to love all things Catholic. (This is when Haitians incorporated various Catholic saints into Vodou. It is not altogether true to say people who practice Vodou don't observe Christianity. Christian influences were absorbed into Vodou to keep the French off people's backs during church services.) Masters could chain and beat slaves, but, magnanimously, not for the pleasure of torturing someone.Children born of slaves were to be slaves, and children born to slave dads were slaves, but children born to free moms were free. Blacks were under the bootheels of whites, but there was a class of black folks who could plug along in society and get education and wealth. How bizarre the French Revolution must have sounded to black folks in Haiti when world news traveled their way. The people who made up laws like "slaves belonging to different masters may not gather at any time under any circumstance," were rebelling in their homeland.
This is how the slave revolt came about, but it was not won through pacts with Pat Robertson's devil. The Haitians "won" because Britain was causing problems for France. Of note amongst these problems, the British invaded Saint-Domingue. The French sat down with the Haitians and said, "All right look. We'll work this freedom stuff out. Just let's get together to kick the Brit's asses, huh?"
Our hero at this time was a man named Toussaint l'Ouverture. He assembled and ran a very nimble army and kicked the British and the Spaniards off the island. At this time, France saw itself as a more or less a benevolent grandpa, giving blacks all the freedoms they wanted, so long as the money still flowed to, by, for, and about them and the homeland. The Haitains were serving the French quite well in their quest to be the only whites ruling San Domingue. But once the other whites were gone, and the new government in France was headed by the ever-psychotic Napoleon Bonaparte, all kindly grandpa-ness suddenly became 50,000 French troops bound and determined to put down the slave rebellion once and for all. But l'Ouverture's badass army and yellow fever beat Napoleon's troops down. L'Ouverture was invited to parley, but was instead kidnapped and taken to France, where he soon died a very sad death. This would become the destiny of any leader who dared to loved the land, nation and people of Haiti.

In 1804, thirteen or so years after Pat Robertson's alleged pact went down, Haiti declared independence. Jean-Jacques Dessaline, l'Ouverture's good pal, ruled for a minute, and the present age of retribution began. Europe put in place a trade blockade with Haiti that has, in various forms, been in place ever since. Every subsequent government in Haiti has suffered from some kind of punitive economic terrorism or another. The only exception was on the rare occasions when a government, such as Papa Doc or his son Baby Doc, agreed to go along with white folks bright ideas about the nation and population's destiny. In any event, it wasn't until 1825, and at the cost of 90 million francs, that Haiti was truly, legally free from France.

But ever since they have been cursed by one thing after the other. Desperately poor. That island of Hispaniola is one island. It is cut down the middle on the one side is Haiti the other is the Dominican Republic. Dominican Republic is prosperous, healthy, full of resorts, etc. Haiti is in desperate poverty. Same island. They need to have and we meed to pray for them a great turning to god and out of this tragedy I'm optimistic something good may come.

If black folks in the U.S. have had a tough time since the "failure" of Reconstruction, folks in Haiti have had it much worse. Haiti is the world's first and only nation brought about through slave rebellion, and the white devil that Haitians have consistently refused to make a pact with has been punishing Haiti pretty much ever since. In fact, it's instructive to look at the "failure" of Reconstruction, for here, we find the exact same argument that Pat Robertson is using today. History books love to tell us that Reconstruction "failed" because black folks just couldn't get their act together. Few mention the routine lynchings, looting, night time raids, fire bombings, gang rapes and abject terrorization of successful black towns and communities, and how these activities hastened the "failure" of Reconstruction. Likewise, Haiti. Since that fateful day in 1804, wealthy white nations have systematically stomped down the dreams and aspirations of the Haitian people. Meanwhile the Dominican Republic, you know, same island, but the nation with all the resorts and prosperity, has never revolted against anyone. The Dominican Republic has been lucky enough to maintain leaders who kowtow to whites. The island of Hispanola is the perfect living, cross-section metaphor for "Good Blacks" versus "Bad Blacks." The Dominican Republic is the nation that made the pact with the white devil, and it has enjoyed relative peace and wealth for the trouble. Haitians and Dominicans regard one another in a similar way that field slaves and house slaves once did. The possibility of both nations coming together and uniting against the rich white nations is remote, as there are too many business interests involved that would quell any such cooperation.

And now we have the news that aid workers are having a "logistical nightmare." Perhaps if the U.S. allowed President Aristide to continue doing the work he was doing instead of kidnapping him and carting him off to the Central African Republic, there would be a more servicable infrastructure in place to assist in the off-loading of supplies. If the U.N. gave a rats ass about any of the Haitian people instead of busting moves to save, feed and shelter their own, perhaps the work on the ground would go smoother. But then if President Aristide wasn't whisked off, there would be no need for the U.N.'s presence in Haiti.

The aid that is pouring in to Haiti is not reaching poor Haitian people. It is going to the privileged and the whites. Even in the dust of this devastation, the Haitian people will continue to be punished for daring to stand up against white oppression.

And these words and thoughts of mine, this history I perceive, none of this resonates with the masses of people in the U.S. It is easier to identify with Pat Robertson and Rush Limbaugh than it is to face devilish white racism in history and in the world today. I find the fact that these men and their words are considered newsworthy, and are granted space in our minds, much more troubling than any particular thing they might have to say.

I still have some book work to do, so it may be a while before I get back to this blog business. Until then, Dawn Adell a Female Hell, this one's for you.