Where is the empathy for Haiti?

When I think about my school days (primary and secondary) in Guyana, much of it feels like a blur. A lot of memorising, rigorous testing and oftentimes little to no interrogation of how the theories could transform our society and a post colonial one at that.

Instead of Animal Farm that we were made to read, I would have preferred anything from Walter Rodney or Gaiutra Bahadur. Instead of standing in the boiling hot sun during school hours pleading with “royal visitors” to stop, led by our teachers, I would have much preferred to be sat in the classroom learning about the true carnage they and their forefathers caused and continue to cause through their governments in the global south.

Hardly any of it was shaped around truly understanding our society on the political, social and cultural fronts that goes beyond surface level. I suspect it is this very reason why most of us struggle to truly acknowledge Haiti’s extraordinary significance in the region and fail to prop their resilience up as the first independent state in the Caribbean and the first free black republic in the world. It is probably why most of us don’t flinch or bat an eyelid when we hear of travel restrictions against Haitians in the region, despite their country being a Caricom member state; or the immense suffering they undergo due to either natural disaster or man made via foreign meddling.

We are indoctrinated to think that any sort of resistance by black and brown bodies happens out of thin air and that violence is somehow imprinted in their DNA. As photos and videos emerge showing the enormous suffering and fighting taking place in Haiti, as we see the West and North recall their foreign officials and issue travel advisory statements, we should dare not forget this instability didn’t start yesterday but rather 20 years ago in a coup that saw democratically elected president Jean Bertrand Aristide forcibly removed from office and flown out to the Central African Republic.

While many rush to stereotype organisation and leadership in Haiti with racist theorising let us not forget that it was under Aristide’s presidency that literacy rates improved, minimum wage rose much to the disapproval of Haiti’s upper class and demands for reparations from France to the tune of some $21.7 billion were made. Seen as a champion for Haitians who were economically disadvantaged, it was Aristide who helped to recognise Voodoo as an official religion, allowing its priests that same authority as Catholic priests to perform funerals, marriages etc and for Haitians to have strengthened and guilt free bonds with the traditions passed down from their ancestors.

It is not hard to see why the West and North view Haiti as a threat to be silenced by any means necessary. What an example it would be to the world that despite everything, Haitians continue to rise with a strong sense of identity completely aware of their worth and value. Hardly the same can be said for their Caricom siblings who continue to abandon them and remain loyal subjects of neo-colonisation.