Last week, in the aftermath of the horrific earthquake in Haiti, Pat Robertson found himself mired in controversy (yet again) when he claimed that the Haiti earthquake was a result of a deal with the Devil gone bad:
Something happened a long time ago in Haiti and people might not want to talk about… They were under the heel of the French, you know Napoleon the third and 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 prince.’ True story. And so the devil said, ‘Ok it’s a deal.’ And they kicked the French out. The Haitians revolted and got something themselves free. But ever since they have been cursed by one thing after another.
Robertson’s comments, predictably, elicited a firestorm of criticism, much like his and Jerry Falwell’s blaming 9/11 on liberals – and rightly so. It would have been a rather ridiculous thing to say even if there hadn’t been tens of thousands of people still trapped in the rubble of Port-au-Prince. The fact that it was said only hours after the earthquake made it all the more offensive.
But in a strange way, Robertson is partially right – not in that the earthquake was caused by the Devil, but in that the problems Haiti is experiencing in the aftermath of the earthquake are deeply rooted in that nation’s peculiar history. And in that history, it disappoints me to say, the role of the Americans has usually been one of complicity with those who cause the suffering of the Haitian people. Here is an excellent summary; it will suffice to say that from the beginning of Haiti’s existence as a separate country, we’ve tended to align with the imperialist powers (like France) that sought to keep the Haitian people in subjection rather than with the Haitian people’s desire for freedom, safety, and sustenance. Not only are we passively complicit in Haiti’s abject poverty, as it’s existed so close to our shores for so long; we’re actively complicit in it, as some of our most honored forefathers sided with Haiti’s oppressors against the people of Haiti (to say nothing of our nation’s more recent meddlings in Haiti’s democracy).
Why did it take an earthquake for the American zeitgeist to suddenly notice Haiti, a nation that consistently ranks among the poorest on the planet and sits less than 600 miles from our shore? Why do buildings have to collapse before we see the abject poverty and starvation that exist in a place that’s on our nation’s metaphorical doorstep?
