Page 12
January 30, 2019
O PINION
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A Pattern of Hostility toward People of Color
The debts we owe
Haitians
o scar h. b layton
More than 500 Hai-
tian soldiers fought
alongside
French
troops on Oct. 9, 1779
to aid the Americans in
trying to force the British out of Savannah,
Ga. in order to open its port for the colo-
nists’ use.
The attack was unsuccessful, but it
has been noted that the Haitians played a
significant role in providing cover for the
French soldiers who had to retreat from
their positions on the battlefield. But even
though Haitians shed blood for American
independence, the United States in its for-
eign policy has always held a deep-seated
hostility towards Haiti, despite denials to
the contrary.
Haiti was born of a slave revolt that be-
gan on the French half of the island of His-
paniola and resulted in a revolution costing
200,000 Black lives.
When the Haitians threw off the French
yoke of oppression to become the indepen-
dent Republic of Haiti, France demanded
recompense for the loss of its slaves. This
demand for payment was backed up by the
threat of an invasion, with the French navy
laying off the Haitian coast. This forced
payment, totaling more than $21 billion
over the years, began Haiti’s slide from
being France’s wealthiest colony to one of
the poorest nations in the Western Hemi-
sphere.
When Haiti gained its independence,
Southern slaveholders in the United States
were horrified by the liberation of en-
slaved black people by their own efforts.
And in response, the U.S. government did
by
not recognize the black nation until 1862,
when the United States was in the throes
of its own brutal and bloody war over the
perpetuation of slavery and the Southern
states had seceded from the Union.
But recognition never meant respect.
And ever since its creation, Haiti has had
to battle against American hostility, with
the United States keeping its heel on Hai-
ti’s economy and domestic politics. This
included a U.S. invasion in 1914 that pre-
cipitated a military occupation lasting until
1934.
The U.S. military occupied Haiti again
in 1994, the year Haiti’s democratically
elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide,
returned from exile after fleeing from
1944, President Franklin D. Roosevelt had
Secretary of State Cordell Hull deliver a
commemorative plaque to a cathedral in
Haiti that reads, “Today we pay tribute
to the courage and spirit of those Haitian
Volunteers who in 1779 risked their lives
for the cause of American Liberty.” The
placement of Roosevelt’s plaque and the
assistance given by the Haitians is un-
known to most Americans. And even a 10-
foot monument standing in a busy down-
town square of a major U.S. city does not
bring this piece of our history to the atten-
tion of most Americans.
Haiti’s contributions to the United States
are not widely known because, throughout
our country’s history, America has shown
Haiti’s contributions to the United
States are not widely known because,
throughout our country’s history, America
has shown itself to be hostile towards
Haiti and Haitians.
a coup by the Haitian military. When
Aristide was re-elected in 2000, the U.S.
military, in combination with the Haitian
military, forcibly removed him from the
country and sent him into exile again, this
time in South Africa.
It is important to point out the irony of
how badly the United States has treated Hai-
ti, given the presence of a statue standing in
Savannah’s Franklin Square. This statue
was erected in 2007 to honor the Haitian
soldiers that came to the aid of American
revolutionaries 240 years ago in 1779.
But this statue is not the first recogni-
tion of America’s debt to Haitians. In April
itself to be hostile towards Haiti and Hai-
tians.
On Oct. 30, 2018, the British newspa-
per, The Guardian, ran the headline, “Flee
or hide: Haitian immigrants face difficult
decisions under Trump.” This headline,
curious to most Americans, has a back sto-
ry. After a 7.1-magnitude earthquake hit
Haiti in 2010, the U.S. government offered
Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to thou-
sands of Haitians whose lives had been
destroyed. But now, Donald J. Trump has
decided that their imminent deportation is
best for America. Haitians who have made
new lives in this country are now on the
verge of becoming “illegal aliens” by the
stroke of Trump’s pen.
But a monster like Trump has neither
empathy for, nor any sense of obligation to,
people of color whose ancestors helped to
birth and build this nation. People of color
can expect no consideration from this de-
spicable, disgusting bully who wants to
“make America white again.”
The White House also is planning to ter-
minate TPS for people of color from other
countries whose conditions have neces-
sitated our compassion and offers of ref-
uge because hostility towards Haitians is
simply a part of the pattern of widespread
American hostility towards people of col-
or.
Just as ancient barbaric people created
narratives that gave animals human form
and characteristics in an anthropomorphic
attempt to conform them to the familiar,
Trump and his supporters are pursuing a eu-
ropomorphic attempt to mold America into
a European form that is familiar to them. In
short, he is attempting to make all Ameri-
cans look as much like European Americans
as possible. As ancient barbarians wanted to
conform their world to their own image,
these present-day barbarians want to con-
form America to their own image.
It is up to right-thinking Americans to
stand up to Trump and the cynical, cow-
ardly senators and congressional represen-
tatives who cater to his attempts at despo-
tism. It is time to stand up and say “No!”
to the deportation of Haitians and others
living in the United States with Temporary
Protected Status.
We must have compassion for our fel-
low human beings, even if the disgusting
tenant in the White House does not.
Oscar H. Blayton is a former Marine
Corps combat pilot and human rights ac-
tivist who practices law in Virginia.
Transgender Ban is about Bigotry and Distraction
A twisted way to
thank our service
members
J ill r icharDson
The
Supreme
Court just paved the
way for Trump’s
ban on transgender
people serving in
the military to move
ahead, at least pending other court chal-
lenges. The ban will harm the military and
help no one, while doing nothing to ad-
dress the nation’s real problems.
I’m neither transgender nor in the mil-
itary, but I count several trans people,
including trans vets, among my closest
friends. I can’t speak for them. I can, how-
ever, speak as their friend — and as a so-
ciologist who teaches about gender at the
college level.
by
Trump cites the cost of medical care
for transgender people undergoing tran-
sition as the reason for his ban. Yet many
transgender people never have surgery, and
those who do may wait until after they’re
finished serving in the military to do it.
Hormone treatments and gender confir-
mation surgeries for all transgender service
members together are estimated to cost
$8.4 million annually at most — that’s
five times less than the military spends
on Viagra. And it’s nearly 200 times less
than the Department of Defense spends on
health care and lost days of work due to
smoking.
And yet service personnel are allowed
to smoke. In fact, service members at many
commands often have an entire culture
built around enabling tobacco use, despite
all of the costs. If this were actually about
the cost of military health care, perhaps
a smoking cessation program would be a
better option than a transgender ban.
Neither of my friends were aware that
they were transgender when they enlisted
in the military. They just wanted to serve
their country.
Neither transitioned while they were
serving, and one didn’t even realize she
was trans until after she’d left the Marines.
(She still works in the national security
field as a civilian.) The other realized she
was transgender while in the Navy and
opted not to reenlist so she could transition
without fear of being discharged.
Even with a ban, transgender people
who haven’t yet realized or come to terms
with being trans will continue to enlist and
serve. A ban would mean wasting resourc-
es recruiting and training service members,
only to discharge qualified personnel once
they came out as trans or were outed.
Kicking trans service people out of the
military wouldn’t only be extremely hurt-
ful to the estimated 150,000 transgender
people who have served, including 8,800
who are currently on active duty. It would
also be a waste of money and disruptive to
the entire military.
The transgender ban in the military has
nothing to do with military readiness or
cost — and everything to do with bigotry
and transphobia. Trump is using the ban
purely to provoke the left, throw red meat
to his base, and distract us all from the real
issues in our nation, like the government
shutdown which continues to drain re-
sources.
Transgender people in the military put
their lives on the line (and sometimes lose
their lives) to protect their fellow Amer-
icans. Excluding them because of their
gender identities is a twisted way to thank
them for their service.
It’s time to stop perpetuating hatred
and distracting from real issues — and to
stop using transgender people as a national
scapegoat.
OtherWords columnist Jill Richardson is
pursuing a PhD in sociology at the Univer-
sity of Wisconsin-Madison. She lives in San
Diego. Distributed by OtherWords.org.