Page 2 The Skanner Portland & Seattle January 30, 2019
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Challenging People to Shape
a Better Future Now
The Debt We Owe Haitians
Bernie Foster
Founder/Publisher
O
Bobbie Dore Foster
Executive Editor
Jerry Foster
Advertising Manager
Christen McCurdy
News Editor
Patricia Irvin
Graphic Designer
Monica J. Foster
Seattle Office Coordinator
Susan Fried
Photographer
2017
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Opinion
n Oct. 9, 1779, more than
500 Haitian soldiers
(referred to as “Les
Chasseurs-Volontaires
de Saint-Domingue”) fought
alongside French troops to
aid the Americans in trying
to force the British out of Sa-
vannah, Ga. in order to open
its port for the colonists’ 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 re-
volt that began on the French
half of the island of Hispanio-
la and resulted in a revolution
costing 200,000 Black lives.
When the Haitians threw off
the French yoke of oppression
to become the independent
Republic of Haiti, France de-
manded 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, be-
gan Haiti’s slide from being
France’s wealthiest colony to
one of the poorest nations in
Oscar H.
Blayton
Attorney,
NNPA
Columnist
the Western Hemisphere.
When Haiti gained its in-
dependence, Southern slave-
holders in the United States
were horrified by the libera-
tion of enslaved Black people
by their own efforts. And in
response, the U.S. govern-
ment did not recognize the
“
lasting until 1934.
The U.S. military occupied
Haiti again in 1994, the year
Haiti’s democratically elect-
ed president, Jean-Bertrand
Aristide, returned from exile
after fleeing from a coup by
the Haitian military. When
Aristide was re-elected in
2000, the U.S. military, in com-
bination with the Haitian mil-
itary, 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
Even though Haitians shed blood
for American independence, the
United States in its foreign policy
has always held a deep-seated hos-
tility towards Haiti
Black nation until 1862, when
the United States was in the
throes of its own brutal and
bloody war over the perpet-
uation 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 Amer-
ican hostility, with the Unit-
ed States keeping its heel on
Haiti’s economy and domestic
politics. This included a U.S.
invasion in 1914 that precip-
itated a military occupation
Haiti, 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 revo-
lutionaries 240 years ago in
1779.
But this statue is not the
first recognition of Ameri-
ca’s debt to Haitians. In April
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 giv-
en by the Haitians is unknown
to most Americans. And even
a 10-foot monument standing
in a busy downtown square
of a major U.S. city does not
bring this piece of our history
to the attention of most Amer-
icans.
Haiti’s contributions to the
United States are not widely
known because, through-
out our country’s history,
America has shown itself to
be hostile towards Haiti and
Haitians.
On Oct. 30, 2018, the Brit-
ish newspaper, The Guard-
ian, ran the headline, “Flee
or hide: Haitian immigrants
face difficult decisions under
Trump.” This headline, curi-
ous to most Americans, has
a backstory. After a 7.1-mag-
nitude earthquake hit Haiti
in 2010, the U.S. government
offered Temporary Protected
Status (TPS) to thousands 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.
Read the rest of this commentary at
TheSkanner.com
Preventing the Fall of America
A
s we have celebrated
the birthday and con-
tribution of Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr., one
has to be concerned about the
America that has inherited
his dream.
There is a movement afoot
to turn back the clock and to
undo all our social gains. If it
were not for the internet and
the rising tide of social con-
sciousness, we would repeat
the history of so many civi-
lizations before us that fell
from within. If we allow the
government shutdown to con-
tinue, we will accelerate the
collapse from within.
Consider the hundreds of
thousands of people now
missing their second pay-
check, those responsible for
our nation’s security, like the
Coast Guard and TSA, work-
ing without a paycheck.
Food inspectors and those
who inspect our airlines
working without pay; nation-
al parks closed, contractors
who perform vital services
— out of work and without
means of collecting back pay
because of the nature of their
contracts — and air traffic
controllers, who, like so many
Americans, are staying on the
job out of commitment to this
great nation, in spite of the fi-
nancial hardships.
Dr. John E.
Warren
Publisher,
The San
Diego Voice
& Viewpoint
Consider the mortgages,
rents, loans and car payments
not being made with no re-
quirement for landlords and
banks to understand and ex-
tend grace periods for repay-
“
There is a
movement
afoot to turn
back the clock
and to undo
all our social
gains
ment. The 38 million persons
receiving food stamps who
are at risk of no food while
many good-hearted Ameri-
cans are creating food pan-
tries to help their neighbors.
The homeless, once marked
by many, are now on the
verge of having company as
thousands of persons could
lose their federal housing as-
sistance for rents. And now
we see that even FBI (Federal
Bureau of Investigation with-
in the Department of Justice)
employees are at risk to lose
their health insurance cov-
erage if payments are not re-
stored soon.
The issue is bigger than “A
Wall” and President Trump
should be tried for treason
and breach of his duties as
President of the United States.
He took an oath to Protect and
Defend the Constitution of the
United States and, in doing
so, the American people. His
actions on the government
shutdown have done more to
support Russia and our “en-
emies, foreign and domestic”
than pushing the button on
his nuclear briefcase.
The chaos he and those
members of the U.S. Senate
who have supported him have
created by doing nothing,
has caused greater harm to
our global standing than the
threat of an outright attack.
The actions of the President
and the Republican Senate
that stand with him have sent
a global alarm to our enemies
that we are now weak and dis-
organized. Such a position in-
vites military conflicts.
We as a nation must not only
pray that God will once again
forgive our sins and heal the
land, even as Dr. King prayed
so often, but we must also
pressure those Republican
members of the United States
Senate standing with Trump
to either join the number nec-
essary to override a Trump
veto and a Mitch McConnell
block vote in the Senate to end
the shutdown, or have them
face recall or impeachment
for malfeasance in office or
trial for high crimes.
Eleven to thirteen Republi-
can senators joining with the
Democrats can pass the bill,
which both houses agreed to
before Christmas, and over-
ride a Trump Veto. The very
existence of this nation rests
on such actions.
Already, over 7 million peo-
ple have signed petitions call-
ing for the impeachment of
Donald Trump. America no
longer has the luxury of wait-
ing for the Mueller Report.
We must reach out to our
friends, relatives and neigh-
bors in every state in which
a Republican Senator sup-
porting Trump’s shutdown
is seated and demand that he
or she (the U.S. Senator stand-
ing with Trump on this shut-
down) either break away and
vote to reopen government
or resign. The issue is great-
er than our differences and
“The Wall.” The Democrats in
the House and Senate should
“Stand Their Ground.”
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