As the news from Haiti grows worse, President Obama deserves praise for his rapid mobilization of American resources. Thousands of lives have been saved as a result.
At the same time, President Obama has chosen public words that do not reveal America’s painful history in Haiti.
Click here to urge President Obama to be open about America’s past in Haiti.
On January 15th, Newsweek published a piece by President Obama entitled “Why Haiti Matters.” In the piece, President Obama wrote of Haiti’s “tragic history,” while also writing that “we do not use our power to subjugate others, we use it to lift them up.”
Unfortunately, past U.S. foreign policy towards Haiti has fallen short of this ideal.
Click here to ask the Obama Administration to be upfront about America’s past in Haiti.
Haiti has long faced challenges of poverty, political instability, and government corruption. As a result, Haiti’s society lacks the government investment and prosperity that it deserves. This, in turn, dramatically increases the human impacts of a natural disaster.
One of the reasons for these trends in Haiti is that other nations have made it tough for good Haitian governments to arise. When Haitian slaves gained independence from France in 1804, our own government refused to recognize the new nation. Slavery was alive and well in the U.S., and Haiti’s example of freedom was not welcomed.
From 1915 to 1934, the U.S. military even occupied Haiti. At that time, the U.S. Congress authorized the creation of the Haitian military, which has yielded dictators and militias in the decades since.
In the 1980s, the U.S. supported Haitian dictator “Baby Doc” Duvalier, until he became too unpopular. In 2004, our government removed Haiti’s elected President Aristide from the country during a Haitian militia rebellion.
President Obama is right to marshal America’s resources to help the Haitian people. He should not, however, ignore our role in Haiti’s challenges. Urge President Obama to be open about this history.
