The enemy within; the insular mulatto class

By Max A. Joseph Jr


The enemy within: the insular mulatto class



In August of 1791, when the slaves revolted against the harsh conditions imposed on them by the French at Saint Domingue, present-day Haiti, their greatest challenge was not France’s determination to keep the colony at all cost but the treacherous attitude of the enfranchised and educated mulattoes who were also fighting the French, albeit for a different agenda. Had Toussaint Louverture (1743-1803) with the help of the ruthless Dessalines (1758-1806) not move to neutralize the duplicity of the mulattoes, slavery would have survived at Saint Domingue well into the end of 19th century. Needless to say, the 1801 preemptive strike against the mulatto chief, André Rigaud (1761-1811), guaranteed the success of an insurrection whose seminal place in world history is a testament of Toussaint’s vision and Dessalines’ ruthlessness.

Naturally the actions of Toussaint and Dessalines did overthrow French rule and secure freedom for the slaves, but unfortunately never assuaged the mulattoes’ sense of entitlement that was to set the country on the path of destruction immediately after its independence from France in 1804. Indignant over majority rule and insecure about their relatively insignificant number (less than 5% of the population), the mulattoes brutally assassinated Jean-Jacques Dessalines, founder and emperor of Haiti, on October 17, 1806. This incomprehensible act, the result of the mulattoes’ unwarranted mistrust of the black majority and unquenchable thirst for control, has since become the motto by which they operate. The February 29, 2004 invasion of Haiti by French and U.S forces is a palpable example of this policy that puts the interests of this insular group ahead of those of the country. Despite the inhumane conditions existing in Haiti and because of the absence of a strategy, the process of rectification was brutally halted in 1991 and again in 2004.

A fallacy by any definition, the notion of Haiti being a failed state is a figment in the imagination of the international community, which always counted on the machinations of these malevolent insiders to derail the aspirations of the Haitian people. The coups of 1991 and 2004, which clearly highlighted Haiti’s social divide, were part of a constant and coordinated assault meant to bring the population into submission.

The mulattoes’ temerity notwithstanding, the political class (Préval and others) is furthering the disenfranchising of the black majority by consenting to the privatization project, conceived by the international community, and turning the state into a simple security contractor, responsible for enforcement. When the earthquake struck on January 12 and the government needed empty space to relocate the homeless, the group, which comprises Haiti’s largest landowners, resisted. Too feeble to seize the lands on “national emergency” ground and determined not to displease the international community, the group’s protector, the Préval government abandoned the relocation project and ordered the homeless to return to their unsteady and dilapidated homes. It is to be expected that the prime estate lands in downtown Port-au-Prince, owned mostly by the poor, will be arbitrarily requisitioned for the reconstruction project.

Not surprisingly, the project of Reconstruction of Haiti, which is being funded and supervised by the international community naturally favors the mulattoes. With its emphasis on privatization of the remaining state assets and a robust security apparatus, the project will cement the group’s control over the country’s economy and dissuade the black majority from protesting. In the meantime, the structural sides of the project, complete with reports about the resurgence of criminal gangs and the good works of foreign missionaries (the peddlers of the gospel of resignation) are being presented to the world by an unsuspecting or rather cooperating media.

Blaming Haiti’s pitiful situation on the uncompromising attitude of the mulattoes and the vindictiveness of the international community, which never forgave the slaves’ impertinence, does not however tell the whole story. The destruction of the country has been, through the years, aided and abetted by the thoroughly westernized intelligentsia, which could not see itself as the voice of the mostly illiterate and poor black majority. Paradoxically, it was the U.S occupation (1915-34) during which mulatto control was institutionalized that finally nudged the intelligentsia into fulfilling their duty as the moral conscience of the nation.

Jean Price Mars (1876-1969), Jacques Roumain (1907-44), Jacques Stephen Alexis (1922-61), Maurice Sixto (1919-84) and Francois “Papa Doc” Duvalier (1907-71) were the creation of that era. While this Renaissance period eventually fizzled, many attributed it to the combined rule of Francois Duvalier and his son Jean-Claude (1957-71), its premise (black liberation, social justice and renewal of the Haitian spirit) lives in the hearts and mind of those who still nurture the dream of a sovereign and proud Haiti. The paternalism of the international community, despite René Préval and his army of collaborators, must be exposed as what it is: a desire to control the destiny of the Haitian nation at all costs.

The assassination of Dessalines (the nation’s founding father 1806), the ceding of Haitian territory to the Dominican Republic (1929) and the current occupation (2004-?) are abominations committed against the interests of the Haitian nation that clearly identify the mulattoes as the enemy within. The group and its allies (Gerard Gourges and other abdicators) will certainly not have the last word on the future of a nation founded with the blood and sweats of indomitable humans who had the audacity of confronting and defeating injustice against all odds. A just cause is a just cause.

Wanted: an intelligentsia with a new attitude

Among the greatest tragedies in human history that caused a persecuted group to finally take control of its destiny was the Holocaust (1938-45); the unforgettable episode during which 6 million Jews were mercilessly murdered by the citizens of one of the most cultured nations on this planet, namely Germany. Though no other group of people may ever experience the calamitous history of the Jewish nation, Haitians, by virtue of an unrelenting campaign against their culture and way of life that is entering its third century (1804-?), ought to be considered a not so distant second.

          One can only hope that the January 12th earthquake that catapulted Haiti into the world’s consciousness serves as a catalyst for Haitians to, at last, wrestle control of their destiny from any enemy, foreign and domestic, since indolence could lead to worst forms of persecutions. Attributing Haiti’s poverty to mismanagement, corruption, political strife or a Voodoo curse is as absurd as the occupiers’ purported claim of wanting to save Haiti. A more insightful analysis of the situation must factor the economic embargoes, political isolation, paternalism, extortions, military threats and invasions to which Haiti has been subjected throughout its existence as punishments for the unpardonable offense of getting rid of slavery earlier than the slave-owning nations would have wanted.  

            The analogy with the Jewish people’s documented torments is unmistakable. As with the Jewish people, the spirit of entrepreneurship and the pursuit of excellence are second nature to Haitians. Like the Jewish Diaspora before the creation of the State of Israel on May 16th 1948, Haitians thrive in any category outside their natural habitat. As is the case with the Jewish people, Haitians are invariably perceived by many as abnormal and, in the most extreme cases, dangerous species that ought to be eliminated. And finally, like the Jewish people, the Haitians’ only crime is an eternal attachment to their culture, which remains in conflict with the cryptic march toward an imposed universality in thinking and way of life. Fortunately for the Jews, their intelligentsia never wavered in the belief that Judaism was intrinsically connected to the survival of their nation, and thus became the vanguard of a movement (Zionism) that culminated in the rebirth of the State of Israel. Today the State of Israel is firmly in control of its destiny and there can be any doubt that the era of persecutions and mass murders of Jews is finally over.

          But unlike the Jewish people’s ardent desire for self-emancipation that came true on May 16th 1948, the Haitian people’s perennial aspiration to be left alone may not be forthcoming in the near future because of the servile attitude that permeates Haiti’s intelligentsia. This purported pillar of society, upon whose shoulders rest the aspirations of the Haitian people, has become so disconnected with the reality that it has been unable to understand the incompatibility of occupation and sovereignty. Even the most absurd arguments put forward by the occupiers escape the attention of the intelligentsia or, more to the point, receive its unconditional blessing. Perhaps the notion of Haiti being “a threat to international peace and security” as decreed by the U.N Security Council in 2004 may be rooted in the perception that we are a nation of idiots that needs to be educated and brought up to the standard of the civilized world.  

          For a nation facing a bleak future after the epic tragedy of January 12th that erases 2 percent of its population, a self-introspection is needed because its very existence and purpose are being swamped under the weight of foreign-funded and controlled NGOs operating as the country’s de facto administrators. For example, hundreds of millions of dollars are being raised in the name of Haiti and its people, yet the Haitian government, the lawful representative of the nation, is excluded from the deliberations about how that money should be spent. Far from being an apologist for the Haitian government, whose conduct during the tragedy epitomizes everything that is wrong with government, it is obvious that the UN-mandated experiment (2004-?) was a factor in its impotence, notwithstanding the incompetence and indifference of its members.

            Most Haitians, from the lowly peasants struggling for a daily meal to the urbane and cosmopolitan members of the Diaspora, seem resigned to the fact that their beloved country no longer belongs to them. As fate would have it, this sentiment of hopelessness is being helped by the compromising attitude of the intelligentsia that robs the nation of its fighting spirit and raison d’être. Deprived of the moral guidance and leadership of its intelligentsia, Haiti has been turned into a magnet for sexual predators, child traffickers, peddlers of the gospel of resignation (church missionaries), and a U.N Security Council-mandated experiment that threatens its very existence, hence the need for a rebirth of the Dessalinian spirit.

        As penuries and the blatant paternalism of the occupiers become unbearable to the population in the near future, Haiti’s intelligentsia may find itself sidetracked once more by an unknown leader as was the case with Jean Bertrand Aristide in the late 1980’s. In all likelihood, this group, which has incidentally absolved itself of its prerogatives, would react with scorn and vindictiveness toward whomever trying to fill the void. Their voice however could be irrelevant at this juncture because Haitians, like the Jews, would have already decided “enough is enough.”