So I'm pretty sure the two most volatile words on campus right now are Spike and Lee. Just muttering the name brings on a wave of emotions, opinions, and passionate (almost violent) discussions. But these differing opinions and ideas aren't what have me upset. What really has my blood boiling is what some uppers said during their discussion with Spike Lee. At multiple times, students stood up and questioned the importance of (what seems to them as irrelevant) history. The fact that PA students question something as vital and important as history shames and embarrasses the entire school and everything it strives for. While history may seem irrelevant to them, the truth is that every event today has its origins in the events of the past. I can think of no better example than Haiti, and the resulting devastation of last week's earthquake. The news has been filled with the struggling aid relief and the inability of Haiti to cope with this natural disaster. But as many articles present Haiti as the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, few discuss the reasons behind such immense poverty.
Before Haiti was Haiti it was Saint-Domingue, one of the most lucrative French colonies in the West Indies. In 1791 the colony's slave population launched the world's only successful slave revolt and established the first black republic. But after that success, a series of events condemned Haiti to centuries of poverty and suffering. In 1825, France demanded Haiti to pay 150 million francs as compensation for the lost land. Haiti took enormous loans from several European countries and the United States in order to pay off this debt. The debt was eventually reduced to 60 million francs plus interest, but it wasn't until 1947 that Haiti paid it off. But the economic problems were not over. The absurd interest rates on the loans taken from other countries (including the USA) have built and built into a massive debt that to this day has not been paid off. Paying off these debts to foreign nations has crippled and stunted the Haitian economy that has never really been allowed to function normally. These historical events heavily contributed to Haiti's inability to provide disaster relief to its people.
Haiti's political system, like its economic, has been filled with tumultuous events. In the early 20th century, the United States occupied Haiti for two decades. Two of Haiti's most infamous rulers François Duvalier and his son Jean-Claude Duvalier controlled the country for three decades amid allegations of human rights abuses. Ever since then Haiti has alternated between military coups and civilian control.
Despite reading many articles on the recent earthquake, I had to search through the archives to find any references to Haiti's turbulent economic and political history. But why is this the case? Why does the media categorize history as unnewsworthy? Maybe the news wants to portray the United States as a valiant country coming to Haiti's rescue, as opposed to a superpower trying to clean up some of the mess it helped create. Maybe the drive for ratings has caused news stations to focus more on "breaking news" as opposed to relevant history. But either way, the history that led up to an event is crucial to understanding it and how to move forward in the future. And if the media won't spoon feed it to us then its our responsibility to search for it ourselves.
Works Cited:
The Washington Post "France asks Haiti's creditors: cancel debt quickly"
The New York Times "Haiti"
No comments:
Post a Comment