14739: Dorvilus: Slavery exists in Haiti today. Did you know that? (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Arsene Dorvilus <arsenedorvilus@phayze.com>

As I read more and more messages - and receive more and more e-mails -
about celebrating this, celebrating that, I cannot help but think that, if
we Haitians have some sense, we shouldn't celebrate anything at all this
year or next. Instead, we should take the time to look into ourselves and
determine whether we have the courage to root out one of the vilest forms
of slavery that manking has ever established. I am talking about enslaving
children. As long as we do not eradicate one way or the other this
phenomenon called RESTAVEK, we have no right to celebrate anything.

It is ironic, and indeed painful, that TV5 (the channel of Francophonie
that is broadcast in Haiti), showed last night a documentary on the
Restavek phenomenon. I was ashamed of what we as a nation have failed to
accomplish after 200 years. Not because of the poverty or the lack of
development (although that is a cause for concern), but because we have
allowed , indeed we have actively participated in recreating a social
scourge called Slavery within our society, the very notion that our
ancestors fought against. More painful even was the fact that this
documentary was created by none other than two French journalists, France
being the country that established slavery on the island and against which
we fought. How belittling then to be reminded by them that we too have
managed to establish exactly what we accused them of having done to us.
Worse yet, we are enslaving children, who are helpless, totally exploited,
and physically and mentally abused when we should be providing them with
the ultimate protection so that they can believe in a better future. The
images were telling, the interviews heartbreaking, and the very
matter-of-fact attitude of the grown-ups who appeared in this documentary
downright revolting.

Some people have been talking about this for years. NCHR has a project on
this, so do other organizations. But the acceptance of this form of slavery
is so widespread that we often don't think about it, or totally ignore it.
When it is estimated that as many as 250,000 children may be restaveks, I
think we should pause and ponder whether we as a society can really do
anything positive when we allow such misery and exploitation to occur in
our midst.

If we have any bit of conscience and humanity in us, I just don't see how
we can think of celebrating anything right now.  A "free" nation we are,
indeed!

By the way, the piece on the Restavek was produced by France 2 as part of
its "Envoye Special"  weekly series that is shown on Thursdays. It is
broadcast by TV5 in Haiti.

----------------------------------------------
Original Message
From: "Bob Corbett"<corbetre@webster.edu>
Subject: 14734:  Schuller: proposed Haiti session at AAAs (fwd)
Date: Fri, 7 Feb 2003 14:00:40 -0600 (CST)

>
>From: Mark Schuller <marky@umail.ucsb.edu>
>
>Bonswa,
>
>I am wondering what kind of interest there is on this list for a panel
>reflecting about Haiti's bicentennial at this year's American
Anthropological
>Association meetings in Chicago.  I have contacted scholars from Haiti's
>Faculte d'Ethnologie to present their research.
>
>Here is a working intro to the panel:
>
>2004 marks the bicentennial of Haiti’s independence.  Next year’s
bicentennial
>highlights both the singularity of the achievement of Haiti’s
independence, the
>first time in history when former slaves threw out their colonial masters
and
>established a free nation, as well as it highlights the ambiguities and
limits
>of that independence. Today, as two hundred years ago, Haiti’s position in
the
>world system is marginal, a product of racism and exploitation and the
>development of capitalism and colonialism.  Cast in another way, Haiti is
an
>extraordinary yet all-too-common example of the awkward relationship
between
>global forces and local civic activity.
>
>I have contacted several sections within the AAA and there seems to be
interest
>in such a session.  What i am not sure about now is whether there is
sufficient
>interest for a double session or simply a single session.
>
>In any case, most of the sections need to know the participant names and
topics
>by the 15th of February.
>
>Topics of papers can include (or have been proposed so far):
>
>Structural adjustment
>Grassroots organizations
>relationship between foreign donors and Haitian NGOs
>Role of the Diaspora in Haiti's independence
>Cultural independence: kreyol, vodou, as resistance to U.S. hegemony
>Race and racial politics as they are shaped / shape Haiti's position in
world
>system
>
>If you have an idea for a paper, please e-mail me ASAP and we can discuss
>timeline and strategy, and how the panel is shaping up.
>
>Mesi.
>
>marky@umail.ucsb.edu
>
>--
>Mark  :0
>
>L'UNION FAIT LA FORCE
>Be the change you want in this world
>
>
>
>

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