It’s true that some black Americans have family ties to Haiti. It’s also true that all black Americans share African ancestry with most of the Haiti people. This, of course, is no different than talking about the plight of any African nation: many black Americans will feel particular connection to, and concern for, an African nation in trouble, while others will not. In general, my sense is that black Americans are more likely to feel this sort of connection to African nations than white Americans are to feel this way towards European nations. We could explore why this is, but I think it has everything to do with race in our politics and our society.

In any case, I think the connection you’re describing to Haiti goes well beyond the relatively small number of Americans with family ties to Haiti, or to the response of black Americans to a catastrophe in most African nations.

I suspect that it’s the history of Haiti, and its historical connection to the U.S., which provides a more powerful connection for black America, and it’s certainly this connection which is more directly related to the theme of this blog, the history and legacy of slavery in the U.S.

I agree wholeheartedly that the history of Haiti and slavery is both a terrible commentary on how Europe and the U.S. dealt with slavery in the 18th and 19th centuries, and an inspirational story, both then and now, of how enslaved peoples have responded to their captivity.

I can’t agree with you, however, about the role of Haiti’s example in inspiring the end of slavery in the U.S. Denmark Vesey, and others like him, did not bring about emancipation. The South was not pressured into ending slavery by failed revolts, nor did these uprisings cause the South to secede from the Union, or the Union to finally settle, in 1865, on ending slavery at the end of the Civil War.

I do agree that Haiti’s revolution had important consequences for the U.S., including perhaps making possible the Louisiana purchase, and certainly in reinforcing slavery in the U.S., by demonstrating the commitment of the community of sovereign nations to the principle that no black nation would be tolerated and no slave revolt recognized.

I suspect the majority of white folks up in New England are too busy inventing a glorified history of abolitionism to recognize any of those facts.

Despite having disagreed with you about Haiti inspiring U.S. emancipation, I want to affirm that the glorious history of abolitionism in New England is largely a myth, and certainly played little direct role in the emancipation of northern or southern slaves.

Their invisibility on your blog is what prompted me to say something.

Thanks so much, Tiffany, for being willing to say this. I don’t agree, as you know, that I should necessarily have reported on the victims of the earthquake on this blog, given its subject matter, or that the plight of Haiti’s people is as parallel to that of black Americans as you believe. But I am very glad that you’ve raised this issue, and that my readers will have the chance to judge for themselves.

I do believe, of course, that Haiti’s history was profoundly shaped by slave traders like the DeWolfs. I also believe that Haiti’s history reveals much about how slavery operated in the Americas. Where we differ most, I suspect, is that I believe Haiti’s subsequent history, and its present predicament, have at least as much to do with how the U.S. has historically treated nations in its own back yard, and with universal issues of political and economic development, as it does with slavery and the revolt from France. This isn’t to say, though, that the latter issues aren’t still important in Haitian society, or that we couldn’t draw useful parallels between U.S. and Haitian society in terms of how race and the legacy of slavery play out.

I also want to affirm, as clearly as I can, that racial inequality and prejudice, and their effects today, are at the heart of this blog’s subject matter. So the role of race in Hurricane Katrina would be entirely on point here, and to the extent that this blog explores international issues which parallel the legacy of slavery and race in the U.S., the role of slavery and race in Haiti’s current situation are entirely appropriate here, as well.

By the way, the NY Times today offered an interesting piece on Haiti’s past

Thanks for sharing that with the rest of us, Tiffany. That op-ed is still in my inbox to read this morning, and I’ve been collecting a couple of observations and insights since you first posted. I’ll see if I can come up with anything that seems new enough to be worthwhile to post here about Haiti.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/22/opinion/22danner.html

You write, “[The Haitian earthquake] occurred in another country and has no obvious and immediate connection to the inequality currently facing Americans.” This may be true for white Americans, but when it comes to black people in the U.S., I disagree for two reasons:

First, Black Americans are connected to Haiti because many of us have family ties there, whether that means close relatives or the kind of kinship that is based on shared African ancestry. Yes there are issues of colorism, but that should come as no surprise. Such is the legacy of slavery and white supremacy.

Second, Haiti is significant to Black Americans because of its history. Without Haiti, there would have been no Denmark Vesey. Without Haiti, slavery in the United States may have continued well into the 20th century and perhaps beyond. Some would argue that without Haiti, there would have been no Louisiana Purchase. But I suspect the majority of white folks up in New England are too busy inventing a glorified history of abolitionism to recognize any of those facts.

So yes Haiti is a different country, but thanks to slave traders like the DeWolf family, the fate of Black people in Haiti and Black people in the United States is really not as disparate as some may imagine. It is no coincidence that many of the pictures that began pouring out of Haiti 10 days ago are reminiscent of Hurricane Katrina. In fact, the people of Haiti and the large numbers of poor African Americans in the U.S. have yet another thing in common: They are largely invisible until disaster strikes.

Their invisibility on your blog is what prompted me to say something.

Thanks for your replies to my comments. I support your efforts here.

In other words, I think you’re absolutely right to say that we always need to bear in mind the “real issues affecting people of color,” which you define as “the economic and ideological forces that create inequality.”

However, you dismiss as a distraction the views of one of the most senior American politicians on race and politics, and the reactions to his views, which I think reflect ideological forces directly impacting black Americans.

Meanwhile, your central point was that the earthquake in Haiti is a prime example of one of those “real issues” affecting black Americans. Yet that disaster occurred in another country and has no obvious and immediate connection to the inequality currently facing Americans.

I agree that foreign events such as a natural disaster are important issues for Americans to address, and as I said in those two sentences, “I think you have good reason for saying” that Haiti is a legitimate issue for black Americans. I’m just not sure the reasons why are simple or unproblematic, or are at all obvious to most Americans.

In fact, this blog’s title, “The Living Consequences,” is taken from a somewhat similar lament of mine in the documentary Traces of the Trade. In that moment, we’re being filmed in a hotel room and the suggestion has made, quite strongly, that white people need to concentrate on gathering in whites-only groups to talk through white feelings about the legacy of slavery and the slave trade. My suggestion is that this approach risks being “self-indulgent,” and that we should focus instead on the “living consequences” of that history for people today.

However, one premise of this blog is that the legacy of slavery and race cannot be properly addressed unless more Americans understand our history of race and how it has impacted our society. This means not only understanding the material impact of that legacy for our society (and other societies, including Haiti), but also understanding the ways in which historical myths and misconceptions cloud our ability to see how, and why, race affects society today.

As I tried to explain in my two posts on the Reid controversy, I do believe it’s a red herring manufactured by his opponents on the right, but I also believe that this was a “teachable moment” about certain sensitivities around race. I also believe that these issues, and that fact that this could become a controversy at all, help us to understand how our racial discourse serves to distract us from properly understanding and addressing the legacy of race for our society.

So I agree that most black people have bigger problems than Reid’s remarks. But I also think that we aren’t going to be able to tackle prejudice, or poverty and neglect, or crime, or other issues without ensuring that more people can see through the myths and red herrings that surround issues of race in this country.

As for the devastating earthquake in Haiti, I didn’t blog about that event simply because I didn’t believe that I had any useful insights to offer, and no time mid-week to write an essay on the role that slavery and the slave trade played in Haiti’s history and continue to play in its circumstances. If I were going to write a post on Haiti that would be relevant to this blog, in fact, I might have chosen to tackle the question of why it is that someone could suggest, in all seriousness, that Haiti is a “real issue” affecting black Americans today, as opposed to what their own leaders think and say about black citizens in private. While I think you have good reason for saying so, I think the answers aren’t at all obvious to many Americans, and might help some readers understand more about how race is viewed in the U.S. today.

My issue is this: Identity politics have become a way of distracting us from the real issues affecting people of color. When I say “real issues,” I mean the economic and ideological forces that create inequality. So instead of having what I would consider to be a meaningful conversation about the legacy of slavery, we end up embroiled in discussions that skirt around the subject, like whether or not it is politically correct to use the term “Negro” or “Light-skinned.” I can assure you that most Black people have bigger problems to deal with than whether or not Harry Reid used either of those terms in a book he wrote. Michael Steel is an obvious exception.

That is why it seemed surprising to me that your blog, which is supposed to be about the living consequences of the slave trade, mentioned nothing about the disaster in Haiti on the day it occurred and instead focused on the Reid controversy… something that appears to me to be a red herring manufactured by the right-wing.

Tiffany, I appreciate that this is “just” about racial identity and identity politics, and it can seem trivial in comparison to a natural disaster like Haiti’s earthquake, with estimates at this hour of perhaps a half-million dead.

On the other hand, issues of racial identity and racial injustice affect many millions of people in profound ways every day. So I don’t believe we should simply ignore the issue, and I don’t believe I should suspend my efforts in this regard, any more than teachers in the U.S. would suspend their classes because of the news out of Haiti.

In fact, as I watch the horrifying images coming out of Port-au-Prince, I’m constantly reminded of how this disaster relates to race. Haiti is the most impoverished nation in the Western Hemisphere, and political turmoil has left the nation devoid of most of the infrastructure other nations take for granted. There’s little question that the death toll from this earthquake will, in the end, be much higher because of Haiti’s circumstances.

Why is Haiti’s situation what it is? The answer lies largely in race. Haiti’s people are primarily descended from slaves imported into the French colony, and the revolt of those slaves led to the establishment of the first black republic. The subsequent history of how that nation’s independence was treated by other sovereign states, and how race has impacted Haiti’s interactions with the U.S. and other nations ever since, has been central to how Haiti arrived at its present condition.

I think it’s also safe to say that race will be a significant factor in how the outside world responds to the catastrophe in Haiti in the days and weeks ahead.

The real living consequences of slavery are to be found on the front page of the NY Times today. Please keep Haiti in your prayers and consider sending them support.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/livecoverage/2010/01/haiti_earthquake_how_to_help.html?hpid=topnews