Reparations: Haiti is Long Overdue

By Blake / The New 3Rs Class of 2021

When I think of Haiti I think of Cassava Pone, a Caribbean dessert enjoyed by many who are Americans now, whose elders were born in the Caribbean. Cassava, fishing, coffee, and gold were the economy. The Bahamas, Cuba, Hispaniola (now Haiti and the Dominican Republic), and Jamaica were the lands of Indigenous People. Mostly, Arawak which was until white people slaughtered them for their gold. The French, the British, and the Spaniards wanted all the natural resources of the Caribbean without working for it or paying for it. They enslaved us from countries in Africa and brought us to the Caribbean to build their wealth and killed us because we demanded to be respected.

In the 1700s, Haiti was a French colony with about 500,000 enslaved Africans. At the start of the Age of Exploration, most of the Indigenous people of Haiti were killed by European diseases. The French stole from Haiti and the people from Africa were enslaved for profits from the Commercial Revolution. This was when international trade replaced land ownership as the primary method of acquiring wealth. Haiti was France’s most profitable colony, specifically because of its sugar and coffee. The people of Haiti wanted to end their control, abolish slavery, and receive independence. A former Haitian slave named Toussaint L’Ouverture helped lead a slave uprising, the Haitian Revolution, and abolished slavery in Haiti. While he did not survive the revolution, he also, along with Jean-Jacque Dessalines helped Haiti gain its independence from France, that they so deserved.

Haiti became the first independent Black republic in the world. After Haiti gained its independence, they were able to maintain it because a Haitian soldier named Henri Christophe created a fortress in case someone attempted to invade again. It was the largest fortress in the western hemisphere. The Haitians destroyed their plantations because they did not want to be reminded of slavery and the hardships they had to go through. 

In response to the Revolution,  France demanded reparations for its losses and threatened blockade if the Haitians refused, which meant sealing off Haiti so nobody would be able to enter or leave, thus no trade. It took over six generations for Haiti to pay France what is estimated today to be $21 billion in reparations. Haiti has been suffering since its independence. France ended up making Haiti the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.

France must repay Haiti for the enslavement of Black people and preventing Haiti from having the best hospitals, universities, and lives. France owes Haiti more than $21 billion and this earthquake is the time for France to do more than food and water! France must replenish the agriculture of Haiti, build schools, hospitals, homes, etc that can survive earthquakes and hurricanes, and return $21 Billion! Black people gave the world its inventions and its wealth! Whether we live in Haiti or not, every nation that benefited from enslaving Black people has centuries of debt to pay.