Just a quick media lesson.
Notice this brief Haitian history in this article. Notice how it COMPLETELY jumps over the fact that independent Haiti was intentionally held back by colonial powers determined to keep them in debt and under military control.
This is not an accident.
Notice this brief Haitian history in this article. Notice how it COMPLETELY jumps over the fact that independent Haiti was intentionally held back by colonial powers determined to keep them in debt and under military control.
This is not an accident.
The conventional story, the convenient story, is that Haiti just…can’t get it together. That its people of color were able to fight for independence but unable to maintain working government.
This frame not only hides white supremacist, capitalist oppression, but legitimizes it
This frame not only hides white supremacist, capitalist oppression, but legitimizes it
Accounts of Haitian history in major media almost always gloss over the French putting them in debt for buying their own freedom, how major powers used that debt for leverage, and excuses for racist US invasions and occupations that were treated as “kind” and “paternal.”
The point is this: conventional media history is a story with a purpose. It makes a digestible, US/capitalist friendly reality where messy and true, undisputable facts are almost always paved over in favor of a mythology that perpetuates power and control.
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