Thread by @michaelharriot

You can't really be angry about this picture without getting angry about the backstory.

The reason Haiti has refugees is because of the predicament it is in is BECAUSE of the U.S. policy of white supremacy.

A thread.

I have told the story of the Haitian revolution before, but all you need to know is that when enslaved people in Haiti became the first nation in the history of the world to take control of their country, white people were SHOOK.

https://mobile.twitter.com/michaelharriot/status/1344926186389073920

You gotta remember, the distance from Haiti to the US is about the same distance from Charleston to NY - The 2 richest cities in the US

But they couldn't fuck with Haiti's wealth (Remember, before the Revolution, America was a colony. After the revolution, the US was broke AF)

After the American Revolution, what did the US immediately do? They invaded neighboring nations* and took their land and resources
(Your history book probably referred to those nations as "Native American tribes" because white supremacy doesn't allow us to think of them as such)

They could not fathom that other peoples do not have the same colonizer mindset. One dude who hung out in France was completely OBSESSED. He wrote letters telling his friends:

"You know the negroes are gonna come here and kill us, right?"

Some dude named Thomas Jefferson.

But Alexander Hamilton, who grew up in the Caribbean, told the 2nd Pres. John Adams: "Bruh, those dudes ain't bothering nobody. But since y'all so scared, let's just go talk to them."

So they made a deal with Haiti: You don't fuck with our slaves, we will protect you.

Haiti was like: "Bruh, we just defeated Napolean's French forces, the British and the Spanish. We're tired, so ok.

When Jefferson became president no. 3, he bought most of France's land in North America (The Louisiana Purchase) even though France didn't even control most of it

Why? Well, partly because Jefferson was still afraid of a nationwide slave revolt. And since France refused to recognize Haiti's independence, Black people could travel freely from Haiti to the French territory.

But Jefferson didn't stop there.

He convinced Congress to enact a trade embargo on Haiti and not recognize it as a country. Yep, the same motherfuckers talking about "liberty" and "the consent of the governed" conspired against the ONLY OTHER FREE COUNTRY IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE.

But they didn't stop there.

In 1823, president James Monroe essentially said: "If you start some shit in the Americas, you gotta fight us."

The "Monroe Doctrine" applied to ALL the Americas - North America, South America, even the little-known American Eagle Outlets.

In 1825, France sent 2 warships to Haiti to collect 150 million francs ($25 billion today).

Haiti was like: "For what?"
France: Reparations.
Haiti: Maaan, that's old shit. You ever heard of the Monroe Doctrine? When the homies in the US hear y'all over wildin', shit will be on!

When the US heard about it, they were like:

"Oh, when we announced the Monroe Doctrine, we weren't talking about Black-owned countries. See, we got this slavery thing to protect. My bad. Sorry for the confusion.

You should prolly pay them, tho."

forbes.com/sites/realspin…

But they didn't stop there.

Aside from siding with France and forcing Haiti to pay reparations to SLAVEOWNERS, In 1915, the United States came up with a plan.

They were going to rob Haiti.

Seriously. Here's the OFFICIAL version from the US Office of the Historian.

They deposited Haiti's gold into a US financial institution for "safekeeping." Now Haiti had no money, so they had to take out a loan to repay its reparations debt to France

You know, the debt that was enforced by U.S. policy and the World Bank.

But who'd loan them money?

The US institution where they deposited Haiti's stolen gold, of course!

They paid Haiti's debt to France, and Haiti repaid the bank. That's right, Haiti essentially "borrowed" their own money that was stolen from them at gunpoint.

It was a great scam because it was perpetual. See, Haiti wasn't paying the REPARATIONS DEBT. As much as 80% of Haiti's revenue just went to servicing the interest and FEES!

What institution benefitted from this $30 billion heist?

You call it CITIGROUP

bostonreview.net/race/peter-jam…

But they didn't stop there.

After refusing to recognize Haiti's independence for the EXACT SAME KIND OF REVOLUTION as America...

After scamming Haiti into poverty FOR SLAVERY...

After allowing our military to rape and terrorize the country...

After sending forces to Haiti more than a dozen times between 1915-1937.

After doing all of this to the ONLY other independent country in the Americas

After doing all of this secretly and SOLELY because of race...

WE WANTED MORE!

How much more?

All of it.

The Nation wrote:

So the U.S. agreed to remove its forces from Haiti ONLY if they rewrote the Constitution and gave the U.S. TOTAL control of the country's finances and let us choose its president

Again, this is not my version. It's THE OFFICIAL STORY according to the US Office of the Historian

Luckily, Haiti finally became debt-free.

Oh, they didn't repay the debt. The U.S. never made Citibank give back the money. The United Nations never made France stop collecting slavery installments. France just decided to forgive all of Haiti's debt...

Waaay back in 2015.

I know it's a long time ago.

For reference, back in 2015, the charts were dominated by a now-forgotten artist named *checks notes* – Drake and an obscure reality show host named Donald Trump was trying to convince people that elections were stolen (It was a much simpler time)

The U.S. government could have intervened at any time.

To be clear, we wouldn't have had to give Haiti anything
We wouldn't have even had to negotiate with France.

All we EVER had to do STOP.
Stop stealing. Stop enforcing of their debt. Stop invading their country.

Fucking with Haiti didn't help us.

It didn't help us politically. It didn't enrich anyone but private corporations. It didn't make us safer. It didn't even help us diplomatically. There is only ONE LOGICAL reason we did this.

You know why.

That's white supremacy in a nutshell

Most people don't really want anything from anyone except to be left alone. We could thrive if white people just stop fucking with us & our shit!*

*"Our shit" includes our right to vote, indigenous people's land, women's vaginas, LGBTQ sexuality & Black people's humanity

Stop.

And just like white supremacy, standing idly by and doing nothing is the same as choosing a side.

So, yes, Haiti is ravaged by poverty.

Yes, Haitians are fleeing because of unrest and political violence.

But never forget who did it.

theroot.com/as-haiti-burns…

P.S. I accidentally left out one quote that drives home the point. It's from that same article by The Nation detailing the U.S. Military atrocities and its affect on Haiti:

thirdworldtraveler.com/Independent_Me…