Haiti: State Against Nation

Not often does high quality history get written from the standpoint of the oppressed poor---the rural peasants of Haiti, in this case.  But Haiti: State Against Nation is such a book.  It could be titled How the Haitian Elite State Oppresses the Peasant Farmer.  The author Trouillot traces the different systems of oppression that the French, Haitian and American elite use to exploit every penny they can from the poor, rural peasant.

1.  1700-1800, French slavery; slave plantations grew sugar and other tropical products for export to France.
2.  1825-1945, French debt slavery; huge extortion payments for the loss of slave property and to keep the French from reinvading.
3.  1804-2016, French and American neocolonialism; they continue to benefit economically as they control the export-import economy that the French originally set up.  They created taxes on imports and exports that discriminate against the peasant.  Customs taxes are the main form of taxation in Haiti.
4.  1957-1986, internal elite and U.S. elite;  Papa Doc, a ruthless dictator, took over Haiti in 1957.  Fidel Castro overthrew a ruthless, U.S. puppet dictator, Baptista, in 1958.  During the Cold War, the U.S. supported any ruler who was anti-communist.  The U.S. did not want Haiti to become communist so we supported evil Papa Doc and Baby Doc.

From slavery to debt slavery to controlled export-import economy to discriminatory customs taxes to U.S. exploitation of the import-export economy.  Systems of oppression were not really eliminated, only redesigned.  Fleeting, partial political freedom was not accompanied by economic justice; therefore, freedom was shallow, illusory.

The book Haiti is a comprehensive discussion of the problem, but it offers no solution.  The Bible has the best, most comprehensive discussion of oppression to be found; also a comprehensive discussion of a solution---jubilee justice/kingdom of God justice for the oppressed poor.

Reread Isaiah 58 and James 2 in The Message.