[CobraEd]

An eye-opener...question...what can we do...?



> In the 1700’s what is now Haiti was called the “Jewel of the Caribbean,”
and supplied about 40% of the world’s sugar.

> In 1791 the government of France passed legislation to phase out slavery
in its Caribbean colonies and grant the former Negro slaves citizenship.
Rather than becoming citizens, Haiti’s Negro population mass murdered all
whites and Mulattoes who could not flee the Island in time. In 1804 only full
blooded Negros remained and Haiti became the first Negro ruled nation.

The Haitian revolution dominated America’s debate over slavery. While
both the north and the south agreed that slavery should be ended,
southerners and a large percentage of northerners universally opposed
having a large population of freed slaves living in their midst.. The
Haitian “Revolution” was fresh in every one’s mind.

> Flash forward to 1915. The “Jewel of the Caribbean” is now a desolate
cesspool, that is exporting almost no sugar. The United States decides
> to “take up the white man’s burden” and send the US Marine Corps to
rebuild Haiti’s infrastructure and feed it’s starving population.

> The United States gave huge amounts of money to Haiti and over-saw the
building of 1,000 miles of road, telephone lines, modernized its port, and
> helped Haiti to start exporting sugar once again. The US also put an end
to the thousands of bandits along Haiti’s border with the Dominican Republic.
The US left in 1934 at the request of the then stabilized and ungrateful
> Haitian government.

> Haiti immediately sank straight back into total desolation strife. In 1973 the
> United State once again began playing a huge role in Haiti, giving the Island
huge sums of money in handouts each year.

> In 1994 the Clinton administration once again sent the US military to Haiti to
> rebuild the Island’s infrastructure. In 1995 the Peace Corps went to Haiti in
large numbers to train the Haitians in job skills.

The US government spent almost one billion dollars providing
> food and job training to the Haitians between 1995 and 1999.

> So...when Obama said that Haiti has our “full, unwavering, support,” he spoke
truth...they've already had it since 1915.



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