Haiti
Subtitle: A Primer on Its Revolution and Diaspora
By: Reginald Mombrun
Publisher: Carolina Academic Press
Published: 2015
Place of publication: Durham, North Carolina
Language: eng
Number of pages: 262
ISBN-13: 9781611631494
Subjects: Politics and government; Social problems; Haitians; Social conditions; Migrations; Revolution, 1791-1804; History
Description: "For some time, Haiti has been described as the poorest nation in the Western hemisphere. Its political upheavals are well known throughout the world and they attract a fair amount of press. Haiti was also one of the wealthiest colonies the world has ever seen and it has been said that up to 20% of France's wealth can be traced to Haiti. What caused Haiti to end up in this situation? Why can't Haitians fix their own country? It is easy to blame Haitians for the country's failures but this would be a short-sighted approach. After its hard fought independence, Haiti had to take on the world leaders of the time who were determined to stifle the slave rebellion and whose rallying cry was that Haiti must fail. Hence, the US imposed an embargo, France demanded repayments for the land it lost (which took Haiti 150 years to repay), and Germany took over Haiti's trade for a time. Could any country survive this organized and sustained rape? While presenting a nuanced discussion of the situation, the author purposely refrains from providing a list of fixes because, ultimately, only Haitians can fix their country and, without a commonly accepted vision, no permanent progress will be made"--From publisher's website.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 235-260) and index.
Table of contents: title: Birth of the nation : the bloody and successful slave rebellion; title: The ascendancy and demise of Toussaint L'Ouverture; title: Born to fail? : the world versus Haiti; title: Haiti is dealt a near death blow : the Duvalier regimes (1957-1986); title: I am not my brother's keeper : Haiti's deep social divide; title: the Haitian diaspora; title: The proper role of the Haitian diaspora; title: Results of a survey on the Haitian diaspora.