The United States' short and long-term humanitarian responses to the earthquake in Haiti must take into account Haitian history, a group of professors said Thursday at a panel, "Perspectives on Haiti: An Interdisciplinary Discussion of the Haitian Revolution."
The panelists included Chantalle Verna, professor of history and international relations at Florida International University, Neil Roberts, professor of Africana Studies and political science at Williams College, and Keith Walker, professor of French and Italian at Dartmouth.
Understanding the factors that caused Haiti's existing infrastructure problems would help international responders to better frame their attitudes as they approach the current recovery crisis, Verna said.
When considering its response, the United States should "see the ways in which there are recurring themes from that longer [Haitian] history, and the ways in which we can pay attention to those common themes, and take caution to avoid difficulties that have transpired in the past on what has been often times a very unequal playing field [between countries]," Verna said.
Haitian autonomy must be preserved in dialogue among Haitian and international officials, Verna said. Haiti's past struggles with imperialism have compromised its ability to build strong national infrastructure, she said.
"We must look for direction from the Haitian leadership," she said.
Haiti's international financial ties should be analyzed so that responders can better comprehend the country's current situation and form a proper future financial plan, panelists said.
A history of debt to foreign nations, dating back more than 200 years to reparation payments set by France after the Haitian Revolution, have diverted valuable resources away from developing the country's infrastructure, panelists said. International loans have also saddled the country with trade agreement obligations that allow for open foreign investment, which discourages the use of local resources, Roberts said.
Haiti is also particularly vulnerable to certain types of natural disasters and the consequences of global climate change, which must be factored into reconstruction efforts, Roberts said.
Roberts, in an interview with The Dartmouth, advocated the development of Haitian institutional structures.
Many of the institutions created in the United States during and after the Great Depression remain integral to American society, he said.
Roberts also condemned "civilizationism, the idea that [Group of 8] nations are in some sense bringing civilization to the natives, that this is really how a lot of the financial institutions work."
Haiti provides an obvious example of how this logic has played out, he said.
The panelists also considered the media response to the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti.
Verna noted a report that stated that the international community must encourage Haitians to value education more. Yet education is already highly valued in Haiti, Verna said, and people make great sacrifices to obtain it for their children. It is quality education, rather, that needs development and expansion, she said.
Roberts also noted how information has been disseminated differently, contrasting the constant stream of images presented in news coverage with the Vietnam War, in which images were sometimes censored.
Roberts said that he considered titling his portion of the lecture "Haiti Beyond Anderson Cooper 360,' mainly because I've been fascinated and also troubled by the pure spectacle of dead bodies that has become normalized on the screen."
The efficacy of nongovernmental organizations in Haiti must also be examined, Verna said, to find out "whether or not their primary function is actually to service development in society or to basically bankroll high-salaried experts".
The panelists discussed the history of the Haitian Revolution in detail and analyzed the long-term effects of colonialism and slavery on Haiti as a nation.
Literary representations of the Haitian Revolution center on history and the "articulation of the perennial," Walker said.
The literature of the Haitian Revolution deals with the tumult and rebirth involved in reconstruction and with surviving, he said, both of which are deeply applicable to Haiti's current situation.
The panel was the first of a series on Haiti co-sponsored by the African and African-American Studies Program, the John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding and the Latin American, Latino, and Carribean Studies Program. It was held in the Haldeman Center.
