In November I had the opportunity to visit Haiti. I was somewhat reluctant to go (my third trip abroad in one year), but am now so glad to have gone there and connected with some wonderful people. It happened that my friends, Berry and Peter Rice (who work with a mission in northern Haiti: www.bethlehemministry.org) would be down there, as well as Fr. Richard and Barbara Banks (Richard my former housemate and colleague at Grace Church and wife Barbara who was stationed with USAID in Haiti) . We all spent Thanksgiving together. I was able to see Port au Prince before it was destroyed. I will especially cherish my time in the national museum and in the Episcopal Cathedral with its distinctive murals. They were destroyed. Yes, there was great poverty there; yes, there was much corruption; yes, there were great and unjust disparities among different classes of Haitians. Yet, it was also a society that was proud of its heritage, and there was a complex and rich social fabric, and many very positive things which give me hope for the future. Having spent time in a small town in northern Haiti observing rural poverty, in the urban slums of Port au Prince and Cap Haitian, and in wealthy enclaves such as the Pétionville section of Port au Prince (where my embassy friends lived), I feel I saw a significant cross-section of the country. It appears that all the people whom I met there have survived the earthquake.
Of the several Caribbean countries that I have visited in the last 10 years, I felt, oddly, the most at home in Haiti. This was more so than even the neighboring Dominican Republic or Honduras (New Orleans is the third largest Honduran city in the world - and I had a lot of Hondurans in my congregation at Grace Church). I had a similar feeling in Havana, when I was there two years ago. There is, of course, an ancient and well-known connection between Haiti, Cuba, and New Orleans - but also there is a commonality in the present.
New Orleans, like Haiti and (to some extent) Cuba, are social pariahs in the mainstream Western (American-dominated) culture. Race plays a significant role in this. But also culture and religion. Haiti is an outcast in Latin America partly due to speaking French (and Creole) in the midst of a Spanish-speaking world, but at a more primal level, it was is a republic of black former slaves - the lowest end of the socio-racial spectrum in the Americas. New Orleans is an outsider in the North American context, and though French is hardly heard here, the French/Latin influence in the culture of both the White and Black communities, and in our laws and practices is still very palpable. Cuba, although a very proud and successful country - even today, is a pariah state from an US-American point of view. The criticisms and prejudices which New Orleans endures in the US-American context are also endured by Haiti. We even share some of the same critics and friends.
Among the critics is the Rev. Pat Robertson, who has done it again. The poor man appears congenitally incapable of understanding suffering, and the theological concept of theodicy. Robertson makes the idiotic "Kurzschluß" that a natural disaster such as this earthquake in Port au Prince is God's judgment for the Haitian revolution of the 1790s. The attack on Sept. 11, 2001, and Hurricane Katrina were also interpreted as God's judgement for past wrongs. I highly recommend a sermon published by Bishop Dan Edwards of the Diocese of Nevada on Robertson's chronic misuses of theological concepts such as providence, judgement, and theodicy. http://bdsermons.blogspot.com/2010/01/pat-robertson-dietrich-bonhoeffer-god.html
Among the friends is General Russel Honoré (sometimes called the man who saved New Orleans) on CNN (on Friday, Jan. 15) regarding repeating the mistake of having fearful security people running the recovery operation and the resultant slow pace of starting relief operations: "Same thing they said about New Orleans - just because the people are poor, doesn't mean they are dangerous." Just as in New Orleans, the relief operations were hampered and delayed (and people died) because of the perception that it was a dangerous place. In New Orleans, this notion was fostered by the media who continually looped a few examples of looting and what looked like violence, and made it look as if the entire city were rioting, pillaging and raping. Nothing was further from the truth, even in horrible places such as the Superdome and the Convention Center. There were just poor people - many of them Black - caught in a horrible situation, awaiting rescue. Relief waited days, even weeks, because of this misperception. General Honoré recognized this and knew that the purported dangers were completely overblown. He notes the same thing is happening in Port au Prince. Just because people are poor, Black, and desperate does not make them dangerous. Yet, that same perception is there. Thank you Gen. Honoré for raising the issue.
In New Orleans, some significant systemic changes have come about as a result of the disaster. Vast resources and much goodwill have poured into our region. Many new and enduring relationships have been formed. For this we are very grateful. May the same happen with the good people of Haiti - and may things eventually be "mo-betta" as we have learned to say about our experience here. This will be a long way off. It is four-and-a-half years since our disaster occurred and much remains to be done.
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