What does a bunch of dead (Fill in pejorative term for Blacks here.) in Haiti have to do with me?Well, nothing really.
But if you feel inclined to help your own (However you chose to define that.) this Monday, why not take part in the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service.
http://www.mlkday.gov/
Oh wait... this day honors another dead (Fill in pejorative term for Blacks here.) as well?
Next thing you know, they'll be in the White House too.
Some charities are better and more efficient than others.
But don't hate on Wyclef Jean and Yele before taking a look at the Red Cross.
http://socialistworker.org/2005-2/562/562_04_RedCross.shtml
Most of your money may get to Haiti - but don't count on it.
One hundred million to Haiti?
http://www.globalissues.org/article/35/us-and-foreign-aid-assistance#ForeignAidNumbersinChartsandGraphs
According to this site, the largest beneficiary of US aid (direct aid, World Bank, World Monetary Fund and United Nations) is Iraq - followed by Nigeria, Afghanistan, China, Indonesia, Cameroon, India, Sudan, Vietnam and Tanzania.
(But the chart fails to include Israel's estimated 4 billion dollar annual aid through direct cash funds and joint projects.)
On the world stage - $100 million is really not that much.
And the net effect of much of this aid is the transference of wealth from poorer countries back to the richer ones. (Kind of a Rent-To-Own on a global scale.)
I don't jump on the bandwagon that believes that all help must come from within any certain group.
I understand the long term social impact of having one group always on the receiving end while the other seems to always be on the giving end.
But in Haiti - would it make any sense for the country to refuse help from all others and hope that only Blacks will rush to the aid of a destitute people?
But if one cannot help others - just take the Holiday to help those within your own community.
The resources saved by your actions will free up resources that could be used elsewhere.
Just do something.
(It's the only way to be sure your assistance reaches it's intended recipients.)
3 comments:
I thought the thing about Wyclef was some ol BS too. If it wasn't for him being involved I wouldn't have given anything. I don't do the Red Cross and probably never will. Someone should give Wyclef credit just for bringing it our attention. Othewise it would have been a damn Southeast flood to me.
Now on point! If the help comes with strings then let's not call it help but call it a loan. People are championing the Clintons but they were in power when they forced the President the country wanted out. They were mad he nationalized the concrete industry and the phones. Then the Clintons ordered Colin Powell and the Marines in there to kick him out. Now the Clintons love Haitians! The devil is cunning especially to those who don't remember past 1 year.
If the aid comes with no strings I'm all for it. Help is help! But, if it comes with government contracts that only rape the country of it's resources and then subjugates the native people to pay another group for their F*cking water then it's not help it's a mafia loan. Let's see how this pans out over the coming years and see what the help really was. At least Wyclef isn't asking to run the damn country!
The problem isn't the aid but the policies attached to it.
The CBS Morning Show did a nice piece about the history of Haiti and it's influence on America.
After the Hatians whooped Napoleon - he wanted nothing more to do with the Americas so he sold all his holdings to the Colonists.
But he demanded todays equavelent of $21bn in restitution from Haiti.
Haiti - like many other countries - can get better as long as the aid isn't tied to empires getting their share of the bounty.
I have to make a correction. The president who ousted Aristede with Colin Powell was Reagan. Aristede wanted to make Haiti self sufficient and went about nationalizing the essentials that were making money.
So I have to retract my statement about the Clintons as they had nothing to do with it. Still doesn't mean that I am not waiting to see what kind of aid is actually given.
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