Irony's a funny thing. And whether it's a minority-elected government preaching democracy to the global south or an American-educated, torture-supporting opposition leader speaking about returning Canada to its place of soft-power prominence in the world, Canadian politics is ripe with irony.
But sometimes irony is too tragic and enraging to be amusing - as it was when I watched our Haitian-born governor general address the tragic calamity that has befallen Haiti. Her words, as always, were touching and beautiful. But the irony of her speaking about rebuilding Haiti for its people was just too much for me to handle.
For you see, the governor general - in addition to being the representative of our government's colonial roots - is the Head of State, and therefore of the head of the Canadian Armed Forces. The same Armed Forces that have now twice invaded Haiti, aided in the removal of its democratically elected leaders from power, helped install an unpopular puppet ruler, and opened Haiti's fragile populist economy to pillaging by massive corporations, whether in sweatshops or sugar fields.
Of course, such invasions were couched in humanitarian terms. We, the Canadian public, were told that Aristide - the repeatedly elected populist leader of the country - was becoming a "thug." Moreover, due to both its origins as a country of freed slaves and its recent decision to pursue a path of development in the interest of its own people rather than foreign corporations, Haiti, we are told, should be considered a "failed state" in need of Western salvation. Never mind the economic growth experienced under Aristide and never mind the billions of dollars in reparations still outstanding to the Haitian population from its former slave-driving colonial overlords.
In other words, without saying so, the message to the public was clear: a country of black people cannot be trusted to choose their own leaders, choose their own priorities, and decide their own futures. And the Canadian media's response to the horrific earthquake has echoed this mentality. Just like in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the media coverage on the ground has followed a racist dichotomy: black thuggery and white heroism - be it aid workers or soldiers. Never mind that aid workers have been involved in profiteering off Haiti's poverty for decades, nor that international armed forces have been accused of massacres. And never mind the countless (black) Haitian grassroots organizations that have been systematically excluded from Western financing. If our media are to be believed - which is never a great idea - we are left with the notion that the "White Man's Burden" is alive and calling our names.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
Cloe
posted 2/11/10 @ 10:29 AM EST
Finally someone who speaks the truth about real matters. Impressive article.
Juanito Blais Mathieu
posted 2/13/10 @ 7:12 AM EST
See http://canadahaitiaction.ca for more info & links
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