| "Of
Haitian Bondage" - Response to a New York Times Article | |
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Recently in the New York Times Magazine, Tim Padget published an article entitled, "OF HAITIAN BONDAGE". He postulated that "restavek" is an entrenched tradition that has plagued the Caribbean Island of Haiti since its independence in 1804, and more than 300,000 of its children are subjected to this unlawful practice. Restavek refers to the Haitian practice whereby impoverished individuals, both children and adults alike, choose to reside with affluent relatives or acquaintances because their parents are unable to provide them with the basic necessities of life and a good education or they (the adults) are unable to provide for themselves. Although sometimes naïve, it is the belief of these parents that their children will have a chance of a brighter tomorrow. Haiti is one of the most impoverished countries in the Western Hemisphere. More than 95% of the country's wealth is controlled by less than 4% of the population. Life is a constant struggle and many cannot afford a decent meal on a daily basis mush less to send their children to good schools to be educated. It is as a result of this hardship that more than 100,000 families across the country are forced to send their sons and daughters to live with relatives in the capital, Port-Au-Prince, where most of the colleges and universities are located. There is no government or public organization that monitors this chronic problem hence "restavek" has become a prevalent practice. In his article Padgett writes, " Michelle WISHES NOW THAT SHE had grown up in her squalid Haitian birth city of Port-de-Paix. When she was a young girl, her impoverished parents sent her to live with her more well off aunt and uncle in Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, with the promise of a better future. She got instead an old mattress in a closet, 18 hours a day of cooking, cleaning, and waiting on her aunt's large family, and years of beatings and sexual abuse by her cousins". Indeed according to public knowledge and as this testimony indicates, most of these children endure economic hardship, illiteracy, physical, and sexual abuse. The simple fact is that child bondage is a serious social disease that is eating up the heart of this small Caribbean nation. The actions of affluent Haitian families, who force children to work around the clock, are indefensible and inhumane, besides being unlawful. | The current Haitian government, the United Nations, and the international community must take the responsibility and maximize their efforts to address the problems of labor bondage affecting Haitian children. But Tim Padgett's implication that "restavek" is synonymous to slavery is an exaggeration of the issue. Restavek is not comparable to lifelong indentured servitude and peculiar racial slavery practiced by European and North Americans settlers in the centuries that spawned the trans-Atlantic trade in human cargo. It's ironical how the American media chooses the stories it wishes to publish, especially when these stories do not relate to Americans or distort American image at home or abroad. If the New York Times and Tim Padget are really looking for a cause then perhaps they should focus on what is happening to Haitian workers on the sugar plantations of the Dominican Republic. It's difficult to believe that after almost 200 years of Independence from France and the most successful revolution against slavery in 1804, more than 300, 000 Haitians are still being exploited on state sugar cane plantations in the Dominican Republic, where they endure harsh working conditions, including debt bondage. The majority of these Haitian immigrants are recruited from desperate communities along the border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. As is also well documented, some of these individuals are captured against their will and forced to work in the sugar fields. These Haitian migrants live in constant fear and the continual abuse which often leads to large number of deaths. The Haitian community would applaud Tim Padget and the New York Times Magazine, if they were to do a story about the Life Of The Haiti Immigrant who works in inhumane conditions on state plantations in the Neighboring Dominican Republic. Then the case can really be made that the prevailing conditions make the lot of these Haitian workers "synonymous to slavery". |
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