Haiti

How Can Haiti Move Forward?

by Marlene L. Daut

Calls for international intervention in Haiti need to consider how the history of foreign interventions—which have been aimed at helping governments instead of people—has brought the nation to its current state of crisis. 

Haitians Are United Against Another Foreign Intervention – and a Former US Diplomat is With Them

Daniel Foote resigned as a Special Envoy for Haiti in 2021, and warns that a foreign intervention, if it is seen as propping up the government of Ariel Henry, will be so unpopular it will spark mass violence. 

Why are Historians at War with the New York Times?

Politico's media columnist argues that the paper's outsize role in the culture is driving the anger of historians whose uncredited work was foundational to the paper's recent series on Haiti's debt payments to France. 

What's New and Not in the NYT Haiti Blockbuster

by Jonathan M. Katz

What can be taken away from the battle erupting between journalists and historians over the Times's blockbuster news event on Haiti's post-independence forced ransom? 

Bloody History Looms over Haitian Crisis

"A bloody history of American influence looms large, and a century of U.S. efforts to stabilize and develop the country have ultimately ended in failure."

Frederick Douglass and American Empire in Haiti

by Peter James Hudson

"Douglass was aware of the moral limitations of U.S. exceptionalism and cautioned against its abuse—especially against countries such as Haiti that had neither the economic nor the military resources to easily withstand U.S. pressure."

It's not Just the Missionaries: Haiti had 782 Kidnappings This Year

by Cécile Accilien

"The kidnapping business is in fact supported by the convergence of interests of the political and business elite and the international community, while the interests of the vast majority of Haitians are obviously not taken into account."

Guantanamo's Other History

by Jeffrey S. Kahn

Reports of a bid for migrant detention contractors based at Guantanamo including speakers of Haitian Creole fed suspicion of a new connection of the military and immigration enforcement. Where Haitian refugees are concerned, the Guantanamo connection is nothing new. 

The West's Centuries-Old Debt to Haiti

by Howard W. French

"Although Americans’ centuries-long debt to the Haitian people is untaught in our schools and unacknowledged in our public discourse, the indomitable spirit of the Haitian people created the United States we know today."

What America Owes Haitian Asylum Seekers

by Michael Posner

"The plight of the Haitians has been further complicated by decades of misrule, corruption and brutality by a series of Haitian governments that received steady U.S. financial and political support despite egregious records on human rights."

The Latest Episode in the History of American Mistreatment of Haitian Migrants

by Edwidge Danticat

Novelist Edwidge Danticat explains the lengthy history of mistreatment of Haitian migrants by American authorities. 

Haiti's Disasters are Man-Made

by Emmanuela Douyon and Alyssa Sepinwall

Haitians' vulnerability to harm from natural disaster is conditioned by centuries of foreign interference and exploitation.

The Disasters in Afghanistan and Haiti Share the Same Twisted Root

by Jonathan M. Katz

"Both Haiti and Afghanistan owe their sorry conditions to decades of direct U.S. control. Looking closely at the links between the two is essential for understanding how to respond to each in ways that help, rather than do more harm."

Overturning Five Myths of the Haitian Revolution

by Julia Gaffield

Many understandings of the Haitian Revolution, from its intellectual and political roots, to its military progress, to its political consequences, are at best half-truths. And it did not entail "white genocide." 

The Bloody, Ongoing Fight of Haitians to Maintain Independence

by Alyssa Goldstein Sepinwall

Since an American military occupation begain in 1915, Haitians have struggled to maintain independence under the military and then economic domination of the United States. 

Haiti, Cuba, and the History of U.S. Involvement in the Caribbean (Virtual Event July 29)

Michael J. Bustamante and Alyssa Goldstein Sepinwall are featured in a discussion of American intervention in the Caribbean and its relationship to current turmoil in Haiti and Cuba. July 29, 2:00 PM. 

The United States Owes Haiti a Debt it Can't Repay

by Annette Gordon-Reed

The Haitian Revolution set in motion events that transformed France, North America, and the Caribbean, but conflicts were invariably resolved at the expense of independent Haiti. 

The Historical, Political And Social Conditions That Led Haiti To Turbulence

Haiti's troubles go back more than a century. Lulu Garcia-Navarro talks with Brooklyn College professor Jean-Eddy Saint Paul about the country's history.

AAIHS Book Club: Jean Casimir's "The Haitians" (Convenes Online in August)

The African American Intellectual History Society will convene an online book club discussing Jean Casimir's "The Haitians: A Decolonial History" with events beginning in August. 

What The Haitian Revolution Tells Us About The U.S. Movement For Racial Equality

Historian Marlene Daut on the significance of the Haitian Revolution for America's unfinished struggle for racial equality.