“We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented…when human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant”(Wiesel, Elie. “Hope, Despair and Memory”). The affront the Supreme Court and government of the Dominican Republic did to hundreds of thousands of Haitian descents born there since 1929 has been bothering me ever since the news broke. It will continue to bother me for a very long time. What makes matter worse for me is the silence of too many Haitian citizens from around the world. To me this is something so serious that I should not log on any social media without seeing tones of reactions and interactions about it. I want to ask you this question directly: what have you done personally about this outrage, this insult to your people? You may think that there is nothing you can do, it’s beyond your control and power. Well, that’s not true. One of my brothers, a couple of weeks ago, tried to appease my furor by giving me insights on the history between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. He tried to inform me that the Haitian leaders contributed to many of the precedent offenses made by the DR to Haiti. He informed me with details of what happened after 1937 when Dominicans massacred more than 20 thousands Haitian by direct order of their president Rafael Trujillo, etc. That did not cut it for me because no matter who did it and with whose complicity or covering up, the fact of the matter is, my people were slaughtered. It’s like trying to inform me that many of the high rank Catholic and Protestant leaders in Germany knew about the Jewish people being put in concentration camps and executed but they did nothing about it. I know that, but that does not make the holocaust less a monstrous, wicked, and odious crime against the Jewish people and against humanity. I don’t know about you, as Haitian I feel insulted even though I have never been to the Dominican Republic; even though that insulting and infamous decision of theirs does not directly affect me due to the fact of don’t have direct relatives who is affected by that. Even though I am living in one of the greatest countries in the world; even though I feel like with my education I can return back to Haiti and find job if the US would decide to revoke my citizenship, etc. I am concerned, I am furious and I take action by speaking out against that. I told my two oldest daughters who were thinking about visiting the DR about what happened. I told them not to go there for pleasure and I explained to them what they did to hundreds of thousands of Haitian descents born there. They understood and seem to think that they should protest by not going there for pleasure. What about you? What have you done? I keep asking, like the little boy in Wiesel Elie’s book (Hope, Despair and Memory) who asked his father “Can this be true? This is twentieth century, not the Middle Ages. Who would allow such crimes to be committed? How could the world remain silent?” My question to you my fellow Haitian is this: How could you remain silent? I am confident that with the help of the international organizations for human right that this decision will be reversed soon. Even after that, I will not be too interested going to the Dominican Republic for pleasure. Also, as long as I live, I will try to keep memory alive. Why? “Because if we forget, we are guilty. We are accomplices.” (Wiesel, Elie. “Hope, Despair and Memory, 1986).
Posted on: Sun, 03 Nov 2013 12:50:00 +0000
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