Bil posted Pat Robertson's comments on Haiti this morning, how Haiti deserved the earthquake because they made a pact with the devil some 200 years ago to free them from "Napoleon the Third and whatever," who was born four years after Haiti's independence. The racial component of those comments is obvious - Haiti, the only American colony that got its independence through an African slave revolt (educate me if I'm forgetting another one), apparently could only do it with help from the devil, who loves black people or something.
The Haitian Ambassador was on Rachel Maddow yesterday and he responded to this silliness. Why anyone listens to Pat Robertson is beyond me - that guy has clearly been full of shit for decades and cares about no one other than himself.
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Okay I'll correct you. You poke fun at Pat Robertson for referring to the wrong Napoleon in his speech and then you screw up Haitian history even worse than he did! Haiti was never a American colony. The USA hasn't had colonies it has however had protectorates and Haiti was a US protectorate for a significant part of the first half of the 20th century. Haiti won it's independence from France through a slave revolt, not it's independence from the USA.
Wendy De Wolfe | January 14, 2010 4:45 PM
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LOL. When I said "American colony," I meant "colony in the Americas," which it was, not "colony of the United States of America," which it was not.
Alex Blaze | January 14, 2010 4:51 PM
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I should add that the way I phrased it isn't entirely clear, so I can see how you read what you did, although I did assume that most people knew that Haiti was a French colony.
Alex Blaze | January 15, 2010 3:31 AM
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Shows how much you know, Liberia was an American colony for five years before gaining independence in 1847.
Dean Buckley | January 14, 2010 5:08 PM
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How dangerous is a little knowledge...
Liberia was NOT a "colony" of the US in the context that Haiti was of, first of Spain, and then divided with France, or India was by Great Britain.
It was a CREATED country by Americans in the American Colonization Society [ACS], white and black, who saw it as a solution to the social conflicts of increasing numbers of freed black slaves in the US. Some abolitionists supported the idea and some opposed it.
"By the 1840s, Liberia had become a financial burden on the ACS. In addition, Liberia faced political threats, chiefly from Britain, because it was neither a sovereign power NOR a bona fide colony of any sovereign nation. Because the United States REFUSED to claim sovereignty over Liberia, in 1846 the ACS ordered the Liberians to proclaim their independence."
- http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/liberia/history.htm
Michael | January 14, 2010 9:41 PM
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"I can see Haiti, Liberia, and the rest of America from my front porch." - Sarah Palin
Don Sherfick | January 14, 2010 10:34 PM
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Hahahaha. I was going to jump in too and say that Haiti wasn't an American colony, but I see the explanation above.
Now I'm just going to laugh at Don's joke. :)
Bil Browning | January 15, 2010 11:02 AM
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God has a retirement plan for Pat Robertson, this IDIOT is going to burn in hell. What a judgmental moron.
Steve | January 17, 2010 3:05 PM
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If you want to see a real deal with the devil, google Pat Robertson - Charles Taylor.
gatesofcerdes | January 21, 2010 7:06 PM
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