Posted on 09/23/2010 2:16:22 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Oakland, CA, USA — "… If you want to help Haiti, let's start, let's start, let's start by telling the truth. Okay? The truth is that on April 7, 2003, President Aristide, a democratically elected president on the side of the poor, called together a Restitution Commission which determined that France owed Haiti twenty-one billion dollars. And within weeks, France and The United States told Aristide it was time for him to go. Step aside, step down, resign or be killed.
"The Haitians had their duly elected, democratically elected president kidnapped by United States Marines …"
On Sunday September 19th at Allen Temple Baptist Church in Oakland it soon became obvious that when Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright said he had "retired," a couple of years ago, it meant he retired from his daily pastoral obligations at Trinity United Church of Christ (TUCC) in Chicago — where the Rev. Otis Moss III is now the Senior Pastor — and did not include his prophetic obligation to deliver timely messages to the People of God. Since his "retirement" in 2008 he has been in constant demand — just as in the years before Bill Moyers "admitted" that he was aware of the most prolific minister in his own, largely white, denomination — as a revival week preacher for many African-American congregations across the USA.
The large congregation of Allen Temple packed their own church early and left the overflow hall to visitors who "came on time." A good preacher can mostly "fill" Allen Temple, it takes a great preacher to "pack it." That would have been a good day's work for a great preacher but, right after Dr. Wright finished his morning sermon, he was whisked away to San Francisco to pack the equally large Third Baptist Church. We're sure the Third Baptist crowd would have loved to feed him after the service, but Sunday dinner for Dr. Wright was another packed large church back over the Bay to Oakland where he delivered the keynote address — "Living Up To Our Greatness" - for the inauguration of the African American Leadership Commission (AALC).
At Allen Temple, preaching from the text of Micah 6:1-8 - a favorite passage of Liberation Theology leaders - Dr. Wright's sermon topic was: "What Does The Lord Require?: To Do Justice?" The text points out that "doing justice" is not just a guideline, but a requirement for those who claim to be the People of God. Like Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright, the Hebrew prophet Micah was confronting the ruling elite and government of his day demanding that they throw off their oppressive addiction to and desire for power and return to the "justice for all" that was required in the covenant relationship they had with their Creator. One doesn't have to look hard in the Book of Micah to see that there is a direct correlation to the Haiti of today.
The ruling elite of Israel and Judah wanted to pursue a life of luxury and excess, feeling that their position on the economic food chain entitled them to exploit the workers at will. When the peasants couldn't keep up with the increased demands of the plutocracy, the rich landowners were able to evict the peasants after bribing the judges or ousting the government officials who didn't "play along." The unemployed peasants were forced into the now overcrowded urban areas which saw overwhelming poverty on a scale never before experienced by the Hebrew nation. Micah saw a return to justice and right living as a way back to meeting up to God's expectations for those who wanted to be known as his people.
While not calling for the return of Aristide to Haiti, or for the participation of Lavalas in the upcoming presidential elections, Reverend Wright waded into Haiti's issues that would be glossed over by the corporate media interests in their pursuit of celebrity gossip:
"We give four hundred and ninety eight million dollars for Haiti's natural resources. For sugar, for timber, for flax seed, and guess what else we give them money for? For their concrete! They send their Grade A concrete to rich countries for pennies on the dollar and are left to build their homes and schools, their hospitals and churches with inferior concrete that can not withstand any kind of earthquake — much less a seven point anything on the Richter scale. Why not do justly? Why not 'do justice' in Haiti and give a fair price of five billion dollars for Haitian exports. That's what they bring in the white world, after we steal them for pennies from poor black folk ."
Reverend Wright has been exhorting the African-American Church family to stand in solidarity with the oppressed in Haiti for some time. Wright was one of the few national leaders in 2005 to sign a Lavalas petition calling for the return of Aristide and the end of the US directed occupation. Later the same year TUCC - When Reverend Wright was still Pastor - hosted a showing of "Haiti the Untold Story," in Chicago.
In the Allen Temple sermon, the Reverend returned to the subject of Restitution and Reparations — after exposing the Injustice in South Africa — by providing further Scriptural authority to the issue:
" … That's not reconciliation. That's just empty words … Come to Luke 19 with me … We always hear sermons about Zacheus and how short he was … All he wanted to do was to see Jesus … Instead of him seeing Jesus, Jesus saw him … called him by name … Zacheus must have been notorious, not Notorious BIG, but Notorious Small! … We hear many sermons about this, but very few sermons talk about this Justice issue. Restorative Justice, where Zacheus restores what was taken from the poor, the weak. And then Zacheus not only repents — the first step in reconciliation — Zacheus also REPAYS! The ultimate proof of 'repentance' and the crucial element of true reconciliation."
" … Zacheus says — in so many words — "I cannot get right with God, if things are still wrong between me and the People made in God's image" … The white Dutch Afrikaners did not want to hear this part of the Reconciliation Process … Reparations' is a dirty word when it comes to the rich and when it comes to the powerful in this country also — not just in South Africa … Zacheus engaged in Reparations …"
The dynamics of justice to people of African descent was further explored at the AALC event of interfaith community leaders. The fear of the Dominant Culture is hard to move. The methodology of the oppressive class depends on restricting transfer of power and wealth to a Zero Sum Game (ZSG) model. One group can only progress if another group loses. In its quest for hegemony, embracing another culture or nation to collective progress is counter to maximizing wealth. Sustainable economic and cultural models are rarely explored and usually disrupted whenever they show promise.
Below is the full transcript of Reverend Wright's comments on Haiti in the sermon: "What Does The Lord Require?: To Do Justice?" Even better download and listen (7.7M) to the audio segment. For the complete sermon contact the Allen Temple Tape Ministry
"Justice for the helpless in Haiti. Haiti was forced by European powers to pay reparations to the French. Twenty-one billion dollars worth of reparations. The first and only time in world history that reparations were imposed by a defeated nation (France) on a nation that had defeated it (Haiti). A racist decision backed and supported by the United States, with US banks being one of the places that poor blacks in Haiti had to borrow the money, with interest, to pay back rich white folk.
"Justice. Not just prayers for Haiti, but justice for Haiti. Sustained justice for Haiti, on whom the International Monetary Fund and The World Bank keep instituting policies that undermine Haitian's agricultural base. The recent IMF loan to Haiti required Haitians to stop producing rice. You wanna help Haiti? Pray, yes. Send monetary assistance (not to the Red Cross, they're still holding on to those millions), yes. But also get on your phone. Get on your email. Get on the case and force Congress to change the policies which keep Haiti poor, keep Haiti colonized and punishing them for daring as African to break free of European domination. That'll help Haiti.
"We give four hundred and ninety eight million dollars for Haiti's natural resources. For sugar, for timber, for flax seed, and guess what else we give them, for their concrete. They send their grade A concrete to rich countries for pennies on the dollar and are left to build their homes and schools, their hospitals and churches with inferior concrete that can not withstand any kind of earthquake, much less a 7 point anything on the Richter scale. Why not do justly? Why not do justice in Haiti and give a fair price for five billion dollars for Haitian exports. That's what they bring in the white world, after we steal them for pennies from poor black folk . If you want to help Haiti, forgive the debt. Tell your congressmen that. That's justice. If you want to help Haiti, pay them a fair price for their exports so they can build their own rice fields, build their own houses, build their own schools with grade A concrete and have their own emergency services.
"If you want to help Haiti, let's start, let's start, let's start by telling the truth. Okay? The truth is April 7, 2003, President Aristide, a democratically elected president on the side of the poor, called together a restitution commission which determined that France owed Haiti twenty-one billion dollars. And within weeks, France and The United States told Aristide it was time for him to go. Step aside, step down, resign or be killed. The Haitians had their duly elected, democratically elected president kidnapped by United States marines and flown to The Congo on a CIA plane, to get him out of the way of the rich US, French and foreign business interest .
"You want to help Haiti? Let's do justice. Tell the truth, be honest, fess up, pay up and in addition to charity, let's give Haitians dignity. Stop the double standard of letting white skinned Cubans in, and keeping black skinned Haitians out. God demands justice. God desires justice. And God requires justice."
Delivered Sunday, September 19 2010 at Allen Temple Baptist Church in Oakland
Gee you mean exactly like the people who pack these places where the Rev. Wright spouts his racist BS.
“Do blacks ever not whine?”
Not since I can remember. Perpetual victimhood seems to be standard.
Rev. Wright is under the bus with Obama’s Grandma. Anything outrageous he says will be buried news. MSM will rarely cover him.
Guys, at least qualify it to “black democrats” or “black professional race-baiters” or something.
This ‘blacks = whiners’ thing is just wrong. Think of Lloyd Marcus, Thomas Sowell and many, many others.
And also think of the many White losers we all know and despise. That film critic Ebert for instance. Oh dear oh dear.
Amazing. Absolutely amazing. That rabble-rousing, America-hating sorry excuse for a member of the human race was here in the Bay Airhead area and not even the Comical mentioned it that I recall. Then again, the Giants are in a pennant race, and the 49ers were playing on Monday night, so I guess it just wasn’t that important.
What surprises me is that he didn’t deliver his speech at a special service on Saturday, the 18th. Check a Jewish calendar, if you don’t understand my reference.
Good contrast between what the passage actually says and what the Right Reverend wrestled out of it. We see his type of wretchedly incorrect dividing of God’s Word too often with the church today.
Keep up the good Word breakdown.
The Rev needs to learn a little about the building trades in Earthquake country. Concrete buildings fall over when they aren’t re-enforced with rebar. Further, stick frame buildings of correct construction are a better place to be in an Earthquake anyway, it can bend. If you brace it correctly AND bold it to the foundation - it wills stand up to a bigger jolt than something that is fundamentally stiff (read concrete buildings..)
In other words - he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Anyone suprised?
Haitians are no different than the parasitic Palestinians or many of the American Blacks that always rely on blackmail as a means to get ahead. They will do whatever it takes to steal, deceive and claim “Oh poor me” every chance they get, instead of taking an active positive role in their own destiny.
Rev. Jeremiah Wright: “Let’s tell the truth about Haiti”
OK, Rev!
Haiti is a shithole — thank the French.
Alright, here’s the truth you black racist MFer. Haiti is a black hell on earth created by blacks, raped by blacks, and ruled by criminal black dictators who torture and kill other blacks. It’s a GD stink hole, which has been totally deforested, it has NO economy, disease is rampant, and the citizens are marked DOA! I think that about covers it!
You have a point. I mostly think of the professional race hustlers and Jeremiah Wright, and all the others who refuse to look seriously at what Dr. Bill Cosby had to say about problems in the black culture.
There is/are a severe cultural problem(s) in the inner city black population.
I guess most of all I resent the implication that the black communities failures are ALL the fault of the white man.
I’m damned tired of being called a racist and blamed for all the ills of the black community simply because of my skin color.
I do accept your point that I was painting with too broad a brush.
For many decades during the 19th century the French siphoned off massive amounts of wealth from Haiti because its people had had the temerity to fight and win their freedom. They enforced this transfer of wealth by the threat of a blockade. With no fleet, the Haitians could not fight back.
Had Haiti been a “white” nation the USA would never have allowed this egregious violation of the Monroe Doctrine. If the French had the right to collect these sums, we still owe the UK a bunch of money.
“Comments?”
Yes. (Raising my hand.)
What a nutcase. He is a lying ass.
Rev. Wright should be more concerned about some Cannibales gangsters rolling up on him than the proverbial ‘whitey’ as this newest Haitian election comes and the fervor in the Haitian-American communities reach higher levels than normal....
Someone might take personal offense to the US President's personal pastor emphatically supporting the mass murdering mass torturing dictator Aristide that killed their family members as little as 7 years ago.
Well said Sir.
Haiti has been run by black or mulatto dictators since 1791.
France did not control anything there in the 19th century . Haiti paid France around 10 million US in reparations for property lost in the revolution to gain French recognition over 50 years from 1838-1888. Haitian GDP prior to revolt was many times that. To try to blame Haiti today on France from 200 years ago is a very very big stretch and falls into the old tried and true axiom that blacks rise and fall on the whim of the cracker....which to me is the real racist logic much more so than notions of white supremacy...the dependent blacks shackled by the white man's benevolence or scorn...without us they are lost.....soft bigotry..low expectations...one thing Bush got right.
They did not siphon off any more wealth from there than did any other colonial power from any other colony.
The denuding of the nation was done by Haitians themselves and mostly for charcoal...not uncommon in the third world.
The only wealth there was created by agricultural deployment...namely sugar cane...a little sisal...and some alumina I'd reckon...can't recall....but it stands to reason.
But you're right about one thing...had Haiti been white would not have happened because whites themselves would have found a way to make a reasonable nation after 200 years of Independence unlike most but not all blacks there..
There are some smart and well meaning Christian blacks there but they are simply drowned out by kleptocracy, superstitions and primitive culture that is beyond hope.
What wealth there is exists in the hands of Chinese, Arabs, Jews and even some Swedes and old Mulatto families and not because those folks are evil non black exploiters but because they are smarter in general and more educated.
They massacred or drove off nearly all the whites after the the revolt and have suffered for it...irreparably in my opinion.
Contrast them with Dom Rep next door...a fairly African place but with a strong white and mulatto bourgeoisie...much much better....though still way below what we would call good.
it's just how it is man...all cultures or races or sub-races etc don't perform equally on the mean....even with inter group variance taken into account
geographic isolation and tribalism and in my view black magic worship are strong inhibiters...and I think it transfers over time beyond just sociological
so fire away...I lived there....worked there from 88-92 the better part of each year...from Jacmel to Port au Paix
PS...they shoulda kept West Point grad Cedras
Among the top 10 Haitian exports to the U.S. in 2008, 8 showed increases as high as 436.2% for items made from wool. However, cotton apparel and household goods dominates over 3 quarters of Haitian shipments to America. This shows an over dependence on a labor-intensive, low-paying economic sector.
1. Cotton apparel and household goods … US$347.1 million, up 5.9% from 2007 (77.1% of US imports from Haiti)
2. Other textile apparel and household goods … $61.1 million, down 50.5% (13.6%)
3. Fruits and preparations including frozen juices … $8.2 million, up 6% (1.8%)
4. Cocoa beans … $7.8 million, up 46.2% (1.7%)
5. Tobacco, waxes and non-food oils … $2.9 million, up 13.9% (0.6%)
6. Wool apparel and household goods … $2.5 million, up 436.2% (0.6%)
7. Sporting and camping apparel, footwear and gear … $2.4 million, up 76.9% (0.5%)
8. Non-textile apparel and household goods … $2.3 million, up 74.2% (0.5%)
9. Generators and transformers … $1.7 million, down 22.9% (0.4%)
10. Soft beverages and processed coffee … $1.5 million, up 10.4% (0.3%).
(http://www.suite101.com/content/haitis-top-imports-exports-a193094#ixzz10OfYts8a)
I don't see Cement even mentioned.
Per one of our missionaries, the problem with cement is thugs and gangs control everything that hits the docks.
Cement that is IMPORTED and doesn't leave the docks before it's cut by at least 50% with beach sand. Beach sand contains much more salt than builders sand. Buildings are under reinforced with rebar for the same reasons.
If you want 100% pure cement you pay a premium to the thugs
And of course it’s Bush’s fault Haiti is poverty-stricken.
People like the Rev. Wright don't understand markets. He should go down there and tell them to charge more - they can also charge a few thousand an hour for each person to load the ships that carry their thousand dollar an ounce concrete... No one's going to pay them. But here's a solution - they can pay each other that - and quit dealing with the rest of the world...
Here's how a market economy works - you sell for as much as you can get and you buy as cheaply as you can get away with... Since lots of people are selling - and buying - prices are determined by what individuals are willing to pay...
If your grocery store decided to sell milk for a hundred dollars a gallon, most of it would go sour. People won't pay more than what something is worth to them... Go for it Haiti - see your stuff go sour....
Throughout the 1990s, SOUTHCOM headed an infrastructure building exercise program throughout South America and the Caribbean, called New Horizons. From the Air Force, we would send Prime BEEF and RED HORSE to those nations including Haiti. The chronic problem with Haiti was our troops would construct schools, churches, government buildings and other structures in Port-au-Prince. They’d conduct a ribbon-cutting ceremony with the local officials in the morning; by the evening, the buildings would be gutted for the copper wire.
Those people have no sense of future beyond a nanosecond into the future. It’s all about grabbing what the can right now. They are absolutely hopeless. Their grossly flawed foray into “democracy” was a disaster. Haitians can only survive under iron-fisted dictatorship.
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