Who knew? (We all should...)
In Danticat's story, "Nineteen Thirty-Seven," passing mention is made of an episode of American intervention in Haiti. On the orders of Woodrow Wilson, American Marines landed on Haiti in 1915 and were an occupying force for 19 years, a period in which (according to this piece in the New Yorker by Danticat) 15,000 Haitians were killed.
From the narration in "Nineteen Thirty-Seven," it is clear that what is forgotten to us is vividly remembered--and resented--by Haitians.
It seems a shame to be remembered as prison architects instead of as builders of hope and decency. Yet it is perhaps a graver error to have these unfortunate episodes become part of our national amnesia, as though we were some sort of bull in a china shop with a short-term memory.
From the narration in "Nineteen Thirty-Seven," it is clear that what is forgotten to us is vividly remembered--and resented--by Haitians.
"The yellow prison building was like a fort, as large and strong as in the days when it was used by the American marines who had built it. The Americans taught us how to build prisons."
It seems a shame to be remembered as prison architects instead of as builders of hope and decency. Yet it is perhaps a graver error to have these unfortunate episodes become part of our national amnesia, as though we were some sort of bull in a china shop with a short-term memory.
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