‘Heartbreaking’ overdose death of Indigenous teen in B.C. care highlights need for change: report

By Jon Azpiri Global News
Posted June 10, 2021 

VIDEO Global News Hour at 6 BC: B.C. children's advocate has released a scathing report into the death of an indigenous teenager who died of a drug overdose on her 17th birthday. Neetu Garcha reports.

B.C. children’s watchdog is sharing the heartbreaking story of the death of an Indigenous child while in government care.

In a new report titled Skye’s Legacy: A Focus on Belonging, B.C.’s representative for children and youth highlights the short life of an Indigenous teen name Skye and how the system failed her.

VIDEO 1:59 Family calls for public inquiry after Indigenous teen’s death in Abbotsford group home – Oct 15, 2020

Skye spent nearly 12 years in the care of B.C.’s Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD) and was moved 15 times. She died of an unintentional overdose in August 2017 on her 17th birthday, less than a year after her mother passed away.

“Skye and her mother deserved much, much better,” Jennifer Charlesworth, B.C.’s representative for children and youth, said.

READ MORE: ‘It doesn’t leave a person’: Residential schools aren’t ‘history’ for many, advocates say

“It’s heartbreaking that neither of them received the kind of foundational supports that might have enabled them to deal with the trauma they had experienced and, at the very least, to have a relationship with each other.”

Skye was removed from her mother’s care when she was five years old, according to the report. Rather than re-establishing a relationship between mother and daughter, Skye was put up for adoption, which resulted in three failed adoption plans and subsequent turmoil and emotional harm, the report said. Skye lived in eight different foster homes, attended eight schools and had 18 social workers during her time in care.

She also lacked opportunities to connect to her Dene culture and visit her home territory in Fort McPherson, N.W.T., despite her requests.

READ MORE: New Indigenous child-welfare law takes effect, but minister says change will be slow

Charlesworth supports the resumption of jurisdiction by First Nations and communities over their own child welfare services, which has been enabled by the passage of Bill C-92.

As that process unfolds, steps are needed to ensure that Indigenous children currently in MCFD care can achieve a sense of belonging, the report said.

Two sides of the same coin: Ex-foster kids identify with residential school survivors

VANCOUVER — As stories of the horrors of residential schools circulate after the Tk'emlups te Secwepemc First Nation announced it had located what are believed to be the remains of 215 children, Grand Chief Stewart Phillip of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs said he feels a connection with the former students.

Phillip was placed in a foster care system in the 1950s that, to this day, consists of a disproportionate number of Indigenous children, he said. He was raised by white people and he was one of only two Indigenous students at his high school.

There are obvious differences with the residential school system, which was largely run by churches, but Phillip said the child welfare system also shares some similarities in the way that children have been taken from their families, communities and nations.

"You're isolated from your history, your language, your culture, your customs. As a consequence, I don't sing, I don't drum, I don't dance," he said in an interview.

"That may sound like not much to you but to me it's like part of my heart and soul has been ripped out. It really bothers me when I'm in an environment where there's drumming and singing and celebrating because I feel so left out, so isolated, so not belonging."

Children in care are more likely to suffer mental illness, and drug and alcohol addiction, as well as deal with issues associated with trauma, he noted.

"My vision of this is that it's two sides of the same genocidal coin," Phillip said referring to residential schools and the child welfare system.

"They both inflicted enormous trauma on the victims of both systems."

Phillip is among several former foster children, advocates and politicians drawing the link between the two systems and calling for change.

In the House of Commons last week, Inuk MP Mumilaaq Qaqqaq, who represents Nunavut, equated the foster care system with residential schools.

"Children are still being separated from their communities. Foster care is the new residential school system. The suicide epidemic is the new form of Indigenous genocide," Qaqqaq said in an emotional address.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the removal of Indigenous kids from their home communities must end.

In 2019, the Commons passed a bill to counter the overrepresentation of Indigenous children in foster care. Since then, Ottawa has been working to allow Indigenous communities to keep at-risk children and youth in their home communities with their own language and culture, Trudeau said.

Beyond cultural harm, former children in care also have higher death rates than the general public.

A report published three years ago by the BC Coroner Service's Child Death Review Panel found young people leaving government care died at five times the rate of the general population of young people in the province, and a disproportionate number of those fatalities were Indigenous youth.

A death review panel report of First Nations youth and young adults published a year earlier highlighted that culture — and the interconnectedness of individuals, families, communities and First Nations — play an integral role in their health and wellness. Factors like colonialism, historical trauma and poverty were named as detriments to health and wellness.

Phillip said the only hope for Canada is to teach the "absolute truth" in schools about its racist history, including the legislation and policies that created the residential school and child welfare systems. Politicians also need to stop referring to a "dark chapter" in the country's history when the effects of racism are ongoing, and there should be harsher penalties for racist attacks and acts of hate, he said.

Phillip said he gets strength and comfort from his wife Joan and through the advocacy work he does fighting for Indigenous and other rights.

"It's not an occupation or job for me, it's my life."

Phillip's perspective was mirrored by another former foster child, jaye simpson, who uses the pronouns they and them and does not capitalize their name.

"My experiences in care were very restrictive and traumatizing where I didn't have a lot of access to my culture," said simpson, 26, who is Oji-Cree and spent 16 years in foster care in British Columbia and Manitoba.

Although simpson's care was overseen by a delegated Aboriginal agency, simpson said at times there was no opportunity to participate in cultural events or language classes.

The B.C. Ministry of Children and Family Development says online that its practice emphasizes family preservation, when appropriately safe, keeping children and youth from coming into care.

In British Columbia, First Nations make up six per cent of the total population, yet about 45 per cent of youth in care are Indigenous. In Manitoba, nearly nine in 10 youth in care are Indigenous.

After being placed with a "really good" foster family in Kamloops, simpson found kinship and mentorship within the Tk'emlups te Secwepemc community. After aging out of care, simpson remained in Kamloops and worked on the powwow grounds and with community groups.

"To me, Kamloops is a very important place, I had access to a lot of healing and kinship," said simpson, who acts as an advocate for foster kids.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 12, 2021.

Amy Smart, The Canadian Pres

Celebrities react to the 215 Indigenous children’s bodies found at a Canadian residential school



Buffy Sainte Marie speaks up at the Juno Awards

Canadian-born singer/songwriter Buffy Sainte Marie used her appearance at the Juno Awards as an opportunity to speak out against the horrendous treatment of the First Nations Peoples.



..Indigenous people are not surprised....

During her speech at the Junos, Buffy Sainte Marie spoke of how while this news may be shocking to some, for the Indigenous peoples, it is not surprising at all. The 80-year-old performer also said, “The genocide basic to this country’s birth is ongoing, and we need to face it together…And I ask for your compassion.”

(Photo: Instagram@buffystemarie)




Jann Arden: "The Catholic Church is diabolical"

Canadian singer/songwriter Jann Arden shared her disgust and outrage towards the Catholic church regarding the discovery on Twitter. Arden wrote, “The Catholic Church is diabolical. Canada -all of us- has looked the other way too bloody long.

#shameofthecentury

(Photo: Instagram@jannarden)






Jason Burnstick of the Canadian folk music group Burnstick wrote about the release of the film ‘Shin-Chi S Canoe’ on YouTube. The film has been released on YouTube, so it can be viewed free of charge. Burnstick asks that those that view it donate to the Indian Residential School Survivors Society.



SEE /32 SLIDES © The Daily Digest

Ontario First Nation to mark Canada Day as ‘day of mourning’

Keewaywin First Nation in northern Ontario will no longer recognize Canada Day as a celebration and will instead mark it as a "day of mourning" until the federal government investigates the grounds of all former residential schools.

© Provided by Global News A memorial is pictured at the Eternal flame on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Tuesday, June 1, 2021, in recognition of discovery of children's remains at the site of a former residential school in Kamloops, B.C. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Moving forward, the nation said July 1 will be a day to remember the children and families who were affected by residential schools and to recognize the role that the Canadian government and churches played in the "attempted genocide" of Indigenous People.

Read more: As Pope defies calls for apology, residential school statement not ‘enough’: minister

"Residential schools were government-sponsored religious schools that were established to assimilate Indigenous children into Euro-Canadian culture," Keewaywin's chief and council said in a letter Thursday.

"In total, over 130 residential schools operated in Canada between 1831 and 1996. In 1931, at the height of the residential school system, 80 residential schools were operating across Canada."

Keewaywin's decision to no longer celebrate Canada Day comes about two weeks after the Tk’emlups te Secwepemc First Nation in Kamloops, B.C. announced that ground-penetrating radar had uncovered the remains of 215 children, some as young as three years old, who were students at the Kamloops Indian Residential School.

Since then, many have expressed public outrage, with experts saying the unmarked burial ground in Kamloops is "the tip of the iceberg." Several Indigenous groups have also called for the search of all residential school grounds in Canada.

Read more: Trudeau vows ‘concrete action’ after discovery of 215 bodies at former residential school site

"In total, an estimated 150,000 First Nation, Inuit and Metis children attended these schools," Keewaywin's chief and council said Thursday.

"The Truth and Reconciliation Final Report concluded that a soldier had a better chance of surviving the Second World War than an Indigenous child had at surviving the residential school system."

More than a week ago, the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Office called on Canada to launch "exhaustive investigations" and "redouble efforts" to find Indigenous children missing from residential schools. UN human rights special rapporteurs also called on Canada and the Catholic Church to conduct prompt and thorough investigations into the findings of the Kamloops burial site.

Read more: Citing role in ‘genocidal policies,’ history professors reach out to First Nations

At a House of Commons meeting on June 1, Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the children found in Kamloops and others who have yet to be found would have been grandparents or great-grandparents.

"They would have been Elders, Knowledge Keepers and community leaders," he said at the meeting. "They are not, and that is the fault of Canada."

Anyone experiencing pain or distress as a result of their residential school experience can access this 24-hour, toll-free and confidential National Indian Residential School Crisis Line at 1-866-925-4419.

-- With files from Global News' Katie Dangerfield, Hannah Jackson, Rachel Gilmore and the Canadian Press

Friday's letters: Prosecute residential school crimes

Edmonton Journal Friday, June 11,2021

It is hard to think about the discovery of children buried in mass grave sites at the Indian Residential School. These kids didn’t die rock climbing, or drag racing, or from some terrible cancer. They died going to school. I grieve for them and their families.© Provided by Edmonton Journal Hundreds of children's shoes remain in place at a memorial outside the Alberta Legislature building in Edmonton on Monday May 31, 2021. A vigil was held Sunday May 30, 2021 in memory of the 215 indigenous children whose remains were discovered on the grounds of a former Roman Catholic church residential school in Kamloops, B.C.

I’m waiting for a politician to pledge that they will ensure that the people responsible will be tracked down and held accountable. But all I’ve heard is crickets. Why is that? There is no statute of limitation on rape, murder, or negligent homicide in Canada.


It’s time good people made noise. How many children in residential schools in Canada died? What were the circumstances? What are their names, ages? 0Will there be justice?

We cannot stay silent on this. Is it ever too late to do the right thing? We have the strength to reckon with our past and build a better future. We must.

Peter Lee, Edmonton

Residential schools a product of racism

The story of the 215 burials found in the Indian school in Kamloops is so tragic that no adjective in the English language can express the hurt it caused.

This was the doing of not a few individuals, whose names are in the press. It was systemic racism for which nations are responsible. It was and still is the idea of “cultural fit.” It was the conception of the time that to be successful in a certain society, people must fit a cultural norm. Indian schools were established to change their culture. Sadly, they lost their own and were not accepted by others.

Video: The efforts to include more about residential schools in Canadian education (cbc.ca)

Many, like Kipling, believed the “white man’s burden” was the duty of white men to bring education and salvation to people around those deemed uncivilized, savages.

I learned about the schools in 1960, coming from India, when I was enrolled at the University of Alberta, in the faculty of education. I recall the discussions where no one saw anything wrong with having Indigenous residential schools, rather students and professors earnestly believed that the schools were for the benefit of the Indigenous people. It is the best that “we” could do for them. That was the sincere and earnest belief of most.

Kuldip S. Riar, Edmonton

SHAME!

NDP push to declare residential schools a genocide defeated in House

Olivia Stefanovich 

CBC NEWS

© The Canadian Press/Chad Hipolito Nipawi Kakinoosit of the Sucker Creek First Nations sings the American Indian Movement song below the steps of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in Victoria on June 8, following a ceremony for what is reported to…

An NDP bid calling on the government to recognize the residential school experience as genocide has been rejected in the House of Commons.

Winnipeg Centre NDP MP Leah Gazan originally pointed the finger at Conservative MP John Barlow for blocking unanimous consent to push the parliamentary motion forward.

The NDP later said some Liberals also voted against the motion, but party whip Mark Holland denied that and said only Conservatives said "nay."

"It is unfortunate that parliamentarians continue to deny the genocide that occurred in residential schools," Gazan said.

"There is no reconciliation in this country without truth. I will continue to work with leadership, Indigenous families, nations, survivors to push for justice."

Reached by CBC News, Barlow declined to say whether he yelled "nay."

Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole's office pointed to a comment O'Toole made last week acknowledging the residential school experience as cultural genocide.

The NDP says that, had the motion received unanimous consent, it would have shown Parliament's willingness to acknowledge genocide and could have had implications in residential school-related litigation.

Gazan said she believes the residential school era meets the definition of genocide drafted by the United Nations, which describes it as an attempt "to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group."

The UN definition cites various forms of genocide: killing members of a group, causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of a group, deliberately inflicting conditions to bring about a group's physical destruction in whole or in part, imposing measures to prevent births and forcibly transferring children from one group to another group.
Debate continues over use of word

Some experts disagree with using the word genocide to describe the residential school era.

Frank Chalk, a history professor and co-founder the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies at Concordia University, said he does not see evidence of criminal intent, which is required by the UN convention on genocide.

Video: NDP leader continues to press government for action after report of human remains near former B.C residential school (cbc.ca) Duration 1:18

Instead, Chalk said, he sees evidence of criminal negligence in the attempt to strip Indigenous children of their languages and beliefs.

The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick NDP MP Leah Gazan rises during question period in the House of Commons on June 7, 2021.

"All of those steps constitute part of what we call ethnocide — the attempt to destroy a group's culture," Chalk said.

Chalk also said the debate over genocide distracts from work the federal government should be doing to advance Indigenous rights.

"If we quibble endlessly over the legal definition of genocide and how it applies to the victims of the residential schools, we will distract ourselves from concrete measures that we need today," Chalk said.

"The real issue is how do we institutionalize in the future ... respect for Indigenous cultures, land rights, clean environments and jobs, as they choose them, not as we choose them in the colonial sense."

Chalk said he prefers the term "cultural genocide", which was used by the commissioners of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in their final report on residential schools.
'A different kind of genocide'

But Gazan said the word genocide needs to be used because "cultural genocide" does not exist in international law.

Fannie Lafontaine, a law professor at the University of Laval who holds a Canada Research Chair on International Criminal Justice and Human Rights, agrees.

Lafontaine said the TRC didn't have a mandate to decide on legal liability and she believes the residential school experience should be recognized as a genocide.

"You can destroy a group by destroying its social fabric, its social unit, and I think this is what Canada has been doing across decades," Lafontaine said.

"Canada has committed a different kind of genocide."

Lafontaine said the definition of genocide is not limited to massacres and can include events that occur over a long period of time. She pointed to the forced transfer of children from their families to residential schools as an example of a genocidal act.

Lafontaine contributed to the 2019 legal analysis for the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, which concluded violence against Indigenous women and girls amounts to genocide.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau used that word after he accepted the inquiry's final report and repeated it last week when the national action plan was released.

Lafontaine said there are legal consequences to the government acknowledging genocide — consequences which require full implementation of the inquiry's recommendations and those of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

"It's structural change," she said. "It's recognizing the damage that colonization has done and undoing that by giving back the power to Indigenous nations."

CANADA

MPs move to convene emergency Islamophobia summit before August


OTTAWA — Federal lawmakers are calling on the government to convene an emergency summit on Islamophobia by the end of July.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

In the House of Commons on Friday, MPs gave unanimous consent to an NDP motion demanding the gathering in response to Sunday's deadly attack against a Muslim family in London, Ont.

London-Fanshawe MP Lindsay Mathyssen, who brought forward the non-binding motion, says the Liberal government needs to go beyond expressing condolences.

"A Muslim family went out for a walk, like so many families and people have been doing in this pandemic, and this family didn’t make it back home because of hate. No one should ever feel unsafe in their community and neighbourhood,” she said in a statement.

The motion follows a call for the summit in the form of a petition — it had more than 40,000 signatures as of Friday evening — from the National Council of Canadian Muslims.

"This loss of a family, the loss of a child in our community because of Islamophobia — this is a sorrow that will run deep for a long time. Let that sorrow be the ground where we stand for justice and stand for change," the petition reads.

It references recent attacks against Muslim women in Alberta, the fatal stabbing of a volunteer at a Toronto mosque last September and the Quebec City mosque shooting that killed six Muslim men in 2017.

"We will never be intimidated. We will never stop marching for love, justice and goodness," it states.

New Democrat Leader Jagmeet Singh said Canada must urgently address a problem with white supremacy and far-right radicalization and make policy changes at every level of government to prevent another attack.

Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole said in a Twitter post that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau should take "urgent action" in support of Canadian Muslims and convene the summit.

At a vigil attended by thousands in London on Tuesday evening, O'Toole called the devastating attack an act of terrorism and attributed it to growing Islamophobia.

His words mark a change in tone for the Conservatives, most of whom voted along with the Bloc Québécois against a Liberal motion to condemn Islamophobia in 2017. O'Toole, then a leadership candidate, argued "Islamophobia" was used too broadly in the motion and could stifle free speech.

Police allege the attack, which saw four family members driven down and killed on Sunday night, was a planned act that targeted Muslims.

The funeral for the four family members who were run over and killed is set for Saturday afternoon at the Islamic Centre of Southwest Ontario in London.

Relatives have identified the dead as 46-year-old Salman Afzaal, his 44-year-old wife Madiha Salman, their 15-year-old daughter Yumna Salman and her 74-year-old grandmother, Talat Afzaal.

The couple's nine-year-old son, Fayez, was seriously wounded but is expected to recover.

Nathaniel Veltman faces four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder in connection with the attack.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 11, 2021.

Christopher Reynolds, The Canadian Press

POSTMODERN SPACE MYTHOLOGY

Asteroid 16 Psyche Thought to Be Worth $10,000 Quadrillion Could Be a 'Rubble Pile'

Aristos Georgiou 

 An asteroid that scientists have previously estimated to be worth a staggering $10,000 quadrillion due to the potential value of its resources could be a "rubble pile," the lead author of a new study has said

.

© iStock An artist’s illustration of the asteroid 16 Psyche. Researchers have found in a study that the asteroid could actually be a rubble pile.

The paper, published in The Planetary Science Journal, indicates that the 140-mile-wide space rock, dubbed 16 Psyche, might not be as metallic or dense as previous research has suggested.

According to the study, which was led by University of Arizona (UA) undergraduate student David Cantillo, the findings suggest that the asteroid's formation may have played out differently to what scientists had previously thought.

It was long thought that the asteroid was the exposed iron core of a small planet that failed to form during the earliest days of the solar system, stripped of its mantle and crust.

But Cantillo and colleagues said that rather than being an exposed intact core of an early planet, 16 Psyche could actually be more similar to a "rubble pile," like the asteroid Bennu.

In astronomy, a "rubble pile" asteroid is one that is made up of many separate components that are weakly held together by their own gravity, rather than a single large piece of material, according to the Southwest Research Institute, based in San Antonio, Texas.

"Psyche as a rubble pile would be very unexpected, but our data continues to show low-density estimates despite its high metallic content," Cantillo said in a UA statement.

In the study, the researchers recreated 16 Psyche's regolith—the loose rocky material on its surface—by mixing together different materials in a lab. They then analyzed how light interacted with these materials until they matched telescope observations of the space rock.

These experiments revealed the potential breakdown of the materials that make up the asteroid. The researchers proposed that 16 Psyche is 82.5 percent metal, 7 percent low-iron pyroxene—a kind of mineral—and 10.5 percent carbonaceous chondrite material.

This latter material was likely delivered to the surface as a result of collisions with other asteroids, the researchers said.

"Having a lower metallic content than once thought means that the asteroid could have been exposed to collisions with asteroids containing the more common carbonaceous chondrites, which deposited a surface layer that we are observing," Cantillo said in the statement.

"This is the first paper to set some specific constraints on its surface content. Earlier estimates were a good start, but this refines those numbers a bit more."

Previous estimates of the asteroid's composition concluded that 16 Psyche could be made up of as much as 95 percent metal. Cantillo and colleagues also proposed that the asteroid is significantly less dense than previously thought.

16 Psyche was first spotted by an Italian astronomer in 1852—becoming only the 16th asteroid ever to be discovered.

In recent times, scientists have become interested in the space rock because it could provide a rare opportunity to study an exposed planetary core close up—if the traditional story of its origin is true. In fact, NASA is planning to a launch a mission to the asteroid in 2022, which is scheduled to reach 16 Psyche in 2026.

"The opportunity to study an exposed core of a planetesimal is extremely rare, which is why they're sending the spacecraft mission there, but our work shows that 16 Psyche is a lot more interesting than expected," Cantillo said in the statement.

Principal investigator for the NASA mission, Lindy Elkins-Tanton, previously estimated that the value of materials on Psyche, which is about the size of Massachusetts, could be around $10,000 quadrillion—that's $10,000 followed by 15 additional zeroes. This amount is greater than the worth of Earth's entire economy.

While NASA has no plans to mine the asteroid, Cantillo said that the latest findings could slightly bring down the estimated value of the asteroid.

HISPANOLA
The 'birth of the racial caste system' started in this island — and endures, documentary shows

Arturo Conde and Nicole Acevedo 

The adjacent countries of the Dominican Republic and Haiti share an island — as well as a troubling history that influenced the Western hemisphere, from as far north as Canada to as far south as Argentina

© Provided by NBC News

“The island for me is the birth of our racial caste system across the Americas,” according to Michèle Stephenson, whose documentary “Stateless” is featured this weekend at the Tribeca Festival.

"It’s where the first Europeans arrived, where the first Africans arrived, where the first genocide took place, and the racial caste system manifests itself on the island before spreading throughout the hemisphere," Stephenson, who is of Panamanian and Haitian heritage, told NBC News.

“Stateless" follows Rosa Iris Diendomi, a young Dominican attorney and immigration advocate of Haitian descent, as she struggles to run for Congress in the Dominican Republic.

© Hispaniola Productions Rosa Iris Diendomi doing community work. (Hispaniola Productions)


The documentary, also known for its Spanish title "Apátrida," shows Diendomi as she visits sugarcane towns known as “bateyes,” where many Haitian immigrants and Dominicans of Haitian descent live. It showcases the struggles of a largely exploited group that was stripped of its rights nearly a decade ago, when the Dominican Supreme Court retroactively took away the citizenship of anyone with undocumented Haitian parents — even those born in the Dominican Republic.

The ruling left more than 200,000 people with Haitian ancestry without a nationality, according to the documentary. Though the government, amid international pressure, took measures in 2014 to allow children born in the Dominican Republic and certain others to apply for citizenship, thousands have been deported from the Dominican Republic, including many with valid claims to Dominican citizenship.

“The court sentence is the reflection of a country that in spite of its mixed racial identity refuses to accept everything that has to do with its African origins,” Diendomi told NBC News.

Throughout her unsuccessful congressional bid, Diendomi was peppered with threats to her and her son’s life, forcing her to eventually flee the country. Since being granted refuge in the U.S., Diendomi has been working with Stephenson to use the film as an opportunity to engage community groups and international organizations on issues of anti-Black racism and migration.

On camera, Stephenson connects the racial tensions from the island’s past with the current racial politics of the Dominican Republic.

The tragic story of a young dark-skinned girl named Moraime bookends the film. Her life is told through a voiceover, while viewers see other children in the bateyes and sugarcane fields. It describes the 1937 Perejil Massacre that executed thousands of Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian decent living in the Dominican Republic.

“On a dark night in October, Moraime had to hide,” Diendomi narrates in a voiceover. “The dictator Trujillo decided to whiten the race and fix the so-called Haitian problem. He murdered many, including Moraime’s mother, because of the color of their skin.”

An Associated Press article published by The New York Times on Dec. 8, 1937, reported that Haitian President Sténio Vincent had charged that “8,000 Haitians had been victims of ‘mass murder’” in the Dominican territory since October. The article also said the Dominican State Department dismissed Haitian reports of slayings as fantasies.

More than 80 years later, the film shows footage of Dominican President Danilo Medina (who served from 2012 to 2020) denying accusations of racism against Haitians.

© Hispaniola Productions People crossing a bridge at the border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. (Hispaniola Productions)

“How can the Dominican Republic be a racist country when more than 80 percent of our population is made up of Blacks and mulattos? How can Dominicans be accused of being racist towards Haitians when they live and coexist with us everywhere in our country?” he said.

The former Dominican president would also deny that Dominicans of Haitian decent were being targeted and stripped of their citizenship.

“The number of stateless individuals in the Dominican Republic is zero,” he said.
Beyond the physical and political borders

Despite racial tensions that have existed on the island since Spanish and French colonial rule, Stephenson hopes both Dominicans and Haitians can look back at their history to move past the physical and political borders that divide their countries.

On the eastern side of the island, when Dominicans boast about Santo Domingo, they can say proudly that it’s the oldest European city in the Americas — founded in 1496, over 100 years older than Jamestown (1607) — and that the city’s grid pattern became the blueprint for many future towns and cities in Latin America.

Dominicans can also claim that Thomas Aquinas University in Santo Domingo is the oldest in the hemisphere — founded in 1538, almost 100 years before Harvard University (1636).

And on the western side of the island, Haitians can similarly champion that their country was second only to the U.S. in obtaining independence. But Stephenson pointed out that Haiti actually is the first and only successful slave revolt against a colonial power.

“It’s not just the fact that it’s the second country to get independence on this hemisphere after the United States. But it’s the only ever successful revolt by enslaved people — Blacks who were slaves defeated Napoleon’s army,” the filmmaker said. “And the Haitian Revolution doesn’t even get the credit that should be given next to the American and French revolutions because of the invisibility of the history of resistance.”

It’s also worth noting that Haitian independence was influential in the success of early Latin American democracy, offering el gran libertador (the great liberator) Simón Bolívar refuge and support in his fight against the Spanish Empire.

Both Stephenson and Diendomi agreed that more conversations about race need to happen to break the cycle of discrimination.

“I think that there is a historic reality where people have been educated to think or inherited the belief that there are inferior people depending on their origin or race,” Diendomi said. “And both inside the U.S. and beyond it, when we see the struggle of other marginalized groups, we see the same cycle repeated. It’s a struggle based on race.”

SEE

THE BLACK JACOBINS - Libcom

https://libcom.org/files/charles-forsdick-the-black-jacobins-reader-1.pdf · PDF file

1 The Black Jacobins in Detroit: 1963 dan georgakas 55 2 The Impact of C. L. R. James’s The Black Jacobins mumia abu ­ aj mal 85 3 C. L. R. James, The Black Jacobins, and The Making of Haiti carolyn e. fick 60 4 The Black Jacobins, Education, and Redemption russell maroon shoatz 70 5 The Black Jacobins, Past and Present selma aj mes 73

INSTITUTIONAL RACISM

Judge pauses loan forgiveness program for farmers of color

MILWAUKEE (AP) — A federal judge has halted a loan forgiveness program for farmers of color in response to a lawsuit alleging the program discriminates against white farmers.

U.S. District Judge William Griesbach in Milwaukee issued a temporary restraining order Thursday suspending the program for socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

The program pays up to 120% of direct or guaranteed farm loan balances for Black, American Indian, Hispanic, Asian American or Pacific Islander farmers. President Joe Biden's administration created the loan forgiveness program as part of its COVID-19 pandemic relief plan.

Emily Newton, the lead attorney representing the U.S. Department of Agriculture in the lawsuit, didn’t immediately respond to an email Friday seeking comment on the restraining order.

Minority farmers have maintained for decades that they have been unfairly denied farm loans and other government assistance. Federal agriculture officials in 1999 and 2010 settled lawsuits from Black farmers accusing the agency of discriminating against them.

Conservative law firm Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty filed suit in April arguing white farmers aren’t eligible, amounting to a violation of their constitutional rights. The firm sued on behalf of 12 farmers from Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota, Missouri, Iowa, Arkansas, Oregon and Kentucky.

The Associated Press