By William Bowles, Creative-i
It was obvious from the getgo that media 'coverage' of the earthquake in Haiti was heading in the same, predictable direction, namely down the same racist path that Western media coverage of things 'darker than blue' always travels.
“Relief efforts have also been hampered by supply bottlenecks, leading to security concerns over looting and violence amid increasing desperation.
“There are concerns about the safety of aid workers, with reports of gunfire and youths carrying machetes. Some charities have taken security guards, while others are supported by UN security forces.” — 'UK government Haiti earthquake aid to treble to £20m', BBC News 18 January, 2010
And yet again in another BBC 'news' item:
“Many are trying to leave the city, and there are security concerns amid reports of looting and violence.” — 'UN chief Ban Ki-Moon calls for Haiti aid patience', BBC News, 18 January, 2010
Meanwhile, the US has de facto occupied Haiti, no doubt to preserve its sweatshop investments, amongst which are Walt Disney and Walmart[1]. And no wonder aid can't get through, the US seemed to have moved Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) to Haiti, even blocking the organization of Caribbean states, Caricom, from landing badly needed assistance.
The attitude of the West towards people of colour is best illustrated by the following, also from the preceding BBC story:
“The US and Dutch authorities have said they are speeding up the process of flying orphaned children away from Haiti to adoptive parents abroad.
“Six Haitian children adopted by Dutch families arrived in the Netherlands on Sunday and the justice ministry said it was expediting the adoption process and paperwork for about 100 others.”
So whilst people are dying because the US military is blocking aid flights coming in, it seems it has no problem stealing babies and flying them out!
The Times of London continues in the same, racist vein (with the predictable image of a 'looter' holding a knife that I will not reproduce here):
“Six days after the Port-au-Prince earthquake large areas of the city remain untouched by the global aid effort as bottlenecks continue to clog the airport and looting threatens to descend into wholesale violence.” — 'Lynch mobs turn on looters amid Haiti aid crisis', The Times, 18 January, 2010
Hoisted by their own, racist pétard
By contrast, a report from Canada Haiti Action Network reveals where the 'aid' went first:
'Thus far…the rescue teams cluster at the high profile and safer walled sites and were literally afraid to enter the barrios. They gravitated to the sites where they had secure compounds and big buildings.
'Meanwhile, the neighbourhoods where the damage appears to be much wider, and anywhere there were loose crowds, they avoided. In the large sites, and in the nice neighbourhoods, and where the press can be found, there would be teams from every country imaginable. Dogs and extraction units with more arriving, yet with 90% or more of them just sitting around.'
'Meanwhile, in the poor neighbourhoods, awash in rubble, there was not a foreigner in sight.”
[...]
“News crews are looking for the story of desperate Haitians that are in hysterics. When in reality it is more often the Haitians that are acting calmly while the international community, the elite and politicians have melted down over the issue, and none seem to have the remotest idea what is going on.” — 'Where is the aid in Haiti' — by Roger Annis, 16 January, 2010
~ more... ~
~ Video: Inside A Failed State - Haiti ~