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Almost all of the non-Spanish speaking islands in the Caribbean basin are almost exclusively populated by blacks. Jamaica (and some other Caribbean islands) is over 90 percent black and has a comparable GDP per capita to the Dominican Republic.
There are other reasons for Haiti's extreme poverty, such as political corruption and the shape the country was left in after the Duvalier regimes. Most Caribbean countries economies are based on tourism, and Haiti due to it's turbulent past isn't a very attractive option for tourists.
About 85 percent of Dominicans have African ancestry. The DR being Hispanic is not a racial term - it is cultural, referring only to language and other Spanish-derived culture. But the Dominican is quite black - the "blackest" Spanish-speaking country in terms of culture and heritage.
Yes, the Dominican Republica had Trujillo, but how many democratic elected presidents has Haiti had?
It does not matter if as you have said "many Haitians speak Spanish along the borders" since most Haitians do not live along the borders. There are a few Dominicans along the border by Dajabon that speak creole, too. But the border on the Dominican side is off limits to Haitians, and guarded by armed soldiers. Haitians can still move across. For example, they can walk across a river at the province of Dajabon, but are easily recognized by the Dominicans. I remember when living there some Dominican soldiers telling a few Spanish words they would ask of people they suspected of being Haitians to repeat. Only a portion of the border is populated at both sides. Most of it isn't.
And yes, Dominicans and Haitians do not get along, and I remember that Haitians were discriminated against. After living there for a few years, I realized that the language was a big obstacle between the two countries. Spanish is spoken in DM, and mostly creole (around 90%) and a bit of French is spoken in Haiti. Haitians and their language became isolated, since most neighboring islands speak Spanish. English is spoken in Jamaica, however.
Why is Haiti so poor, while there is much better living on the Dominican side of the island? One would think an island with two countries would have relatively similar economies. See St. Maarten.
DR was where Haiti is now up until the 1960s and 1970s. It was the Duvalier regime that brought Haiti to where it is. Haiti was once a much more productive and more developed nation until the Duvalier's came in
This notion of a "corrupt government" seems like a cop out to me. The people are ultimately responsible for the government in place, and it seems that Haiti, along with all the failed countries of Africa seem to have "corrupt governments". Why? The US and other nations infused billions of dollars into their economy after the earthquake a few years ago, and surprise surprise, it's all gone and hardly anything has changed.
Culture, genetics, environment... I don't know, and I don't want to offend anyone. But in my younger years I traveled a lot to poorer countries (it was a hobby, not missionary work or anything like that) and I noticed that in poor countries, you'd see everyone sitting around chewing seeds and mainly idle. In wealthy countries, people walk around with a sense of purpose. There are stark contrasts between wealthy cultures and poor countries, and chalking it all up as a crooked government is way, way too easy and intellectually dishonest.
I'd agree but; a GOOD government WON'T let bums just sit around and do nothing while collecting their welfare. OTOH: a BAD like as in a crooked "government" WILL hurt even a bunch of people who do have a "taking care of biz" attitude because the people don't know which "rules" to follow if they keep changing every 5 minutes.
When Haiti was first colonized all of it's indigenous people were killed off. The settlers then imported black slaves from Africa. It was these black slaves from Africa who revolted after the French revolution. The black slaves killed off or ran off all of the whites and free blacks. The only inhabitants in Haiti since have been these blacks from Africa.
This same history did not happen in other colonies in the Western hemisphere. This was unique to Haiti. Other places in the Western hemisphere kept their original inhabitants, their settlers as well as their African slaves. As a result, these other colonies became a mixture of all these races.
Also as a result, Haiti remained inhabited primarily by African blacks. This is why the fortunes of Haiti have pretty much mirrored the fortunes of many African countries. The average IQ of most countries in Africa south of the Sahara is anywhere from the mid 60's to the low 70's. I would think the average IQ in Haiti would be pretty much the same.
This is the reason for the inept governments and the inept citizenry who cannot build or maintain any kind of government, agriculture or infrastructure. Countries like Haiti depend on the largess of the developed nations especially the United States of America.
Good book that might interest you: "The Big Truck That Went By: How The World Came To save Haiti and Left Behind a Disaster" by Jonathan M Katz. I'm going to quote some people on the book jacket. The author worked for the Associated Press. Haiti's history is part of the story of the earthquake relief effort. Very readable book.
"Jonathan Katz has written THE book on Haiti's devastating earthquake and it's bungled reconstruction. For anyone who wants to know why the "international community" can't fix anything anymore , but who still hope to find solutions to global problems, this book is a must-read." Jon Lee Anderson author of Che Guevera: A Revolutionary Life.
"A top-notch account of Haiti's recent history including the January 2010 earthquake, from the only American reporter stationed in the country at the time...An eye-opening, trailblazing expose." Kirkus Reviews
When Haiti was first colonized all of it's indigenous people were killed off. The settlers then imported black slaves from Africa. It was these black slaves from Africa who revolted after the French revolution. The black slaves killed off or ran off all of the whites and free blacks. The only inhabitants in Haiti since have been these blacks from Africa.
This same history did not happen in other colonies in the Western hemisphere. This was unique to Haiti. Other places in the Western hemisphere kept their original inhabitants, their settlers as well as their African slaves. As a result, these other colonies became a mixture of all these races.
Also as a result, Haiti remained inhabited primarily by African blacks. This is why the fortunes of Haiti have pretty much mirrored the fortunes of many African countries. The average IQ of most countries in Africa south of the Sahara is anywhere from the mid 60's to the low 70's. I would think the average IQ in Haiti would be pretty much the same.
This is the reason for the inept governments and the inept citizenry who cannot build or maintain any kind of government, agriculture or infrastructure. Countries like Haiti depend on the largess of the developed nations especially the United States of America.
- Reel
There are still indigenous Native American descendants in Haiti!
Failed culture. We should outsource the entire country to a bunch of Chinese from Shanghai. Let them run the entire place and I'll be they could turn it around.
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