“Haiti Is One of Us; It’s Just Not African Enough”: The African Union Denies Haiti Membership

by | May 25, 2016 | Africa | 16 comments

Barely weeks after many cheered Haiti’s scheduled acceptance as a member of the African Unionat its next meeting in Kigali, here comes some news to dampen our spirits.

The African Union in a statement issued on Tuesday the 17th of May has denied granting Haiti associate member status, asserting that according to its statues (article 29.1 of the AU constitution), only African states can join the African Union.

Apparently this narrow definition relies on geography instead of ideology, physical location rather than identity, and considers an “African state” to be a mere expression of geographical boundaries, running often haphazardly across the African continent. It is self-limiting to the union and serves no immediate purpose.

It is a no-brainer that physical proximity is often the least element necessary for fostering collaboration between countries; indeed often times it has been the reason for strife and mutual disrespect amongst neighbors. It can’t be overstated that in this age of globalization, physical distance counts for next to nothing. Haiti shares too much in common with  Africa for the country to be denied full AU membership status.

A shared Identity (language, culture, ideology) is everything. It is the reason why the US has closer ties with the UK than it does with neighboring Mexico and the rest of Americas; it is the reason why Cuba has a stronger relationship with Russia than it does with its neighbours; it is the reason why a Nigerian can connect with a Ghanaian faster than a Cameroonian. The Arab league, NATO, and even OPEC are examples of how powerful community of nations can be forged outside of geographical proximity.

With full membership denied, Haiti is expected to continue in its previously held position as an observer member (with no voting or proposal rights), a status it has held since 2012.

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16 Comments

  1. Come2Haiti

    Haiti is more African than Africa! Haiti retained African religion, culture, and food dating back to slavery days. Haiti represents Africa in the Americas. Haitians are proud to be black while many other blacks in the Americas deny their blackness and want to be something else. Slavery did not brainwash Haitians into wanting to be Spaniards, French, Portuguese, Dutch, English or Arab. To be eligible to be a member of the African Union should not be based solely on location but in spirit. Haiti has been rejected since fighting to free itself from slavery and from freeing slaves from the Dominican Republic and all of of the Americas. Now it is being rejected by Africa itself. LOL.

    Reply
    • MARLON G PIERRE

      Haiti was rejected from Africa because the people of Haiti are American Indians not Africans!!!

      Reply
      • MARLON G PIERRE

        Africa is my auntie…America Is My Mother!!

        Reply
      • Simon cowbell

        You’re wrong! Haitians are Africans! I know, I’ve worked with them. Taino, Arawaks, Caribs; those are the original indigenous peoples of the Caribbean islands.

        Reply
      • come2haiti

        @Marlon G Pierre — Are you a curious troll?

        Reply
        • MARLON G PIERRE

          No my friend…I just happen to be Haitian that’s all with no traces what so ever of any African ancestry in my family. However I do find Arawak, Chahta and Creek while doing my family’s genealogy but I’m sure that means nothing huh my friend???.

          Reply
          • come2haiti

            Well, 95% of people in Haiti have African DNA which makes Haiti the number 1 African country in the Western Hemisphere. In addition, the traditions followed in Haiti date back to 1501 when the Atlantic Slave Trade began. Even within our come2haiti group, most of our team members have African blood even if they are mulattos/mulattas and may not look Sub-Saharan Africans. Haiti does belong in the African Union.

          • MARLON G PIERRE

            Really DNA is what you are going with??? Now I know you are uninformed. DNA gives you LESS than (.1%) of your ancestry. You are not chatting with someone who doesn’t know about the scam of this DNA HOAX. Also DNA CANNOT tell you the Name of your mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and so forth. Genealogy however can tell you their names, where they lived, their occupation, what tribe/clan they belonged to, property they owned and a whole lot more. You are playing yourself and others seeking truth by continuing this conversation.

          • MARLON G PIERRE

            But if you want to talk DNA I can smash your whole we from Africa BS with one question. Answer this for me. What was The Americas overall blood type prior to colonization and what was Africa’s? Lets see if you are brave enough to go down this path with me?.

          • come2haiti

            Why would you care about someone’s name, mother, father, grandmother, tribe, where they live, properties they own and all that nonsense when it comes to where most of the people from a country is from? True that the original people from the island of Haiti (Dominican Republic and Haiti) were Taino/Arawak. However, they almost got instinct by the Europeans. Looking at the people of the entire island of Haiti, most of them have less than a 4% Taino/Arawak DNA. Most of the countries in Latin America have more Indigenous percentage of DNA in their blood. Looking at a country like Mexico where 40-60% of the people are Indigenous. If you do not want to believe in DNA science, that is your prerogative.

          • MARLON G PIERRE

            “Why would I want to no my mother, grandmother…etc” Did you really just say that?? I don’t want this to seem disrespectful but based on your response….it is pointless to continue dialogue with you. Hopefully our people will see this exchange and your Lack Of Knowledge and BS will be exposed.

          • come2haiti

            Who do you work for? Sounds like you work for the African Union. Because that is the same adsurb argument they use to deny Haiti its rightful membership. Just like you, they used the Taino/Arawak and location arguments. But what they fail to understand is that after the Arawak population was decimated by the Europeans on the entire island of Haiti, the Arawaks were replaced by Africans. Our argument is based on identity vs physical location. When the OAU was formed in 1963 (which later became the African Union in 2001), one of the goals was to raise the standard of living for ALL AFRICANS. You have to realize the Haitian Revolution ended the Atlantic Slave Trade and influenced slave owning countries in the Western Hemisphere to eventually abolish African slavery. Haiti made a huge contribution to the African people. Because of Haiti’s sacrifices, the people of Haiti are still somewhat paying the price of the revolt in terms of extreme poverty and very low standard of living. And, yes we are making the case that Haiti should be a full member of the African Union based on identity, its huge contribution to the African people and on the original objective of the OAU and the current objective of the AU which is to “raise the living standards of African peoples”.

  2. SpeakTruth2Power

    @SimonCowbell You don’t know what the f^ck you re talking about! We are Arawaks, Aboriginals indigenous to the Americas/ Greater Antilles. STOP trying to disconnect our prople from our land, Devil !!!

    Reply
    • come2haiti

      @SpeakTruth2Power The original people of Haiti before the Europeans came (Arawaks) are to be respected. They lost their lives and their land. If you have Arawak blood, your ancestors need to be respected and commemorated. Nevertheless, the average percentage of Arawak DNA in today’s Haiti population is less than 4%. The other side of the island of Haiti which is the Dominican Republic have more whites and mulattos than Haiti by far. But their mulattos are mostly mixed with Europeans and some Arawak DNA. There is a large percentage of the population of Haiti who are 100% African. What we are saying in regards to the AU is that Haiti identifies more with Africa than the Arawak tribe.

      Reply
      • MARLON G PIERRE

        Stop with the fraudulent DNA nonsense. Yes you are right about most of the DR people today are the result of European mixing and who call themselves Tianos. They Are Not original Arawaks!! Tianos are a government construct put there to replace the original American people of Haiti….just like they are trying to replace the original people on the main land of Turtle Island aka The United States of America with Mongols(Native Americans). With all that being said.
        You can’t move into someone else’s home and try to claim it to be yours…GTFOH!!! Haiti is and will ALWAYS BE PART OF THE AMERICAS!!! ‘Africa’ knows this and the people of that land mass knows this and that is why Haiti is denied union status. All the lingo and location stuff is just fluff so they don’t ‘let the cat out of the bag’ about who Haitians really are.

        Reply
        • come2haiti

          @Marlon G Pierre – I suspect you work for the African Union or some other organization. Nevertheless, the African Union fail to understand the importance Haiti’s membership brings to African people all over the world. Hopefully, the following benefits will help them understand: 1) African-Americans and Afro-Latinos will become curious about their African ancestry and will take trips to Africa to learn about themselves. 2) There will be more cultural trades between Africa and the Western world. 3) Increased selling of goods and services between Africa and the Western world. 3) Increased tourism. 4) Increased knowledge and standard of living for all African people all over the world. 5) Symbolic move to show the world that African people are united. Benefits for Haiti: 1) Debt cancellation and reduced dependency on foreign aid. 2) African Union investments. Haiti currently attracts a small amount of international investors. 3) Trade between Haiti and the other countries that are part of the African Union. 3) Increased tourism between Africa, Haiti and the Caribbean. Direct flights from Africa to Haiti as Haiti becomes a hub. 4) As a result of more investments coming to Haiti, the country will be forced to invest in agriculture, manufacturing, tourism and infrastructure. 5) The standard of living of the average Haitian will be raised as their will be more jobs for Haitians, more schools and more health care facilities. One of the major goals of the African Union is to raise the standard of living of all African peoples. It seems that the African Union completely forgot that particular important goal when making their decision to deny Haiti’s rightful seat at the table.

          Reply

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