Yes, Haiti, And Other Places Are ‘Sh*tholes’
My father, a former pastor, was a missionary to Haiti for a number of years in the 1990s. After Hurricane Andrew destroyed his church in Goulds, FL, just outside of Miami, he rebuilt it, gave it to the Hispanic pastor who used it during the evenings, and set out to build a 93-foot sailing freighter to bring food and goods to the people of Haiti.
The boat was named Très bon Nouvel … Creole for “The Very Good News.”
The Miami Herald nicknamed him Rev. Noah in this great article (attached). I was so very proud of him (I still am).
After two trips there though, he had to stop. The boat was almost destroyed after striking a coral reef during a storm while returning to South Florida from the second trip. Thankfully, the Coast Guard managed to drag them back to the Keys for repairs. He fixed Très bon Nouvel but the family convinced him not to drag them back to Haiti again; it was difficult and he was getting older – about the age I am right now.
I was bummed by this because I had always wanted to go with them. I knew there would be risk and I would lose a slew of money taking a leave of absence from my job. But how often does anyone get the chance to do something so meaningful with a space in time of their lives, especially with people so in need? Not often.
In late December 2004, the Très bon Nouvel blew up, I believe, due to a propane gas canister explosion and faulty wiring, if I’m recalling correctly.
A family’s boat burns to the waterline. Photo: Jim and Donna Ritchie
Thankfully, no one was harmed. But my family members lost everything – days before Christmas. The Keys community came together and held fundraisers for them to lend a hand.
What’s the point of sharing this story now? Well, frankly, the president, again.
My father always told me that Haiti was held by demonic forces. It’s a hellhole there, a shithole, if you will, like most places around the world, including Libya, which the previous president called a “shitstorm” in a private meeting (funny, I don’t remember the same reaction to that honesty…).
The current president denies he used the terms but I don’t believe him even if two other Senators, albeit Republicans, say it didn’t happen. I bet he just spit it out. He’s brutally honest that way. It’s why he was elected.
Regardless, we shouldn’t care what words were or were not used; those places are what they are and there isn’t much we can do about it. It is heartbreaking; but not heartless to admit. Our nation simply can’t absorb millions and millions of people from anywhere, shithole or not. We don’t have the resources, we can’t take care of our own, and our taxes are too high now.
The problems of the peoples of the globe are many. But the solution is not to bring them here (Watch, with an open mind, the World Poverty, Immigration, and Gumballs video).
The Democrats want to get their votes; the Republicans want their cheap labor. But the people want neither (funny how that happens). And it’s not isms or phobes to think this is the wrong way to go, regardless of the language used.
The solution is just the opposite: We, as a people, should be helping them in their own nations and homes. Our government – which is bound by limits due to a Constitution (that we never follow but should be) – needs to not make our lives worse but, instead, allow us all to help others … like my father once did, through charitable means (I don’t support our government extensively being involved in nation-building or forcing our Constitution down any other nation’s throat even if I believe in American exceptionalism; that’s not its role … and that’s a conversation for another day).
Here’s a thought: If you hate the term “shithole” and want to help others outside of the United States, find a reputable organization that feeds the poor of the world and give them your tax cut money. Hell, give them more than that. I donated a lot of money (and time, too) to others last year and it’s an amazing feeling. To rely – or expect – the government to do it for you is completely wrong.
What I really find so insane is that Democrats NEVER used to support these open border policies.
The late U.S. Rep. Barbara Jordan, D-TX, a civil rights leader and the first open lesbian to serve in the House, worked on a commission studying immigration and while she was compassionate to the plight of those coming here, she was honest, too: The fabric of the nation is changing – and not for the better. The flood of both legal and illegal immigrants is lowering wages of the underclasses of the United States – including her constituents, many Americanized immigrants who played by the rules by not cutting in line illegally. This was nearly three decades ago when there were 70 million fewer people living here than there are now (including about 21 million fewer illegal and legal immigrants).
Previous bipartisan immigration acts were supposed to include major expenditures to build a wall along the southern border. While immigration increased and amnesty was granted to all kinds of people, the wall was never properly built. Drugs – including deadly heroin and synthetic opioids – are now flowing across the southern border more than any other place in the nation (Trump recently signed the INTERDICT Act, which hopes to help border agents stem the tide).
Even Bill Clinton in 1996 echoed Jordan’s comments in his State of the Union address and called for the construction of a wall in order to not depress American wages or burden the taxpayers – to a standing ovation by both sides of the aisle. That was more than two decades ago.
Democrats were never open border Bolsheviks and were not called racists for wanting to limit immigration to our nation and build a wall … and things were never as bad then as they are now.
