Friday, January 11, 2008

"Slave For A Day"














On occasion, unchecked white liberal guilt can (evidently) be mined for entertainment purposes.

A Haitian theme park called, appropriately enough, Memory Village, could be in the works for whites who seek to assuage their angst over their ancestors' brutality. The 'Slave for a Day' attraction is sure to appeal to the above-mentioned guilty libs, sadomasochists with unresolved Negro issues and, considering the activity ends with a full out rebellion, anyone who wants to get to get his or her Toussaint L'Ouverture on. From the article:

"They [visitors] can choose if they want to be spectators or participants. If they take part, they will be given traditional African clothing and then 'kidnapped', chained and forced to march to a slave ship in a mock crossing of the Atlantic.

They will then be part of a re-enactment where slaves were taken to market to be sold and later broken down with torture in quarantine and put to work on a plantation.

Towards the end of the 12-hour stay, visitors will take part in a recreation of the slave rebellion which eventually led to the establishment of Haiti."

The founders of the "project," a married American couple named Ron and Carla Bluntschli, have already raised a considerable amount of money and need about $700K to make their dream a reality.

Where to begin? I basically had two separate and distinct reactions when I initially read about this. The first was disgust. Some of you have seen Michael Moore's brilliant documentary Roger and Me, which chronicles, from Moore's unique perspective, the deleterious effect the closing of a GM plant has on residents of Flint, Michigan. For many, the most disturbing part was when a local woman who is selling rabbits, "For Food or Pets," smashes a rabbit's skull (apparently it didn't make the pets list) and skins it in preparation for a meal. For me, the sickest part was when members of Flint's upper class, while most of Southeastern Michigan disintegrated around them, decided to get all prissied up to spend a night in an abandoned prison. If memory serves me correctly, some of those bastards were literally walking around old cell blocks with half-full martini glasses. I've never been a fan of ghetto tourism in any of its forms. Apart from the obvious stupidity of those who promote and take part in it, it perpetuates the insulting idea that the socioeconomic position of an entire segment of the population can be fully understood simply by throwing on some prison stripes or submitting to a questionable form of "torture." If visitors to Memory Village really want the authentic slave experience perhaps they should allow Ron and Carla to kill their children, rape their wives and daughters, abduct them and everyone they know and drag them to a foreign, hostile, indecipherable country, steal, plunder, inhabit and force them to forsake their motherland, destroy their entire familial structure, enslave them for approximately 400 years, subject them to sub-second class citizenry status for about a hundred years after they release them and THEN chide them for having the temerity to bring any of it up. Yeah. That'd be about square (thanks to Breez for reminding me of this wonderful line).

The second reaction I had to this story was one of unabashed amusement. This is because I can imagine some Haitian kid named Hennrick getting paid to gleefully dole out daily beatings to Memory Village guests. I can imagine Hennrick announcing that today's revolution will begin promptly at 3pm. I imagine Hennrick's friends and family regarding him with utter disbelief when he reveals to them what he does for a living. I also imagine Hennrick being besieged by requests for dates from some of the very people whose asses he's spent the last few hours whipping. Now that I think of it, I've probably got a few dollars lying around the house somewhere to donate to Ron and Carla.

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7 Comments:

At 3:09 PM , Blogger Kokomanzedeus said...

Wow! When I read the first lines of your commentary and the description of the "Theme Park." I was like Oooookay! Where do I begin!? For one thing, I noticed how the couple took their "dream" aka BS to Haiti. Knowing how destitute the country is, of course they would be open to any type of tourism that would bring money to their shores even if it means mockery. And, just like years past, the exploitation involved in this idea is inconcievable. It's 2008 for goodness sake! I do agree with you in finding humor in this though. Pardon my anger but, I think a rebellion should be staged on Ron and Carla Bluntschli's doorsteps. Complete with a burning of their home. This way, they too can share in the experience.

 
At 10:46 AM , Blogger Not So Old Soldier said...

I don't know where to begin. John I completely agree with your idea of the revolt starting on their doorstep. This idea that rich people have of white guilt can be spent more progressively if they want to contribute to the cause. we need to form a committee to help Ron and Carla spend this money more constructively. I'm sure the schools and healthcare system in Haiti can put that money to better use. This makes me want to work at the theme park too, but I might catch a case messing around with those fools.

 
At 10:52 AM , Blogger changeseeker said...

I read about this at Black Looks this morning, ACT, and I just totally agree with you. This news made me cringe and wince simultaneously. These people couldn't imagine any other way to invest their life savings? I've got a few ideas I'd be happy to give them for free if they have money to burn. What could they possibly be thinking?

 
At 11:27 AM , Blogger Breez said...

I always find it amusing how privileged, white folks like to appease their guilt by exploits such as this. One of the poorest nations, but it would have been too much like the right fucking thing to build schools or homes that aren't held together by tar, discarded nails and such.

 
At 3:41 PM , Blogger ...they call me "L" said...

Fucking ridiculous. Your first reaction to this is RIGHT ON, conflict. Amazing how white guilt manifests...shit never ceases to disgust me.

 
At 9:30 AM , Blogger cup of cupcake said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

 
At 12:58 PM , Anonymous Ron Bluntschli said...

You know, even though this is from 10 years ago, I just now happened to look it up. The Memory Village idea was created by my wife and two Haitian work partners who worked together to encourage people to never forget the horrible history of the slave trade and its lasting effects. The motivation was not out of white guilt, but a hope that the present might be improved if more people recognized that the past is in many ways not past, and it still needs to be worked out, both individually and collectively. The idea was for it to be a spiritual healing place for both visiting foreigners and Haitians. I always thought that the idea of a physical "village" was problematic because, being more cynical than my wife, I figured some people would see it as a sort of "Slavery World" theme park, which it was definitely not intended to be. Sure enough, we had a reporter from Westword visit us, wrote up a story putting his twist on it, and now it's been referenced with even more distortion and some harsh personal judgments made in the comments. In any case, no money was raised to begin construction, it never happened, and the work partnership that my wife had with the Haitian who it turned out was pushing for the Memory Village to promote his public visibility in order to achieve a political future, ended in 2009. We still live in Haiti, still host groups wanting to understand Haitian culture and history and experience some of the good things we have here that the US is pretty weak on, and continue to grow in our understanding of humanity and how to live in this fucked up world. We decided to live here permanently in 2001 after 16 years of rural development work with NGO's and independently, not with any white-man's-burden kind of mission to save the "natives" or assuage the guilt of white visitors, as we are painted here, but out of disgust for the US's war-making, arrogant racist empire, and because life is fuller here and there is more freedom. I fully understand the comments made based on how this was presented, but it ain't us. Judge the system as harshly as it deserves, but give individuals a break until you know more about them before passing judgment. I don't know if anyone will ever read this, but I had to respond.

 

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