Vers le sud2005

Albert:
I was born in Cap-Haitien, in northern Haiti. I'm from a family of patriots. My whole family fought the Americans during the 1915 occupation. I think my father never shook a white man's hand. He saw them as lower than monkeys. He used to say: "I look behind a white man, to see if he has a tail." My grandfather didn't bother with that. To him, a white man was an animal, period. When he talked about "the white man," he really meant Americans. The invaders, occupiers, people who dared to tread on Haitian soil. If he knew I was a waiter for Americans, he'd die of shame. This time, the invaders aren't armed. But they have more damaging weapons than cannons: dollars! So that everything they touch turns to garbage. The whole country is rotten.