Canadian schools should teach the Haitian Revolution. Greater awareness of the remarkable slave uprising advances human liberation unlike educating kids about the Nazi Holocaust, which seems aimed at enabling colonial violence.
Recently Burkina Faso introduced the Haitian revolution as part of its curriculum for grade 8 students. Canadian provinces should follow suit.
The Haitian Revolution may be the greatest example of liberation in the history of humanity. From the grips of the most barbaric form of plantation economy, the largely African-born slaves delivered a massive blow to slavery, colonialism and white supremacy.
The revolt rippled through the region and compelled the post-French Revolution government in Paris to abolish slavery in its Caribbean colonies. Between 1791 and 1804 ‘Haitians’ would defeat tens of thousands of French, British and Spanish troops (Washington backed France financially), leading to the world’s first and only successful large-scale slave revolution. The first nation of free people in the Americas, Haiti established a slave-free state 60 years before the USA’s emancipation proclamation. (It wasn’t until after this proclamation ending slavery that the US recognized Haiti’s independence.)
The Haitian Revolution’s geopolitical effects were immense. It stimulated the and London’s 1807 Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade. The revolutionary state also provided important support to South American independence movements.
Currently, Canadian schools barely teach the Haitian Revolution. In what appears to be the most pronounced focus, British Columbia includes it among a handful of sample topics in the mandatory Social Studies 9 curriculum while in Ontario the Haitian Revolution is part of Grade 12 elective World History Since the Fifteenth Century. In Quebec and Alberta, teachers can include the Haitian Revolution when covering the Age of Enlightenment, the Atlantic slave trade, or global revolutions.
Less than 10% of Canadian students likely learn about the Haitian Revolution at school. Conversely, education about the Nazi Holocaust is mandatory in most provinces. As part of efforts to justify Israeli barbarism, Holocaust education has grown sharply in recent years with Ontario even making it mandatory in grade 6 and 10.
“As Holocaust education becomes mandatory in most of Canada, teachers adapt to new curricula” details the influence of Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center and other Zionist organizations over Holocaust education. The September Canadian Jewish News article notes that the BC education ministry “accepted” the Zionist-run Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre “suggestion to base its 40-page Holocaust education guide on a guide made by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA).” The IHRA is deeply anti-Palestinian.
The Azrieli, Aspers and other billionaire foundations have promoted holocaust education in Canadian schools. They’ve also put up tens of millions of dollars — while convincing government to spend a hundred million dollars more — on a slew of Holocaust museums and monuments. As part of a “Holocaust Industry” that’s flourished since Norman Finkelstein wrote a book about it 25 years ago, Canada recently had a Special Envoy on Preserving Holocaust Remembrance. Additionally, the Israeli state also devotes significant attention to the Holocaust and there are dozens of Hollywood movies about it.
Conversely, Haiti has a weak ideological apparatus, and Hollywood has never produced a major feature film about the Haitian Revolution (Famous actor Danny Glover spent decades trying to finance a major biopic about Haitian revolutionary Toussaint Louverture.) There are no billionaire foundations promoting Haitian Revolution education and Canada does not have a single national museum dedicated to the Haitian Revolution. Nor is Canada part of an International Haitian Revolution Remembrance Alliance.
The dearth of attention to the Haitian Revolution is one reason it should be prioritized over holocaust education in schools. Another reason is that learning about the Haitian Revolution undercuts, rather than serves, imperial power. Haiti continues to be punished for its role in Black liberation and faces the wrath of US/Canadian imperialism. Most other Black majority nations also face significant racism and imperialism.
While Canada’s Haitian population is about half size of the Jewish community, there are four times more Black people in Canada. Unlike the Jewish community, Black Canadians are on the wrong side of all widely employed socioeconomic indicators to measure racism (average pay, representations on corporate boards, incarceration rates, etc.).
Canada played a far dirtier role in the Haitian Revolution than the fight against Hitler where it was ultimately on the right side. In a bid to crush the ex-slaves before their example spread to the English colonies, British forces based in current day Canada invaded Haiti in 1793. Much of the Halifax-based squadron arrived on the shores of the West Indies and many of the ships that set sail to the Caribbean at this time were assembled in the town’s naval yard. Several prominent Canadian-born (or based) individuals fought to capture and re-establish slavery in the French colonies. First lieutenant governor of Upper Canada, John Graves Simcoe led British troops that reimposed slavery in Saint Domingue as part of an effort to seize the lucrative colony and suppress the Haitian Revolution. Toronto still celebrates Simcoe Day.
Canadian provinces should follow Burkina Faso and make the Haitian Revolution part of the school curriculum.
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