What do many Americans in Haiti think of Haitians, and how do they treat them?
As was typical with Americans, those living in Haiti thought that they were better than the Haitians. Throughout history, Americans have held themselves and European whites above all other races. Americans consistently have viewed themselves as more intelligent, more civilized, and more capable than other races. It was this way with Amerindians, whose country the white Americans had no trouble taking over and monopolizing, and with African Americans, who were kept in slavery for hundreds of years. When Americans came to Haiti, the natives were seen as unable to govern themselves, lazy, ignorant, and uneducated. Therefore, it was the United States' job to come in and set things straight. Americans did not make these ideas up on their own though, they were told these things by books and pamphlets filled with propaganda on the matter. They had heard lectures and read articles saying that Haitians were unable to advance their society and were slowly regressing to "barbarism". Thusly, before even going to Haiti, people had the wrong idea. They were going into a new society already with an idea of what things were like there. They were fed lies about Haiti and went there feeling better than and more relevant than the people there.
Americans in Haiti were in general not very friendly with the Haitians, especially the U.S Marines. The Haitians hated and feared the Marines for their brutality. Marines killed innocent natives and some put notches on their rifles for everyone they killed. The Marines also used unnecessarily brutal police force against the Haitians, such as the one Marine who caught a boy stealing sugar and "battered his brains out" instead of arresting him. The U.S Marines were also known for raping Haitian women.
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