House of Truth: The price of liberty: Haiti’s story Is a mirror to the world

Ah, nothing like the sound of a repentant colonial power admitting, at long last, that robbing a Black nation blind might’ve been a touch... unjust. But before we break out the Champagne, French, of course, let’s be clear: what Macron’s polished statement fails to say out loud is what everyone already knows but dares not whisper: Haiti’s so-called “ransom” was the global prototype for how the West punishes independence. And worse: how it disguises that punishment as economics, diplomacy, and development.

Let’s rewind. In 1825, France sent warships to the shores of Haiti with a quaint little offer: pay 150 million francs in “compensation” to the former slave owners who had lost their human property after the Haitian Revolution, or prepare for re-invasion. That’s right. A nation born from the world’s only successful slave revolt had to buy its freedom back.

To recap: Black people won their liberation fair and square. France said, “Sure, but only if you reimburse us for our economic inconvenience, i.e., no longer being able to own you.” It's as if an abusive ex demanded compensation for all the emotional labor you denied them by walking away. And then showed up with a knife.  

The French called it “indemnity.” We should call it what it was: "extortion with a receipt." The Haitian government, cornered by global silence and European muskets, agreed. They were forced into generations of debt. Loans were arranged, not to help Haiti build infrastructure or schools or hospitals, but to pay off French elites for the trauma of not being plantation overlords anymore. Haiti entered a state of arrested development, and surprise: the world began to treat them as “underdeveloped.”  

And thus began the Western tradition of slapping a price tag on Black liberation., Because let’s not pretend Haiti is a tragic anomaly. It’s the blueprint. Liberation across the Global South has always come with strings attached. A revolution here, a democratic election there, and suddenly - poof! - the IMF shows up with a clipboard and a smile, eager to offer you a loan you’ll never pay off for a project you didn’t ask for. 

 The toll gate to sovereignty is manned by bureaucrats in suits who carry no whips, only interest rates. The modern-day plantation doesn’t need fences. It has balance sheets. Take Francophone Africa, where 14 former colonies still pay a "colonial tax" to France totaling roughly $500 billion. Their money is parked in the French central bank. To access it they must apply like supplicants. Any ruler who refuses? Let’s just say coups don’t happen in a vacuum. And what do Western commentators say when these countries fail to “develop”? They blame corruption. Poor governance. Lack of innovation. Never the economic noose still cinched around their necks since independence. Never the theft that built Versailles and paid for European art museums.  

Haiti’s story has been framed as one of unfortunate mismanagement , not the inevitable fallout of extorted liberty. We’re told it’s just what happens when poor Black people try to run a country. This, right here, is the sleight of hand: theft is renamed “assistance.” Punishment is rebranded as “reform.” And the looted are told to be grateful for the advice of their looters. Haiti was never given a chance. And when it begged for the chance anyway, the world tightened the screws. The U.S. occupied it. The UN infected it with cholera. The West demanded “stability”, as if poverty is unstable, but generational theft isn’t. 

And now here comes Macron with a softly worded admission, finally acknowledging the extortion 200 years too late, as if an apology, or a commission, could undo the structural debt built into the very soil. 

But don’t hold your breath for a refund. After all, former colonial powers are still trying to get Africa to thank them for building some railways. The truth is this: Haiti is not a failed state. It is a looted one. And looting, as it turns out, is the engine of development. Not for the looted, of course, but for those who write the rules. The West’s skyscrapers are built from the gold, diamonds, platinum, uranium, cocoa, rubber, pulled from African, Asian and Latin-American soils. Its banks swell with money drained from so-called Third World treasuries. Its civilisation is a mask worn over centuries of economic violence, with clean fingernails and good PR., Until that violence is named and repaid, nothing else counts. Not foreign aid. Not trade deals. Not glowing reports from Davos. The price of liberty has already been paid. With interest. It’s time for a refund. 

Ryan Fortune is a writer, thinker and builder of AI-powered web applications. He can be contacted via his email: ryanfortunecomms@gmail.com