Radio Haiti Archive: Dechouke Boukman (Destroying Boukman)

In this 1998 editorial broadcast, Jean Dominique takes to task the American missionaries who have come to Haiti to proselytize and “dechouke Boukman” — to destroy the reputation of Boukman Dutty, a slave who was one of the early leaders of the Haitian Revolution. Boukman is said to have led a ceremony at Bois Caïman, which missionaries describe as a “pact with the devil.” In tearing down Boukman, Dominique argues, evangelicals not only disparage the vodou religion, but also undermine the very legitimacy of the Haitian Revolution.

As Dominique points out, intolerance and persecution of vodou believers had been occurring throughout the 20th century, most notably during the 1940s, when the Catholic Church undertook a massive “antisuperstition campaign” in which vodou temples were destroyed and adherents were forced to renounce their religion.

This kind of hidebound intolerance persists among US evangelicals to this day, illustrated most famously when Pat Robertson blamed the 2010 earthquake on Haitians having made a “pact with the devil” to secure their freedom from France.

There is some remarkable history and resources outlined in this online article on the revolution in Haiti and slavery in the US and Europe.

Jean Léopold Dominique was a Haitian journalist who spoke out against successive dictatorships. Despite fleeing the country twice when his life was under threat, he continued to return to his native Haiti, firmly believing in the cause of the Haitian plight. He was assassinated on April 3, 2000 at the radio station, a crime for which no one has ever been prosecuted. Surviving through tides of political strife during the Duvalier regime and outright attacks on the station, including exile, torture, and execution of reporters and radio directors, Radio Haiti lasted as a voice of Haitian democracy until its closure in 2003.

This program is made available on Clocktower Radio in partnership with The Radio Haiti Archive, part of the Human Rights Archive at the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Duke University. To find out more about this historic archive, visit RadioHaitiLives.com.

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