American imperialism Quote by Noam Chomsky
““The two main criminals are France and the United States. They owe Haiti enormous reparations because of actions going back hundreds of years. If we could ever get to the stage where somebody could say, 'We're sorry we did it,' that would be nice. But if that just assuages guilt, it's just another crime. To become minimally civilized, we would have to say, 'We carried out and benefited from vicious crimes. A large part of the wealth of France comes from the crimes we committed against Haiti, and the United States gained as well. Therefore we are going to pay reparations to the Haitian people.' Then you will see the beginnings of civilization.””
About This Quote
Source Speech: Interview on reparations, 2022
Acknowledges that France and the US owe Haiti for historic exploitation and that true civility requires admitting and compensating for those crimes.
In simple terms: Haiti deserves reparations for past crimes; apologies alone aren't enough.
Key Takeaway
Admit wrongdoing and pay reparations.
Themes
justice
history
colonialism
reparations
civilization
Mood
reflective
determined
hopeful
Type
political
ethical
historical
When to use this quote
- policy debates
- international law
- educational curricula
- activist campaigns
Key Concepts
colonial exploitation
wealth extraction
moral responsibility
Questions to Reflect On
- How can societies move from apology to concrete restitution?
- What mechanisms ensure reparations are just and effective?
A Different Perspective
Reparations may be politically contentious and hard to implement.
![“I wrote an article about the marine landing [in Haiti] right away, but barely mentioned the oil, because my article would come out two months later and I assumed by then, "of course, everybody knows." Nobody knew. There was a news report in the Wall Street Journal, in the petroleum journals, and…” quote by Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/dc5/noam-chomsky-42_articles_i-wrote-an-article-about-the-marine-land_13341.jpg)
