Paul Shirley To Haiti: 'Maybe Use A Condom Once In A While'

Paul Shirley, the former NBA player who still plays pro basketball, penned a long letter today about Haiti and the consequences of its earthquake, in which he seems to hold most Haitians accountable for the dire state of the nation.

He begins the letter by stating that he has not donated to relief efforts in Haiti and "probably will not... for the same reason that I don't give money to homeless men on the street." Shirley proceeds to criticize the country and its citizens, before pausing to ask, "Shouldn't much of the responsibility for the disaster lie with the victims of that disaster?"

Later in the letter, Shirley dedicates a special address specifically to Haitians:

Dear Haitians -

First of all, kudos on developing the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Your commitment to human rights, infrastructure, and birth control should be applauded.

As we prepare to assist you in this difficult time, a polite request: If it's possible, could you not re-build your island home in the image of its predecessor? Could you not resort to the creation of flimsy shanty- and shack-towns? And could some of you maybe use a condom once in a while?

Sincerely,

The Rest of the World

Click here to read the rest of the letter.

An estimated 200,000 people have died in the devastating earthquake, and donations -- while impressive -- are already slowing. Click HERE to find out how to help.

UPDATE: ESPN has cut ties with Shirley. The company's full statement:

He was a part-time freelance contributor. The views he expressed on another site of course do not at all reflect our company's views on the Haiti relief efforts. He will no longer contribute to ESPN.

Comments

[Jona4]

12:06 AM on 02/03/2010

Mr Shirley, needs to realize that the reason the solutions are so painstakingly clear to him is because he was born an American. He had rights, and an education.
America, made us. our parents and ancestors who we are and gave us our collective "common sense" /"logic" and so forth. indvidually who knows what some of us would have done in a situation like this otherwise.

As for condoms..isn't that a religious issue (catholic in this case),

[unzie]

06:27 AM on 02/08/2010

You want to know what else is a religious issue? EVERYTHING!

[jferdinand]

12:04 PM on 02/02/2010

You have a government who's only intention is to get richer because they are part of the rich class. Regardless of how you look at it, Haiti never had a chance to develop because 95% of its population will stay poor. Now, solution to this problem is simple. The nation needs an attitude change. Because of everyone(the mass) trying to achieve the impossible, become rich, the result of such custom is to trample on the person ahead of you in order to take his/her place, then so on. As an haitian, i know that we needed a reality check but we need not the likes of Shirley to add to the insults we've already heard. We might be desperate but no one ask you for your opinion, you useless excuse for a man.

[buttercup5558]

09:05 PM on 02/01/2010

Read ‘Dead Aid’ by Dambisa Moyo….an african woman from Zambia
Harvard educated who basically makes the argument that the world
has to stop aiding Africa ‘to make themselves’ feel better, it
is making things worse.
I thought the same thing as Paul Shirley when Katrina happened.
That stadium was ‘filled’ with all black people ‘waiting’
for the government to save them. Why didn’t white people need
saving….they couldn’t all be rich. What made these people in
the ninth ward poor anyway…they weren’t working. We have to
start asking ourselves why all US innner cities are filled with poor black people.
Remember the 'poor' people who not only built this country but the millions
of poor immigrants who came here and pulled themselves out of poverty,
governments can't do that for people, they must do it for themselves......
For the pilgrims, the severely poor irish, now the mexicans....there was no
welfare, food stamps, foreign aid.....no they did it themselves with sweat and toil.

[hatetologin]

02:15 PM on 02/05/2010

You get your news from the television. I applaud pulling yourself up by your bootstraps, but you should know that many white people needed help from Katrina, however, the news media did not portray them in the same light. Think - when is the last time you saw a black woman missing in the news on a national level? How about a black child? If all you do is look at TV, you might think that blacks hardly ever go missing. The truth, however, is that the media doesn't portray black missing people on a national level, while they do for white missing people. The same is true of social issues. Did you know that according to the department of health and human services, white people make up the largest number of people on welfare? Do you hear about that in the media? If all you do is accept what mainstream media has to tell you, then you will stay ignorant and uninformed. The truth is what it is even if people don't want to talk about it. Now lets take Haiti. Do you realize that after the Haitian slaves revolted against France and won their freedom, the US decided to isolate Haiti to prevent the same thing from taking place in the US - to make sure that the US blacks did not start trying to get out of hand. Haiti was isolated from the international community and they suffered for it. Paul Shirley's comments reflect a high level

[Joe Arciere]

12:24 PM on 01/30/2010

Dear Mr. Shirley,

Maybe you should be thankful that you were born in the USA where a man can become rich simply because he has the good fortune to be tall. Let's face it, if you weren't 6'10" you wouldn't have been playing pro basketball considering your limited skills in the sport. Now, consider what it must be like to be born into the depths of poverty that is Haiti today, with no foreseeable way out. Perhaps you should divest yourself of all your possessions, move to Haiti, start over and teach those Haitian people your "pull yourself up by the bootstraps" mentality. I bet you'll find it's not so easy when you don't have any "bootstraps" to hold on to.

Sincerely,
The Rest of the World

[phlashba]

08:42 AM on 01/30/2010

Paul Shirley will be a GOP Senator before we know it.

[gisellestwocents]

06:40 PM on 01/29/2010

What an ignorant idiot!!! And hideous. He's the one who should forego procreation. Yuk!!

[snapshot1940]

06:26 PM on 01/29/2010

A real class act!!! The NBA and the tea bag party must be soooo proud of him.

[InedaName]

06:03 PM on 01/29/2010

Mr. Shirley,

I'm sure the Haitian people will use condoms 'religiously' once they get the OK from Pope Benedict. You were aware that Haiti is 80% Roman Catholic before you wrote your letter didn't you? So then you'd also know that Catholics are not so big on the whole birth control thing.

[womanwithstixs]

06:00 PM on 01/29/2010

Unfortunately Haiti has nothing to offer us or any other country. That is the main reason they remain stag-net, poor, and uneducated. If they had something to offer the US and other countries Haiti would be a beautiful place to live with plenty of jobs and tourist. When you risk your life by getting on a boat or raft and you take your babies with you and can't swim thing are seriously wrong. I live in Delray Beach, FL where there is a large population of Haitians. What I find interesting and also put off at the same time is the majority of Haitians in my area are very rude and bad mouth Americans. I would have thought they would be grateful and happy to be in America. Although I have met a few who were the exception. It seems in poor countries that sex and love may be their only comfort. Are condoms available for free in Haiti? Shame on you Paul Shirley. They need mentors and an education to rise above the only way they know how to live. Since you seem to think you are the total package maybe you could be a role model for the Jerry Springer crowd.

[publicj]

08:06 PM on 01/29/2010

"Unfortunately Haiti has nothing to offer us or any other country". Go and tell that to the parasitic "DISASTER CAPITALIST", namely America, that are lining up to go in and further exploit this unfortunate situation for their own financial gain. Also, Haitians don't have a monoply on rudeness. I was born and raised and have lived in the U.S. all my life and I encounter "rude" people on a daily basis. Furthermore, you are what you attract and judging from your ignorant and rude comments and generalization of Haitians, it's no wonder you've had negative encounters with people from Haiti. Once again, comments such as yours are indicative of the WILLFUL IGNORANCE that is soo pervasive in American society.

[womanwithstixs]

02:16 PM on 01/30/2010

Sorry, I have to laugh. You said "I am what I attract" then you state" you encounter rude people on a daily basis." Mine was only an observation or my perception of the Haitian community in my area. I certainly did not mean for my comments to appear rude to you or anyone.

[phlashba]

08:38 AM on 01/30/2010

what a sad, bitter example of low class values you are.

[womanwithstixs]

02:18 PM on 01/30/2010

I'm impressed you think the low class have values. You are open minded....I can tell.

[ScarlettMocha]

05:08 PM on 01/29/2010

When I listen to or read statements of this nature , I wonder if the right to freedom of speech should exist for all or if we should go all out to censure ignorance, h8 and bigo try.

Why spew this h8 for the world to read? Why should how narrow-minded and ignorant US citizens can be.

[charmante]

04:23 PM on 01/29/2010

Paul Shirley,

Is it a lack of intellectual maturity and/or morale courage that keep you from using your bully pulpit to rile against the American politicians and business interests that contributed to Haiti's demise?

[berrycooda]

03:12 PM on 01/29/2010

Might be good advice for this country too...

However, God said " go forth and multiply " but maybe He didn't mean by tens.

However, still boils down that we are supposed to help each other.
God also said we should love our neighbor as ourselves.
That doesn't mean the one living right next door.

[SteveDenver]

03:36 PM on 01/29/2010

And if God sends a tornado, hurricane, flood or earthquake in your direction, as Paul Shirley says in his infinite wisdom: "Shouldn't much of the responsibility for the disaster lie with the victims of that disaster?"

You're both stupid and "God" is a myth.

[phlashba]

08:40 AM on 01/30/2010

you can't have it both ways. your pre judice is showing

[IDIOTA]

01:28 PM on 01/29/2010

FDR wrote the Haitian constitution in a weekend while serving as Assistant Secretary of the Navy. It gave liberal rights to foreign investors. Hey, SCOTUS just did the same thing.

[IDIOTA]

01:26 PM on 01/29/2010

Don't call him Shirley.

[LaLaLand1973]

03:21 PM on 01/29/2010

LMAO! Airplane!

That's OK, I have many other excellent names to call him at my disposal, but I doubt they'll get posted here! What a piece of maggot-ridden dung!

[Ben Dunphy]

12:37 PM on 01/29/2010

Dear Paul Shirley,

First of all, kudos on your most ignorant of statements regarding the implications how own country's policies has had on the country you criticize. Your commitment to research, comprehension, and scholarship should be applauded.

But if it's at all possible, in your next open letter to Haiti, if you could mention the audacity of appointing two leaders to lead the relief effort who overthrew two democratically elected governments and set up death squads and paramilitary organizations to murder opponents, all for negotiating leverage to get Haiti to accept neo-liberal economics that enriches a select elite while impoverishing millions.

Maybe you should be sending letters to your own country's leaders because, you know, maybe the country wouldn't be so poor if it wasn't for your democratically elected leaders.

Sincerely,

Ben

[Jam3646]

02:16 PM on 01/29/2010

Well put!

[bogart14]

02:52 PM on 01/29/2010

These interventions started in 1804 under Jefferson.

[publicj]

05:34 PM on 01/29/2010

Maybe that's one of the reasons Jefferson made that statement.