I am an American with a rich ancestral line that traces to Haiti. My parents are immigrants who moved to Brooklyn New York in 1970. My father is a retired electrical engineer, and my mother is a retired certified nursing assistant. I have 1 brother who works for Adobe as a Senior Consultant. I happen to be a lucky person that my brother is one of my best friends. We, like everyone else who occupies this soil who are not native to this land, share immigrant lines regardless of where those lines emanated.
Haiti is a small country in the West Indies. Located in the Caribbean, Haiti occupies the western third of the island of Hispaniola, with the Dominican Republic in the eastern part. Haiti is approximately the size of the state of Maryland. The major cities are: Cap-Haïtien, Jérémie, Les Cayes, Gonaïves, and Jacmel. Haiti has two languages: Haitian Kreyòl and French.
After the French arrived in the seventeenth century to colonize and exploit the Western Hemisphere, the indigenous population was largely exterminated. As a result, Africans were imported as slave labor to produce raw goods for international commerce. Considered France’s richest colony, Haiti was known as “the pearl of the Antilles.” Resisting their exploitation, Haitians revolted against the French and took their independence in 1804. The subsequently changed their colonial name from Saint Domingue (the name given by the French) to its Taino name of Haiti, or Ayiti in Kreyòl.
François Toussaint L’Ouverture was the former Haitian slave who led the only successful slave revolt in modern history. Standing steadfastly, he fought to end slavery and gain Haiti’s independence from European powers, France and Spain. Forming an army of former slaves and deserters from the French and Spanish armies, he trained his followers in guerrilla warfare and successfully ended slavery.
Natural disasters, poverty, racial unrest, and political instability have plagued the small country throughout its history. Before the arrival of Europeans, Arawak (also known as Taino) and Carib Indians inhabited the island of Hispaniola. Although researchers debate the total pre-Columbian population (estimates range from 60,000 to 600,000). The consequences of colonization is documented and easily accessible. Disease and brutal labor practices nearly annihilated the Indian population within 50 years of Columbus’s arrival.
The Taino/Arawaks befriended the Spanish and presented them with gifts of gold jewelry. The Spanish assumed that Hispaniola was a gold mine and this led to many voyages to the island in search of this imaginary gold.
An estimated 400,000 Tainos living on the island were enslaved by the Spanish Settlers and forced to work in the gold mines, killing those who dissented, but after no gold was found, the colonists transformed the island into a bread basket to feed the conquistadors who were exploring and conquering the native people in the rest of the Caribbean and Central America.
My line is from a rich and amazing people. I watch in horror the treatment of my fellow Haitians who like EVERYONE looked to another land to find peace, prosperity and opportunity for themselves and their families. I am tired of the argument and the selective perspective of ” if only people follow specific immigration policies to get here the right way” then some of the atrocities would not occur.
We all have spent the better part of 2 years locked at home trying to figure out how to live , be happy and hopefully spent that time being introspective about ourselves and how we treat others. If we have not come out of this pandemic changed with a greater appreciation of our humanity then indeed we have wasted a moment to try to be a better human unencumbered by the daily challenges we are faced with in life.
Because of the distance my husband and I have opted to move back to Utah where we will be closer to his family and I will be closer to mine. I am lucky that I will be able to live in the same city as my parents and my brother and my husband will be living fairly close to his father. We recognize that this privilege and opportunity is not one that is attainable for many people with families spread across the nation and the globe. Learning how to live a fulfilling life is a challenge but we have realized the priority is family first and all else is secondary. I look at any refugee who is trying to find a spot where they can call home, feel safe and thrive as not the American Dream… it’s the Human Dream. We are all human and need to be better to each other and be better to ourselves.
Life is hard enough and will continue to be difficult without adding all this vitriol.
I encourage each of you to take a moment to think about how you can help someone and truly make this world a better place. If your friendship circle doesn’t look like a rainbow- fix your circle NOW!
Racism and hatred die with proximity.
We will never fix these problems until we look inside our own house, break down the walls and rebuild and examine our own biases and prejudices.
As unfortunately expected – Being WOKE was a trend that should have been a muscle we all were exercising and continue to exercise. Who is not in your circle that should be- reach out to them.
My heart split to see men on horses whipping Haitians. WHIPS!!
Really… are we not better than this. Actions speak louder than any words can.
Whips .. whips!
