Haitian Americans are immigrants or descendants of immigrants from Haiti (officially the Republic of Haiti), which occupies the western third of the island of Hispaniola. The Dominican Republic occupies the eastern two-thirds of the island. Hispaniola forms part of the West Indies, and lies between Cuba and Puerto Rico. Haiti's terrain is mostly rough and mountainous. With a total area of 10,714 square miles (27,750 square kilometers), Haiti is slightly larger than the state of Maryland.

Haiti's fourth national census, conducted in 2006, estimated the population at about 8.4 million. Although the vast majority of Haitians are Roman Catholic—roughly 80 percent—Haiti is the only country that officially recognizes vodou, or voodoo, as a religion. About one-half the population practices vodou to some extent. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, ranking 145^th of the 182 countries worldwide tracked by the UN 2010 Human Development index. As of the country's 2006 census, Haiti was experiencing steady unemployment rates of approximately 33 percent, with a large portion of the population being dependent on subsistence farming.

Haitians began immigrating to the United States to escape harm during the slave revolt of the 1790s, and they settled primarily in New Orleans, Philadelphia, New York City, and Boston. Major immigration waves from Haiti have tended to coincide with times of political hardship, especially during the rule of the dictators Francois “Papa Doc” Duvalier (1957–1971) and his son, Jean-Claude “Bebe Doc” Duvalier (1971–1986). From 1972 to 1981, during Jean-Claude's years in power, the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) estimated that over 55,000 refugees fled to Miami, Florida, in old, crudely made boats, settling an area that has since become known as “Little Haiti.”

The 2010 U.S. Census estimated the number of documented Haitians living in the United States—and Americans with Haitian heritage—to be around 830,000, roughly equal to the population of San Francisco, California, or the entire state of South Dakota. Including undocumented immigrants, the number of Haitian Americans is estimated to be much higher, with a significant increase from immigration following a devastating earthquake in Haiti in 2010. A large Haitian population still exists in the Boston area, but the majority of Haitian Americans reside in immigrant communities in the New York City and Miami metropolitan areas. Other states with significant numbers of Haitian Americans include New Jersey, Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut.

Early History The island, which was first inhabited by Indian tribes—the Arawaks, the Tainos, and lastly the Caraibes—called their country “Quisqueya” and later “Haiti,” which means “the body of land.” The island has had a turbulent and bitter history. When Christopher Columbus landed at the Mole St. Nicholas Bay on December 5, 1492, he claimed the island in the interest of the Spanish rulers who had financed the expedition—Ferdinand and Isabella—and called it “Hispaniola,” which means “Little Spain.” Although the Indians welcomed the new settlers, the discovery of gold in the riverbeds sent the Spaniards into a frenzied search for the coveted nuggets. The Indians died by the thousands from diseases introduced by the Spaniards, who also enslaved the natives, treated them with extreme cruelty, and massacred them. The Indian population was reduced from about 300,000 to less than 500. In 1510 the Spaniards began to import their first African slaves from the West Coast of Africa to work in the gold mines. The French, who came in 1625 and changed the name of the island to Saint Domingue, fought the Spaniards to keep a hold on part of the territory. After Spain signed a treaty in 1697 in which it conceded the western part of the island to France, the colony developed rapidly under French rule. The 700,000 slaves who worked cotton, sugar cane, and coffee plantations generated great wealth for the plantation owners; Saint Domingue became a prosperous colony in the New World and was called “the Pearl of the Caribbean.”

After the French Revolution in 1789, the slaves revolted against the colonists. Under the leadership of such generals as Toussaint L'Ouverture, the slaves made significant progress in their struggle. Self-educated, Toussaint served first in the Spanish army and then in the French army. He was one of the main instruments of Haiti's independence, defeating the Page 306  |  Top of ArticleEnglish who had invaded Saint Domingue. He also administered and divided the country into districts without the approval of the mainland “Metropole.” The French later grew angry with General Toussaint and placed him in a French prison where he died on April 7, 1803, from hunger and lack of medical care. Although disheartened, the rebel army fought under Generals Dessalines and Petion and beat the French army at every turn. French General Leclerc died of yellow fever on November 2, 1803; his successor, General Rochambeau, took refuge. Dessalines surrounded his officers and proclaimed the independence of Saint Domingue in Gonaives on January 1, 1804, restoring the former name of Haiti. Independence was won and the country became the second independent republic in the Western Hemisphere (after the United States), and the first independent black republic in the world. It is from these self-emancipated African slaves that roughly 95 percent of modern Haitians and Haitian Americans are descended.

Modern Era Dessalines became Haiti's first head of state. Following the elaboration and ratification of a constitution, full powers were given to Dessalines on September 2, 1804. He proclaimed himself Emperor and took the name Jacques the First. He redistributed the country's wealth and converted most of the colonist plantations to state property. He made many political enemies who later resented his manner of governing. Ambushed on his way to Port-au-Prince, he was killed on October 17, 1806. After his death a constituent assembly amended the Constitution and limited the powers of the president. General Henri Christophe, who had started a power struggle with General Alexandre Petion, withdrew to the northern part of the country and formed a new government; Petion was elected president in March of 1807, thus dividing the new nation. Petion governed the West and South while Christophe ruled the North. In March of 1811, Christophe proclaimed himself king and took the name of Henri the First. Because of his strict regulations, the Kingdom of the North became prosperous, and he erected monuments, which became symbols of power and authority. For example, the Citadel Laferriere, a monument to human endurance, was constructed by the labor of 20,000 men between 1805 and 1814 as a center of resistance against any attempt by foreigners to conquer the island. His ornate palace at Sans Souci near Cap Haitien and his vast citadel, though in ruins, are likewise marvels of massive masonry. When Christophe died in an apparent suicide in 1820, the North and South were reunited, with Jean-Pierre Boyer succeeding Petion.

Twenty different presidents headed the Haitian government from 1867 to 1915, and Haiti's unstable political and economic conditions made it vulnerable to outside intervention. Haiti's rising external debt caused European countries to threaten force to collect. At this time World War I was at its peak in Europe and in July of 1915, the United States Marines landed on Haiti's coast and occupied the country. Under the Monroe Doctrine—a document stating U.S. opposition to European involvement in the Western Hemisphere—the U.S. Marines remained in Haiti for 19 years from 1915 until 1934. The Haitian people resented American occupation and wanted to restore their national sovereignty. Guerrilla resistance movements were in place but were crushed. In 1946 a popular movement brought forth a rising middle class whose members asked for the sharing of power and liberalization of governmental institutions. The movement was aborted, which contributed to the fall of then-President Elie Lescot (1941–1946), and Dumarsais Estime was elected president. From that period on, almost all Haitian presidents have been deposed by military coups d'état.

In 1957 François Duvalier was elected president. He became a dictator, enforcing a reign of terror with his secret police, sometimes referred to as tonton macoute. Duvalier proclaimed himself President-for-Life in 1964 and his reign of terror continued. The Haitian economy began to deteriorate and the people suffered greatly in the 1960s. Duvalier died in 1971 and his son, Jean-Claude “Bebe Doc” Duvalier, who was only 19 years old, succeeded his father. The Duvaliers ruled for nearly 30 years. It was during this period that many Haitians fled. Jean-Claude followed in his father's footsteps, maintaining the same policies of repression. Following a period of widespread public demonstrations, Jean-Claude gave in to additional pressure from the U.S. government and stepped down as president, leaving Haiti for France aboard a U.S. Air Force plane on February 7, 1986. A period of instability followed with several transitional governments and military coups.

Free elections were held on December 16, 1990; and, although Jean-Bertrand Aristide was elected by a majority of 67 percent, he was overthrown by the army on September 30, 1991, and took refuge in the United States. In 1994, backed by a force of 20,000 U.S. marines, he returned to Haiti and was restored to the presidency peacefully through last-minute negotiations with the ruling military junta. However, he was ousted again in a 2004 coup d'état, which some suspect was orchestrated by the U.S. government.

In January 2010 a magnitude 7.0 earthquake further destabilized Haiti, leaving more than 300,000 dead and more than one million homeless. The government's inability to address the large-scale displacement led to a 2010–2011 cholera epidemic that infected more than 100,000 people and claimed more than 3,000 lives. General elections scheduled for January 2010 were postponed until November. Following a run-off election, President Michel Martelly took office March 2011. As of 2012 much of the homelessness and displacement resulting from the earthquake had still not been addressed.

CENGAGE LEARNING, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED U.S. Census Bureau, 2006–2010 American Community Survey

During the 1790s Haiti was the most affluent of the French colonies. It was then that the African slave populace of the island revolted, causing some to flee in a panicked exodus. Thousands of whites, free blacks, and slaves fled to American seaports, culminating in large French-speaking communities in New Orleans, Philadelphia, Baltimore, New York City, and Boston.

These early immigrants from Haiti subsisted by whatever means they could muster. Jean-Baptiste Point du Sable, a trapper who settled on the shore of Lake Michigan was an early Haitian arrival; he established a trading post on the Chicago River at a point that would later become the city of Chicago. Pierre Toussaint, a devout Catholic who came to New York as a slave of a French family in 1787, became a prominent hair dresser to wealthy New York patrons and later raised funds for destitute Haitians both back home and in the United States. With France providing the most significant haven for educated Haitians, most working middle-class Haitians have chosen to immigrate to the United States.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2009 Community Survey, there were about 830,000 people who claimed Haitian ancestry; however, this figure did not include the tens (or hundreds) of thousands of undocumented Haitians who were living in the United States. Moreover, there are second- and third-generation Haitian Americans who simply identify themselves as black; and some legal immigrants find it difficult to claim a heritage so often associated with superstition and poverty. Speculating on the number of people who fall into these categories, but not counting immigrants who have arrived following the 2010 Haitian earthquake, researchers have estimated the number of people in the United States of Haitian ancestry to be about 1.3–1.4 million. With more than 380,000, Florida is the state with the largest concentration of Haitian Americans. New York (179,024), Massachusetts (63,915), and New Jersey (54,761) also boast large numbers. Other states with significant Haitian American populations include Georgia (22,360), Pennsylvania (19,433), and Connecticut (18,345).

There are several major periods of Haitian immigration to the United States, each coinciding with a period of instability in Haiti: the period of French colonization; the Haitian revolution (1791–1803); the United States occupation of Haiti (1915–1934); the rule of the Duvaliers (1957–1986); the overthrow of President Aristide (1991); and the 2010 earthquake. For almost three decades, from 1957 to 1986, when François “Papa Doc” and Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier were in power, political persecution caused Haitian professionals, the middle class, and students Page 308  |  Top of Articleto leave the island in large numbers. Haitians emigrated in search of political asylum or permanent residence status in other Caribbean countries, North and South America, Europe, and Africa.

In the 1980s more than 55,000 Haitian immigrants arrived in the United States by boat on the shores of Florida and were known as the “boat people.” Although President Carter gave such refugees a legal status similar to that granted by him to Cubans in 1980 with his Cuban-Haitian entrant program, eighteen months later President Reagan subscribed to a policy of interdiction and indefinite detention for Haitian refugees. In June 1982 a federal court ruled against such detention and several thousand refugees were released. In 1986, 40,000 Haitians who came to the United States seeking political asylum were given permanent resident status.

A similar pattern of events occurred in the 1990s. When Aristide was removed by military coup in 1991, there was another wave of Haitian boat people. Under the administrations of both President Bush and President Clinton, many were not allowed to reach the shores of the United States. Instead, they were stopped at sea and returned to Haiti. Others were put in detention camps at the U.S. Naval Station at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Between 1995 and 1998, 50,000 Haitians were given asylum and temporary legal status but were denied the permanent resident status extended to many of their Nicaraguan and Cuban counterparts. The National Coalition for Haitian Rights pushed for legislation to address this issue. In 1998, the Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act was adopted, and immigrants were given the opportunity to apply for permanent resident status.

Michel S. Laguerre has also documented that volunteer lawyers and local activists have helped many refugees remain in their adopted country, through the generosity of various humanitarian organizations. However, in his book American Odyssey: The Haitians in New York City, Laguerre has also recorded that some refugees attempted suicide while in detention. Despite the odds, the Haitian refugees had the energy and determination to survive in the United States. In her book, Demele: “Making It,” social anthropologist Rose-Marie Chierici, herself a Haitian American, has used the Creole word demele to describe how Haitian immigrants manage life in the face of hardship.

Nearly every wave of migration from Haiti has come during political turmoil; however, economic malaise has always accompanied such turmoil, making it difficult to distinguish political from economic migrants during these periods. Early Haitian immigrants stayed in cities in the United States where they could work and maintain contact with their homeland. The greatest concentrations of immigrants are found in New York City, Miami, Chicago, New Orleans, Los Angeles, and Boston. Until 1977 Brooklyn was the heart of Haitian America; however, between 1977 and 1981 the nearly 60,000 Haitian boat people who landed in and around Miami shifted the center of the Haitian Diaspora south. Now the largest Haitian population in the United States centers around a community of stucco cottages and mom-and-pop businesses in Miami dubbed “Little Haiti.”

In the early 1980s thousands of Haitian doctors, teachers, social workers, and entrepreneurs moved from New York to Miami. Restaurants serving Haitian food specialties such as conch and goat meat and record shops blaring Haitian meringue music sprang up on 54^th Street and Northeast Second Avenue, with the Tap Tap Haitian Restaurant in Miami Beach becoming a hub of interaction for the Haitian American community.

Haitian Americans are employed in various fields. Deborah Sontag reported in the New York Times on June 3, 1994, that Haitian workers comprise not only migrant general laborers in Florida but also wealthy doctors on Long Island, taxi drivers in Manhattan, and college professors in Washington, D.C.

Both Haitian Kreyòl (anglicized as Creole) and French are recognized as official languages in Haiti. However, French is often considered the language of the educated elite, while virtually all Haitians (the educated included) speak Creole.

The term Creole derives from the Portuguese word crioulo, meaning an individual of European ancestry who was born and reared abroad. Haitian Creole developed when slaves who were taken to the Caribbean island of Saint Domingue from various areas of the west coast of Africa interacted with each other and with Europeans. Although derived primarily from an amalgamation of French and African dialects, some Spanish and Amerindian (Carib and Arawak) words have entered the language. Haitian Creole is distinct from both its French and African root languages, adopting its own unique grammar, morphology, and syntax.

A Haitian man next to an altar. AP PHOTO / LYNSEY ADDARIO

Haitian immigrants to the United States, especially more recent immigrants, communicate best in Creole. This causes problems in interaction with Americans who have little knowledge of Creole and believe that all Haitians speak French. Working first-generation adults are affected most noticeably, while children are encouraged to work toward fluency in both Creole and English to ease their assimilation into American culture and significantly increase their opportunities in the future.

Religion is at the center of home life for Haitian Americans and is typically carried over from family practices back in Haiti. As such, the vast majority of Haitian Americans practice Roman Catholicism. Much as they would have in Haiti, children of legal immigrants are baptized early and typically attend Catholic schools. Also in keeping with Haitian tradition, roughly half of all Haitian American households practice vodou to some degree.

Vodou, which blends elements of Catholicism with those of diverse African beliefs, plays a central role in the spiritual lives of those who practice it. A key to understanding the relationship and interplay between Catholicism and vodou is the fusion of the two belief systems. Children born into rural families are generally baptized twice, once into the vodou religion and once in the Catholic Church. Vodou means many things. It means an attitude toward life and death, a concept of ancestors and the afterworld, and a recognition of the forces which control individuals and their activities.

Those who practice vodou believe in a pantheon of gods who represent and control the laws and forces Page 310  |  Top of Articleof the universe. Foremost in the pantheon is Bondyé (pronounced “bohn dyeh”), a monogod roughly equivalent to the Judeo-Christian conception of God, but who is unreachable and does not intercede in human affairs. There are also the loa (pronounced “lwa”), a large group of lesser deities—analogous to the Catholic saints and several African deities—to whom most prayers are directed, and the twins known as marassas, who are believed to be the divine first children of Bondyé. The loa are believed not only to protect people but also to accord special favors through their representatives on earth, which are called hougans (priests) and mambos (priestesses). Owing to the prominence of the marassas, twins are believed to have special powers and are honored in special services once a year.

Vodou worship centers in family and community groups headed by a hougan or mambo. These leaders are primarily responsible conducting ceremonies for such events as Christmas and the harvest, and also for specials occasions such as initiations and funeral services. They are also looked to for daily spiritual guidance and, in most cases, health care. The duties of the hougan or mambo in these ceremonies can include drumming and dancing, the leading of Roman Catholic prayers, and the preparation of feasts. Each group of worshipers is independent and there is no central organization, religious leader, or set of beliefs. As such, individual beliefs and practices can vary significantly from group to group.

Fearing discrimination, most Haitian Americans practice vodou only in the privacy of their own homes and talk about it as little as possible outside of Haitian immigrant communities. For much the same reason, second- and third-generation Haitian Americans are less likely to practice vodou at all.

Like most immigrants in the United States, Haitian Americans are preternaturally concerned with social status and financial security. This idea is implicit in the Creole saying, Se vagabon ki loue kay (“respectable people don't rent”). However, behind the facade of pride and achievement, there is a litany of social problems—domestic abuse, homelessness, and economic exploitation are particularly prevalent in Haitian communities. Contributing significantly to these issues are the stress-related emotional disorders common among undocumented immigrants, who live in constant fear of being deported or imprisoned. Similar anxieties frequently keep them from using such facilities as public hospitals. Instead, they rely on folk medicine to cure ordinary ailments, or they seek a private clinic with exclusively Haitian medical personnel. Marc Abraham, a Haitian who has lived on Long Island for over 40 years, has posited that, as a result of the aforementioned social issues, “Americans see Haitians as desperate people, instead of decent people who struggle.”

According to Thomas Wenski (now archbishop of Miami and formerly director of the Pierre Toussaint Haitian Catholic Center in Miami), Haitians have been specifically and harshly excluded in part because of “America's endemic ‘negrophobia’ and inherent racism.” Wenski adds that, given the prejudice with which African American citizens are treated, “one must ask: will the Haitians be able to assimilate into American society as other immigrant groups [ …] and can Haitians hope for a ‘piece of the American pie’ while native-born American blacks still fight for crumbs? Many would see an eventual amalgamation into the African American community, but does such a view give too much importance to race as a determinant and underrate such values as religion and culture?” (Fr. Thomas Wenski, “Haitians in South Florida,” unpublished research done in Miami, Florida, July 1991.)

Since the early 1980s Haitian Americans have also been stigmatized by a stereotype that Haitians are disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS. The tide seemed to be changing in 1998, when Universal Studios agreed to remove inflammatory lines from their black-oriented hit movie, How Stella Got Her Groove Back, following protests led by the National Coalition for Haitian Rights. But the stigma persists. In December 2010, New York hip-hop disc jockey Cipha Sounds made remarks on his Hot 97 morning show, The Cipha Sounds and Rosenberg Show, that the main reason he is HIV negative is “because he doesn't mess with Haitian girls.”

Cuisine Haitian cooking is a unique blend of many cultural influences. It is a mixture of the traditions of Europeans, West African slaves, and indigenous people of the island. The most common ingredients used in Haitian cuisine are black-eyed peas, squash, pumpkin, cassava, rice, cornmeal, and plantain. The meat served tends to be spicy and high in salt and fat. In the United States, Sunday dinners often consist of spicy chicken and goat, rice, and djondjon (a dried mushroom).

Kabrit boukannen ak bon piman, barbecued goat with hot pepper, is a traditional favorite both in Haiti and the United States, and it is often served with Pois et ris, a combination of kidney beans and rice that is typically considered the national dish of Haiti. Soup joumou is a pumpkin soup. Kasav ak manba is homemade peanut butter, made with or

without spices and hot peppers and often eaten with cassava bread. Griyo ak bannan is deep-fried pork and fried plantain. Pwason fri is fried fish, often sold with fried plantain and fried sweet potatoes. Accra or calas are black-eyed pea patties, and the tradition of eating them on New Year's Eve means luck for the coming year.

Holidays Mostly Roman Catholics, Haitian Americans celebrate many of the same holidays as the rest of the western world, including Christmas Day, New Year's Day, Carnival or Mardi Gras, All Saints' Day, and All Souls' Day. One distinct holiday carried over from Haitian custom is Jour des Aleux (Ancestors' Day), a memorial celebration of the individuals who sacrificed their lives during the struggle for Haitian independence in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Celebrated on January 2^nd each year, the occasion is often marked by community festivals culminating in large traditional meals in the evening.

Health Care Issues and Practices Health care beliefs vary widely among Haitian Americans. First-generation immigrants from rural areas typically prefer traditional medicine—relying heavily on recommendations from family elders, folk healers, and vodou priests—while immigrants from Haitian urban centers are more likely to seek the services of licensed health care providers. Social class and education also influence the type of medical help sought, with those from a lower social class or who have not attained legal status in the United States again turning to traditional medicine. In the United States, folk and vodou healers' capabilities are often restricted by the limited availability of traditional ingredients. Only in cases where traditional treatments are unavailable or unsuccessful are individuals encouraged to seek the services of licensed medical professionals.

Licensed pharmacies in Haitian American communities often specialize in herbal remedies and French medications. They typically employ only Haitian personnel and, when available, stock ingredients and preparations familiar to practitioners of traditional Haitian folk medicine. Typical home remedies and herbal preparations include Asorousi, a tea boiled from leaves that will restore a person's appetite; Fey korosol, an herbal preparation used to bathe a child's head to cure insomnia; a variety of leaves used to treat gas or if a child's stomach is swollen; and warm oils used in combination with massage to solve a number of problems from aches and sprains to displaced organs.

Immigrants from rural areas believe that illness can be of either natural or supernatural origin. Natural illnesses are called maladi pei (country diseases) or maladi bon die (diseases of the Lord). Natural illnesses last for only a short time. Supernatural illnesses appear suddenly, are more persistent, and are typically attributed to angry vodou spirits—the spirits could be angered, for instance, if a person offends the family's vodou spirit protector in some manner. A vodou priest is consulted to help in diagnosing such illnesses and is tasked with contacting the spirit to ascertain the reason for its unhappiness, what the person must do to appease the spirit, and what medications will properly treat the person's symptoms.

Haitian American culture, like most cultures, places great value on nutrition, personal hygiene, and consistent sleep schedules. However, they maintain vastly different body image standards when compared to mainstream Americans and Europeans. Individuals Americans might consider overweight are considered by Haitian Americans to be healthy and happy, whereas thin people are believed to be afflicted with psychological and emotional problems affecting their appetite and digestion.

Haitian Americans often believe that only traditional healers have the knowledge and skills to treat particular illnesses and will avoid interactions with the American medical profession in all but the most extreme cases. Haitian Americans often take issue with American physicians' conduct during office visits; they typically expect the physician to receive them with a few moments of general conversation before commencing a hands-on examination. They also expect

Two Haitian American friends who were originally migrant workers and then became volunteers who packed free meals for the elderly. ACEY HARPER / TIME LIFE PICTURES / GETTY IMAGES

that the examination should not include a long list of questions by the doctor—it is the doctor, not the patient, who is supposed to determine what is wrong. However, physicians who make an effort to learn and be sensitive to the patient's cultural needs can establish positive working relationships with entire Haitian American communities.

Death and Burial Rituals Burial ceremonies vary according to local tradition and the status of the deceased. Relatives and friends expend considerable effort to be present when death is near. Upon the death of a friend or family member, grief among Haitians often manifests itself in physical and vocal emotional outbursts. Persons who are knowledgeable in the funeral customs wash, dress, and place the body in a coffin. Mourners wear white clothing which, in contrast to American and European custom, represents death. A priest may be summoned to conduct the burial service, which usually takes place within 24 hours of passing.

Some Haitian Americans maintain the traditional vodou belief that the spirits of the dead live in close proximity to the loa, in a place called “Under the Water,” while others believe that they become loa. Restless spirits, for one reason or another unfulfilled in their first life, are sometimes believed not to pass to another realm at all but instead continue to wander the earth. These disembodied souls may be used in magic or reincarnated in newborn members of the deceased's immediate family. Elaborate burial customs have been established to ensure that these restless dead remain buried, as it is believed that their corpses, when removed from their tombs, may be turned into zombies, who then serve the will of their master.

The family is the nucleus of Haitian society, both in Haiti and in the United States; within it, individuals are dependent upon each other. The immediate family—typically extending at least as far as grandparents, aunts, and uncles—is involved in all decision-making for its members.

Family honor is of utmost importance. Family reputation is so important that the actions of a single member of the family are considered to bring either honor or shame to the entire family. A family's reputation in society is based on both current conduct and family history.

Haitian American parents are generally strict with their children, as is customary in Haiti. The children are monitored by the adults of the family. Adult rules are to be respected and obeyed without question. Children are expected to live at home until they are married. Haitian American children seem to accept these customs and values despite the freer attitudes and lifestyles they see in their American counterparts. Haitian parents have immigrated to seek a better standard of life for their children and they want to obtain a good formal education for them. They want their children to grow up to be obedient, responsible, and close to the family.

Treatment of the elderly in Haiti differs from that in the United States. Senior citizens are highly respected because they have wisdom that can only come from living a long life. Sending an aged parent to a nursing home is unthinkable for Haitians. Children vie with each other for the privilege of caring for the parents.

Gender Roles Though marital dynamics are more egalitarian among Haitian immigrants in the United States, elements of traditional patriarchal structures persist. By tradition, the father is the breadwinner and authority figure, while the mother manages the household, finances, and childcare. In fact, many women rear children without the consistent presence of the father.

From birth, males are granted more freedom and educational opportunities than females. Transgressions in behavior are more readily overlooked in males, and the “macho” image is admired, as men are expected to fill dominant roles in society. Young females often lead a sheltered and protected life, and social mobility outside the home is typically limited.

These traditionally clear distinctions in gender roles are slowly dissolving as a result of both economic necessity and gradual assimilation. More urban women are working outside the home, enjoying some degree of freedom and social mobility. As a result they are less willing to play a subservient role to their male partners and family members.

Courtship and Weddings The most common domestic relationship in Haiti has traditionally been the plasaj, an arrangement roughly equivalent to common-law marriage but lacking legal status in Haiti. Although the plasaj also lacks legal status in the United States, many undocumented Haitian couples living in the United States continue to follow the tradition.

Relations with Other Americans Haitian Americans often struggle with both individual and cultural identity. The general American public has typically seen them as indistinguishable from any other black American populace, which is a major source of tension for two reasons. First, cultural and linguistic differences make assimilation into mainstream black American society difficult, particularly for first-generation immigrants. Second, first-generation parents often intentionally isolate themselves and their children from mainstream black American culture because they believe stereotypes about violent music, squalid housing projects, and gang affiliation. Most families and communities have begun to seek a middle ground between being merged with the rest of the black population and complete isolation, in part by making efforts to establish a distinct Haitian American identity in the public eye.

With a cultural emphasis on social status and financial security, Haitian Americans are hardworking and use menial entry level jobs as springboards to better paying, more permanent positions. For many years Haitian-owned U.S. businesses dependent on trade with Haiti were hurt by the various international embargoes against the country. This is especially true in Little Haiti in Miami, where neighborhood unemployment has consistently reached 30 percent.

Haitian Americans are accustomed to using rotating-credit associations as an avenue of saving. Such associations are called “sangue,” “min,” or “assosie” in Creole. They rotate money to members of the association from a lump-sum fund into which each member has contributed an amount of money. It is assumed that the Haitians adapted this system of contribution from their West African friends who call it “esusu.” Haitian immigrants, especially those who are undocumented and therefore have no bank accounts, use the sangue to buy homes and finance various business ventures.

New York City has traditionally been the center for Haitian opposition politics. During the dictatorship of François Duvalier, more than thirty opposition political groups were in existence there. However, direct action involving Haitian politics tapered significantly after the ouster of Jean-Claude Duvalier in 1986, and twenty-first-century activist groups in the United States have focused their efforts more on immigration policy, public access, and cultural preservation.

Involvement in the American political process began in earnest in 1968 when Haitian Americans formed the Haitian American Political Organization. This organization was formed to lobby on behalf of the Haitian American community. Haitian Americans

Haitian American immigrants at a Miami, Florida Democratic Party presidential election rally. JEFF GREENBERG / ALAMY

have worked in various elections to increase their presence as a political force to obtain public services.

On April 20, 1990, more than 50,000 Haitian Americans marched across the Brooklyn Bridge to City Hall to protest the action of the Centers for Disease Control and the American Red Cross. These organizations had ruled that no Haitian could donate blood because Haitians in general were considered significant AIDS risks. This was one of the largest demonstrations of its type, and it encouraged local leaders to find a Haitian candidate for the city council from Brooklyn.

Since the late 1990s Haitian Americans have also risen to positions of power within the mainstream American political system. In 1999 Representative Marie St. Fleur (a Democrat from Massachusetts) became the first Haitian American elected to a state-level office. In 2009 the National Haitian American Elected Officials Network was formed, comprising 22 elected officials nationwide. The organization meets to discuss immigration legislation and U.S. policy toward Haiti. Its membership includes state lawmakers, mayors, city-council members, and a handful of federal politicians—most notably, President Barack Obama's Haiti-born director of the White House Office of Political Affairs, Patrick Gaspard.

Military The American Revolution saw the participation of freedmen from Saint Domingue who fought under General Lafayette at Savannah in 1779. From 1814 to 1815, Joseph Savary headed the Second Battalion of Freemen of Color—a group of over 200 Haitian soldiers who had fought with Savary against the French during the Haitian Revolution. Fighting under General Andrew Jackson's command, Savary became the first black man to reach the rank of major in the U.S. Army.

Since the majority of Haitian immigrants arrived in the United States after World War II, their involvement with U.S. participation in the war was limited.

Award-winning Haitian American author Edwidge Danticat is pictured here in 2007. RHONDA VANOVER / MCT / NEWSCOM

However, many Haitian Americans served in the Vietnam War, and Haitian Americans continue to serve in the U.S. armed forces. Some of them played a special role as Creole interpreters in Haiti during the efforts to reinstate President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in the 1990s and during relief efforts following the 2010 earthquake.

Academia Michel S. Laguerre, professor and director of the Berkeley Center for Globalization and Information Technology at the University of California at Berkeley, has researched many aspects of Haitian American life and has published numerous books and articles. Carole M. Berotte Joseph, who was born in Port-au-Prince and came to the United States in 1957, became the fifth president of Bronx Community College/CUNY in July 2011 after previously serving in a number of other academic administrative positions. She is an authority on bilingual and foreign-language education, a founder of the International Alliance for Haiti, Inc., and coeditor of the landmark book The Haitian Creole Language: History, Structure, Use and Education (2010).

Art Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960–1988) was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Haitian parents. He struggled as an underground graffiti artist before rising to national renown as a neo-expressionist and primitivist painter.

Edouard Duval-Carrié (1954–) was born in Haiti. An acclaimed painter and sculptor, he is well known for evocative works that draw on Haitian imagery and themes, including African fables.

Journalism and Broadcasting Joel Dreyfuss, a journalist, editor, and writer, emigrated from Haiti in the 1950s. Dreyfuss has served as managing editor of The Root and maintained a Huffington Post blog about Haiti. He has also worked as a PC Magazine editor and USA Today New York bureau chief. Ricot Dupuy is the director and station manager of Radio Soleil, which was created after the 1991 coup in Haiti.

Literature Edwidge Danticat (1969–) is a Haitian-born American author. She is a two-time National Book Award nominee (Krik? Krak!, 1996; Brother, I'm Dying, 2007) and the recipient of a MacArthur Foundation “genius” grant (2009).

Music The migration of Haitians to the United States has caused a boom in its music. Haitian music serves as an anchor connecting individuals with their country, one another, and themselves. Music functions as a sanctioned means of social protest. Wyclef Jean, solo hip-hop artist and one-third of the hip-hop group, the Fugees, is a source of pride for Haitians and Haitian Americans alike. Not only does he incorporate his country's music in his songs but he also Page 315  |  Top of Articlehas regularly given back to his fellow countrymen through benefit concerts.

Science John James Audubon (1785–1851) was born in Cayes, Haiti. His drawings of birds in America are an invaluable source of information for naturalists and anthropologists.

Sports Jozy Altidore (1989–), born to Haitian parents in Livingston, New Jersey, has played at the striker position in professional soccer for AZ Alkmaar in the Netherlands and for the U.S. National team in international competitions.

Many museums of African American history contain Haitian collections or substantial exhibits of Haitian culture items, including the Afro-American Historical and Cultural Museum in Philadelphia, the Black Heritage Museum in Miami, the Museum for African Art in New York City, the Museum of African American Art in Los Angeles, and the National Museum of African Art at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C.