[oceanica]

My new dd has bparents who are Haitian. I guess I'm not too familiar with the dynamic between groups of black people and between Carribean groups, but I get the distinct impression that there is a little bias for some people.
I have gotten this before and the other day at a baby shower I was having a conversation with someone (snippets of one between running after the 15 month old, lol!) who asked where the bparents were from. This person was from another carribean island. When I said Haitian the person said oh yes, she looks like she is. It wasn't a favorable comment. Just the whole way she said it and sort of snorted... I guess you had to be there to pick up on it. It seemed kind of insulting in fact since I just adopted dd and I think she's the cat's meow.
So my question: Is there a bias against people from Haiti and is there a classic look? Of course I know everybody is different and with all the admixtures of people you can't really generalize. I was looking on the internet and someone said that the people of Haiti trace back to Congo region in Africa.
My dd is an American but is there a chance she will run into bias with other aa people?

PS I seem to remember way back in college that I learned some African people feel some exclusion when dealing with some American black people also.

[sugarandspice697]

This happens in every race and ethnicity to be honest with you, Africans vs. Black, East Asian vs. Southeast Asian etc. There will always be Africans who think the American born Blacks are lazy and there will always be American born Blacks who feel that Africans are "not one of us". Its something you will have to explain to your daughter when she gets older unfortunately.

I personally notice that people from the Caribbeans are generally darker toned and have coarser hair. However, just like not all White people have blond hair and blue eyes, not all Caribbean born Blacks fit this stereotype.

[manni28]

When I was growing up in Miami,FL many people who were Haitian hid it. There was A LOT of bias towards Haitians then ( in the 80's). It was only until I stated college in NYC, did I see people who were vocal and proud to be Haitian.

-Manni

[yehudit]

Manni, is it possible that part of the bias against Haitians at the time was because AIDS was just emerging and being Haitian was one of the risk factors in the 80s? Or did it pre-date that?

[manni28]

Manni, is it possible that part of the bias against Haitians at the time was because AIDS was just emerging and being Haitian was one of the risk factors in the 80s? Or did it pre-date that?

Yes.That and because they were called the "boat people" a lot of them were coming over in rickety boats. As a matter of fact, it one wanted to insult someone they would call them a "Haitian". It was very sad and ignorant. There was one kid who killed himself because his sister came to his high school and spoke patios/ creole him. He hid the fact he was Haitian.

Manni

[Saya]

Ocean, I used to work at a community center in a highly West Indian neighborhood in Brooklyn and I did learn about the inter-island biases and prejudices within the Caribbean community (and between the WA and AA communities as well). There were definitely folks from some parts of the Caribbean who looked down upon people from Haiti. Very sad.

There is a vibrant and proud Haitian community here in NYC working to combat the ridiculous stereotypes. I can definitely put my hands on some resources about Haitian history and culture if you're interested.

[oceanica]

Saya, I would love that! Thank you.

[nickchris]

My people are from the Islands, we are many hues, and hair textures.
Yes, there is a bias towards the Haitians. I am from NYC. As said above it is more so evident in the heavily Caribbean populated area like Florida and NYC. There are issues among Blacks. AA vs Caribbean, I do know a lot of Africans do have a superiority towards AAs. However, is it the same with other ethnicity? The complexities of pitting one against the other is there, the conquerors did that. You see that in those who were held as slaves, or in a servant role. Dark vs. light, the caste system etc; in India. IMO let the child know that people are people, and not expect "extra" from someone just because their skin color match.

[CubanaYogini]

I know a Latina woman who is black. She is from the Dominican Republic and she says that she is often discriminated against by AA's.

[buttascotchbaby]

Apropos of nothing and totally OT but I dated a Haitian guy a number of years ago and he was fiiiine! LOL He was/is very light skinned, with reddish/brown hair. Pure Hatian, born in Haiti but his family is now in Florida. We did talk about some of the differences & biases he faced in being Hatian vs. American born Black and the whole "boat people" thing was definitely something he dealt with living in Florida.

I was very interested to hear your story of the woman's comments & I wonder if many people (Black and otherwise) will be able to tell by looking at baby A that she is Hatian. That really surprises me.

[DannieAS]

People have their problems and their biases no matter what....and it's very unfortunate. Many of my friends are from the Carribean in one way or another....Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Haiti, Cuban....all unique, all have their quirks.

It's sad that you may have to explain to your dd that people can be cruel for no good reason...


Buttascotchbaby--I too dated a Hatian guy...he was funny and we had good conversations about biases people are rude enough to portray....we also got looks and comments based on the fact that he was a very dark Hatian and I am a very light skinned Cuban...

Unfortunately he had to go back to Florida, and I could not leave CA at that time due to my graduate program so we drifted apart eventually. We are still good friends and since he has been married...has had the most gorgeous twin boys ever!

[Forever_family]

We lived for almost 3 years in the Caribbean on a beautiful island, miss those years . Anyway I did some volunteer work and often brought baby items to Hatian families who were living there in horrible conditions but apparently it was better then Haiti. There was a huge bias against them, I remember going to the hospital to deliver much needed supplies (hosptial did not provide basics) and the nurse shouting at the Hatian mother to get up and carry the items a few hours after giving birth, she could hardly move, I tried to carry the supplies to her but wasn't allowed. Also many Hatians on the island would claim to be Dominican. There was also a really annoying supersticious (sp?) fear of Hatian/voodoo. They were not treated well. I thought this was wrong, based on stereotypes and that it was based on immigration issues...we moved back.

I became very good friends with a Domincan family, they are one of the kindest people I have ever known. Several years ago my husband I were considerng adoption from Haiti, when I told my friend she flipped out. Sometimes there is a slight cultural/language barrier between us. I could not really fully understand but it went back to what the Kittician people felt. Basically she is afraid of them, what it boiled down to is that she honestly thinks they are an evil-voodoo, cursed people. It was so weird that my well educated normally level headed friend was what I felt being completely ridculous. We finally had to stop talking about it because we both were angry. I couldn't understand her view specifically when both her and her husband have experienced the same type of treatment due to their ethnicity. She kept telling me I'd undersand if I'd grown up in the D.R.