Haitian Cuban

A Haitian Cuban (Spanish: Haitiano-Cubano, French: Haïtien Cubain, Haitian Creole: Ayisyen Kiben) is a Cuban citizen of full or partial Haitian ancestry.

Origins

French, Haitian Creole and culture first entered Cuba with the arrival of Haitian immigrants at the start of the 19th century. Haiti was a French colony, and the final years of the 1791-1804 Haitian Revolution brought a wave of French settlers fleeing with their Haitian slaves to Cuba. They came mainly to the east, and especially Guantanamo, where the French later introduced sugar cultivation, constructed sugar refineries and developed coffee plantations.

By 1804, some 30,000 French were living in Baracoa and Maisí, the furthest eastern municipalities of the province.

Haitian immigrant workers (1912-1939)

Due to the United States occupation of Haiti, many Haitian peasants left to find work as laborers in neighboring countries like Cuba. These immigrants lived a fine line trying to maintain their Haitian culture and assimilating enough to be able to work and live in a foreign society. In 1937, over 25,000 Haitians were forcibly removed from Cuba and shipped back to Haiti.^[2] This different treatment of migrant laborers is due to several factors. Cuban racists beliefs combined with economic concerns were a direct catalyst for this drastic Haitian exodus.^[3]

Revolution

Cubans feared a reply of the Haitian Revolution, which was not quelled by the current guerrilla warfare in Haiti by the caco forces against the Americans. Similarly, black Haitians were stereotyped as being violent and rife with crime,^[4] as the subject of stereotypes wasn't uncommon in Cuba, as black Cubans are often stereotyped the same way.^[5]

Religion

Haitian practice of vodou, was often mistaken for "witchcraft." ^[6]

Language

The vast majority of Haitians spoke Haitian Creole, which created a language barrier forcing Haitians to remain in agricultural labor.^[7]

Housing practices

Haitians lived in small communities near the sugar cane plantations, very rural and removed from populous cities.^[8]

Education

Economic restraints amongst Haitians kept education informal and contained in their small communities, as such, very few of these Haitians had anything above a basic level of Creole literacy. This enabled Haitians to keep control over the cultural values their children received.^[8]

Haitian religion

Majority of Haitians are Catholic but vodou is also present behind the scenes. Vodou is decentralized and flexible. The rituals involved in vodou strengthen community ties and help the oppressed Haitians deal with their suffering.^[9]

Recent years

Later, Haitians continued to come to Cuba to work as braceros (hand workers, from the Spanish word brazo, meaning "arm") in the fields cutting cane. Their living and working conditions were not much better than slavery. Although they planned to return to Haiti, most stayed on in Cuba. For years, many Haitians and their descendants in Cuba did not identify themselves as such or speak Creole. In the eastern part of the island, many Haitians continued to suffer discrimination. But according to the Fidel Castro regime, since 1959, when he took over, this discrimination has stopped.^[10] After Spanish, Haitian Creole is the second most-spoken language in Cuba where over 300,000 Haitian immigrants speak it. It is recognized as a language in Cuba and a considerable number of Cubans speak it fluently. Most of these speakers have never been to Haiti and do not possess Haitian ancestry, but merely learned it in their communities. In addition to the eastern provinces, there are also communities in Ciego de Ávila and Camagüey provinces where the population still maintains Creole, their mother tongue. Classes in Creole are offered in Guantanamo, Matanzas and the City of Havana. There is a Creole-language radio program.^[11]

Notable Haitian Cubans

• Bertrand Béoty, singer (partial Cuban descent)
• Farrah Boulé, rapper
• Sabrina Barnett, supermodel (partial Cuban descent)

External links

• "Creole Language and Culture: Part of Cuba's Cultural Patrimony", by Susan Hurlich, 21 May 1998
• "Haitian Heritage In Cuba ... As Heard Through Song", National Public Radio, February 20, 2012

References

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