Language : English

This book presents the various challenges Haitian immigrants in the United States encounter as an ethnic group. Different immigrant groups have different trajectories in the United States: some groups have assimilated quickly into the existing structure while other groups have not. Haitians who immigrated to the United States and naturalized several years ago may have never felt like a full part of the US citizenry. They continue to remain on the periphery of mainstream American life and culture, although newer immigrants from Europe have been fully accepted into the culture. Many Haitian immigrants are distinctly different from other immigrant groups because their homeland, Haiti, was the first black republic in the world. Consequently, their blackness is a symbol of resistance, freedom, and independence. However, members of other groups, especially historically advantaged U.S. groups, may interpret blackness differently. The realities of discrimination were faced by many of the Haitian immigrant families portrayed within this study.

I investigated these sociological realities in close-knit societies such as those found in New York City and the Miami area (Dade and Broward counties) and Tampa (Hillsborough County) in Florida that have experienced a large influx of Haitian immigrants.

To write this book, which originated as my dissertation, I interviewed 31 Haitian immigrant families. Family members discussed the everyday challenges they encountered in relation to school, work, the police, health services, and civic organizations. I analyzed how identities varied within the same family and by generation. The responses revealed various layers of differences that led to MULTIFACETED IDENTITIES.

182 pp; 6 x 9 in; Black & White