Race: Haiti and New Orleans

This week, we will look at some of the racial aspects of San Domingue (which were also carried over into Haiti). To make things more interesting, We will bring in Charles LeDoux, a New Orleans native, to talk about race in the Big Easy and in Haiti. These two areas are more similar than you would think…

                

                “Thank you, sirs. Well, people, the first thing that you must understand about this ‘race talk’ is that I’m talking about French-created racial lines. That is what Louisiana and Haiti share; the French once held both places and so the way racial lines developed was similar. Even after the Haitian revolution, the groups in Haiti are still pretty similar to the groups the French labeled oh so long ago.

               “The three basic racial groups that were labeled by the French on both of these locations are the Blacks, the Creoles, and the Whites. Now, there are other names for these groups, but the only one that might get people who don’t know about French racial lines mixed up is that word “Creole”. In some places, it meant somebody who was born in this [western] hemisphere. What it means in French racial language is a mixed person; a person who is part Black and part White. Way back when, this meant a person who was the result of a slave-master hookup (the slave being African and Black and the master being French and White).

               “Now, there are a lot of social classes which all evolve from this, but I’ll just keep it simple. Basically, when the French set up the race system back in the 1700s, the lighter your skin, the better off you are. That’s one reason why Creoles (part Black, part White) tended to be the freed Blacks, the landowners, ect. Toussaint L’Overture, The leader of the Haitian Revolution, was actually a creole. That’s the way it tended to go; I could point to Barack Obama, who in this light would be classified as a Creole, as evidence that this system still does affect even the United States to this day.

“Usually, Creoles tended to be better able to lead and orchestrate because of their higher status in French-influenced society. I read an article about a New Orleans mayoral election, and this rang true; the first Black mayor of New Orleans was, in fact, a Creole. The article talked about the original New Orleans race system and its categories: Black, Creole, and White. This began to change in the U.S. Civil Rights era to just Black and White (although it never has died completely), but it is interesting that New Orleans and Haiti shared a similar racial system.

“I could go on about this till I’m blue in the face, but let me finish this up by looking into each of the three categories (and explaining why there are just those three for the most part). Of the three categories, the most divided one would be the Black category. This was very true back in slavery times. Pretty much, the Africans who were brought over to this side of the Atlantic were members of differing and sometimes hostile tribes. Many different stories from that time could be referenced to show this, including one account of a Creole woman named Rebecca. This story actually happens on a different island, but it shows the disunity present in the Caribbean in general at that time. In Haiti, racial unity for the Black members of the country did not begin to show up until a bit after their Revolution. There was definite disunity, and this was one thing the slave owners used to keep the slaves from revolt.

“The Creoles were sort of…well, they were their own group. They were not as divided, because they shared a more common heritage of being children of slave/master unions. They also had it better than the slaves; they did not necessarily associate with the Blacks because they wanted to keep their superior status. In general, they had their own interests and they were also fairly alienated by the two other groups; they didn’t really mix with the Blacks, but the Whites would not let them be their equals, so they were a sort of ‘middle class’, if you will.

“The Whites, of course, had it best. Obviously, they made the system to keep their position as the top dogs (in the case of Haiti, however, this really backfired). They had the money, although Creoles did have a bit of economic power; they were the slave owners and the elites. Really, that says it all. They were also a minority, in New Orleans and in Haiti. This is why they were very intent on keeping the other two classes fragmented and otherwise powerless; if ever the Blacks united, or the Blacks and Creoles united, the Whites could kiss their superiority goodbye. That is what happened in the case of Haiti. New Orleans, of course, experienced the Civil War, but the old system was still there for a time afterwards.

“Honestly, if you think about the old system like a class system, you see it best. The Blacks are the poor, the Creoles the middle class, and the Whites the rich. The lighter the skin, the better your lot. Now if you noticed that I only really mentioned two races this whole time. The reason for this is because these two races make up most of the people in these areas. Pretty much, by the time the French really set up their racial systems in Haiti or in New Orleans, the Native American population was mostly wiped out, and other ethnic groups make up such small proportions of the people that they really are mostly outside of it. So the Blacks and the Whites are the only two major groups left. Well, anyway, that’s about it as far as race goes; nowadays the systems are different, but you can still see the legacy of the old systems of race in play even today. Thanks for having me on, guys.

We appreciate it, Chuck. Next time we will talk more about race, but we’ll throw in more of the money side of it. Until then, stay tuned, sports fans!

                                                             

                                                                Sources

 

Sensbach, Jon F. Rebecca’s Revival: Creating Black Christianity in the Atlantic World. Camebridge, MA: First University Harvard Press, 2005. Print.

 

Copeau, Steve. The History of Haiti. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2008. Print.

Hirsch, Arnold R. "Fade to Black: Hurricane Katrina and the Disappearance of Creole New Orleans." The Journal of American History  (December 2007): 752-761. Organization of American Historians. PDF File.

The People Who Were "Discovered"

     Columbus Day is coming up soon (October 12), and that day will be remembered as the day when the European Columbus discovered America. The question of how can you discover a country which already has people on it should be raised here, as well as a host of other arguments for why this day should be a day of mourning instead of a holiday, should be addressed. However, instead of a justified rant against this so-called "hero", this writing will instead be another narrative about the people who were "discovered" by Columbus on Haiti: the Taino. Here now is Estevanico's older brother, Esteban, to tell us more about the real settlers of Haiti.

     My brother told you some things about our ancestors, and I will tell you some more.
     I must first say that that murderer Columbus (for he caused the murder, torture, rape, and deaths of many of our ancestors) discovered nothing. My ancestors lived on Haiti (the true name for the island he called "Hispaniola") long before a white man ever knew of its shores. Our ancestors had a well established way of life on the island long before Columbus, and we were not "savages" by any stretch of the imagination.
     The real people who first peopled the North and South American continents came from the continent of Asia around 13000 B.C. They made their way to Haiti by about 4000 B.C. They were members of a people called the "Saladoid" people. From them the Taino descend. There is not as much known about my ancestors because they had no written language, and thus most of what we know about them may be slanted toward a European viewpoint, since Europeans recorded their views on my ancestors' way of life.
     There are many things I could say about our ancestors, but I will simply speak on two: Their generosity, and their complex society. First, their complex society. The Taino had well established cultural and religious systems in place. The cacique was the chief, and religious leaders were political ones as well. They had their own religion; their gods were called zemis. They were well established.
     The next and final thing I will say is that there is a common thread in all of what Europeans who went to Haiti wrote on my ancestors: the Taino were a gentle people. On reason, besides disease, why the Europeans were able to take advantage of the Taino was because the Taino were very generous. They had little concept of private property. They shared, and were a peaceful people who did not believe in fighting. Columbus looked at this and saw how easily they could be extorted and taken advantage of, and that is what he did: he and his men took advantage of a peaceful, generous people. And we celebrate that. How sad...but I digress.
     The Taino, my ancestors, were a very advanced people; hardly "savages", and unfortunately were nearly wiped out (there are still people alive today who descend from the Taino). It seems by my historical estimation that it was the Europeans, the Christ-bearing missionaries, who were the real savages.

     Thank you, Esteban. Next week we will hear more about the conflict between the Taino and the Europeans who came to Haiti. Stay tuned!

                                                                   Sources

Symcox, Geoffrey, and Blair Sullivan. Christopher Columbus and the Enterprise of the Indies: A Brief History with Documents. New York: St. Martins/Boston: Bedford. 2005. Print.

Geggus, David. "The Naming of Haiti."  KITLV  71.1&71.2 (1997): 43-44. www.kitlv-journals.nl. PDF file.

Keegan, William F. "Archaic Influences in the Origins and Development of Taino Societies." Caribbean Journal of Science 42.1 (2006): 1-5. University of Puerto Rico. PDF File.

McCann, Joseph M. "Before 1492: The Making of the Pre-Columbian Landscape. Part I: The Environment." Ecological Restoration 17.1&2 (1999): 17-19. PDF File.

The Real Beginnings of Hispaniola

This is a brief story of the early days of “pre-Hispaniola”. Before Haiti, the country, was founded. Before the island was called “Hispaniola”. Before Columbus and Europe. I, Estevanico, am a descendant of a group of Indian tribes in North America. We are distantly related to the ancient Taino people. I am one of few descendants of a people who were wiped out thanks to the diseases of the Europeans. This is my people’s story. 

Before I begin, I must tell you that 1492 was not the beginning. We need to understand that there were a people with their own culture and way of living on the island before 1492. We in the Americas have gotten used to the European view of our “American” history. They tell us that Columbus discovered America in 1492, and we listen. We forget that most of the names we use to even describe the Caribbean are European names. One reason I stay away from calling the island “Hispaniola” in this story is because that name was given to the island by Columbus when he went there. Even the name “Indian” is a European mistake; Columbus used this word to describe the people in the my homelands, thinking he was in India. I tell this story from my viewpoint, not just the European one. 

Long Ago, in ancient days, my people, the Taino, came to what would be Hispaniola. They began to show up on the island over thousands of years, similar to how the first Native Americans showed up on the Americas over 12 to 13 thousand years or so, but somewhat more recently. I cannot really say just when the first of them came onto the island, but they came from the northern parts South America and began to gradually settle it. My ancestors had the most complex culture in what would be named the Caribbean Sea when the Europeans came. They had their own customs, religion, and even their own drugs. They also had their own story of how they began. 

A good bit of their culture came from our story of how we began. The short version of it is this: There was a god named Deminan. He is our father. There was a turtle, we call her Turtle Woman, and she is our mother. From them we descend. My ancestors paid homage to that in many ways. For example, we trace our family lines though our mother to honor Turtle Woman.

Why do more people not know more of my ancestors’ story? The European and his diseases wiped out all of my ancestors on their island, and many of their kin on the mainland. Now I will retell the story which more people have heard; the one about the European and his so-called “discovery” of my Taino ancestors’ island.

In December of 1492, the White man first set foot on my ancestors’ island. A group of Spaniards, led by the one they call Columbus, landed on the Northwest shore of the island. Columbus called the island Hispaniola, and that is what it has been called since. These invaders came and then left in 1493, but left some 38 of their group on the island. They set up a camp which they called “Navidad”. My ancestors killed those invaders, but that cursed invader Columbus came back that same year with about 1200 people and 17 ships. 

From the first “settlement” of their island by the White man on, my ancestors began to decline. More Europeans came onto their island, and began to take their gold and their provisions. These invaders tried to enslave my ancestors and force them to pay tribute to them, but my ancestors were too strong for those thieves! They fought back, but their fate was sealed. How many of my ancestors were there on that island when Columbus came? That may never be known; some say millions, and some say tens to hundreds of thousands. One thind is sure, though. By 1514, my ancestors numbered only about 26,000. By the 1520s, some 30 years after the Spaniards began exploiting my ancestors, my Taino descendants were headed toward extinction. 

The cruelty, greed, and diseases of those “settlers” killed my ancestors. They then began to take slaves from Africa to replace the muscle they needed to strip the valuable resources from “Hispaniola”. This is how Hispaniola began.

-Estevanico.

Thank you, Estevanico, for your story. Next week, we will hear from another guest about more of the history and the people of Hispaniola.

                                                           Sources list

"The Taino World." Ethneology.org. Ethneology, n.d., Web. 5 Aug. 2011.

McCann, Joseph M. "Before 1492: The Making of the Pre-Columbian Landscape. Part I: The Environment." Ecological Restoration 17.1&2 (1999): 17-19. PDF File.

Livi-Bacci, Massimo. "Return to Hispaniola: Reassessing a Demographic Catastrophe." HAHR (2011): 4-8. PDF File.