Cuban And Haitian Refugees During The 1980s

While this was happening the people of the Dominican Republic didn’t know. To them he won fair and square, and he was going to take care of their country. This was the first of many of wicked Trujillo's unfair stunts he pulled on the people of the Dominican Republic. Only one hundred and forty miles away from the Dominican Republic was the little country of Haiti. Due to the two countries being so close to each other, naturally some Haitians lived in the Dominican Republic and vise versa.

Due to the pressures of the Haitian Revolution of 1791, a large number of Haitian planters, slaves and others had sought refuge in Cuba for several years. After being expelled from Cuba some 10,000 Haitian refugees made their way to New Orleans in 1809-1810 and doubled the population of New Orleans.8 The refugees were very compatible with New Orleans because of their shared Africanized & French colonial past. As French-speaking Roman Catholics they reinforced the existing Creole culture 9 while bringing Voodoo traditions with

This shows how when one has unrestricted access to other nations how we can overlook their shortcomings even at the expense of our own morals. The book also highlights the way the American government treated the Cubans in the same way they treated their own minority population. As a result of the thought process that the Blacks were bad, that affected many policies concerning the Cuban government. It is important to note that some time after Cuba gained its independence they had a high literacy rate, low infant mortality rate, relatively high income per capita. They were one of the leading countries in Latin America although compared to America their numbers were low.

During the early 1960’s many Cubans fled to the United States not because they wanted a better life, but because they were fleeing from the hardships put on them by Fidel Castro. According to Maria Garcia in Havana USA, there were three major waves of Cubans arriving in the United States. The first was after the revolution from 1959 to 1962, the second was during the “freedom fights” from 1965 to 1962, and the third was the “Mariel boatlift” in 1980. Many of the Cubans from these waves settled in Miami, Florida because of the similarities it has to Cuba. Miami was an easy transition for most of the Cubans looking for a new home until they could return to Cuba.

Also, episode 5: "The New Immigration Detention System Is Born" mentions that “the number of Haitians – begins to skyrocket. Haitians fleeing the Duvalier dictators” (46). Another thing was that many of the refugees from both countries died while coming to Florida in their boats and rafts. Episode 5: "The New Immigration Detention System Is Born" states that, “a lot of boats that ended up coming, sank, and a lot of Haitians ended up dying trying to get to Florida” (46). And in Episode 4: "Mariel Boatlift: The Tide Turns” also states something similar how “a lot of boats still made their way to Cuba to bring friends and family back to the U.S.

Since the 1960s to even present day, Cuban exiles have been making their way

“The country was divided and if you were haitian, you had a slim chance of surviving.” (John

After mistreatment under the Spanish, Cubans expected their freedom which meant being able to be an independent country, however in turn they received more governance from the U.S. When Cuba was colonized by America, they had no say in the government and how they were being treated by the U.S, this went against America's ideal of representative democracy and freedom. Cubans were being treated like little children who were unable to support themselves, America painted the idea that Cubans needed America to take care of and watch over them. When America decided to take

Louis and Josef could not get into Cuba as the Cuban government declined them. In the text, Captain Shrouder had said that he had just gone to see President Bru so that they could disembark but instead of accepting them, he said that they must leave the harbor by tomorrow. In addition, this relates to the main argument as it shows how Captain Shrouder actually went to negotiate with the president but he rejected them, proving how Josef was not allowed into Cuba. The protagonist, the refugees, are opposing the Cuban government, the antagonist, making the government the society and the refugees the characters. Furthermore, the text also stated that Officer Pedron said that Evelyn and Renata could leave because they had the “right” papers, papers being visas.

There are several similarities and differences between the American and Haitian Declarations of Independence. The Haitian Declaration of Independence seems to focus primarily on freeing themselves from the French’s influence and slavery. Several times throughout the document, the French are referred to as a tyranny. It is very clear that the new Haitian government wants nothing to do with the French. In fact, they want to “wash away” all memories of what life was like with the French in power.

Following this short independence, “by 1822 the newly independent Haitians were fearful that the French would use the eastern portion of the island to mount an attack on Haiti, and re-establish slavery. For which, Under the leadership of Jean Pierre Boyer, the Haitians invaded the eastern side of Hispaniola, outlawed slavery, and unified the island once again” (dr1.com). A unification of the island was the dream of Toussaint L’Ouverture, leader of the Haitian Revolution, who had fought for a unified free Haiti over the entire island. Dream that was conducted by Boyer, who had proclaimed the island to be “one and indivisible”. The “Haitianization” was established, leading to the development of Haiti’s own culture.

Even though Haiti’s a poor country, his people have a big heart. Parents don’t want their child to work, they make them focus on school only, and their education. On the other hand, Americans just consider a child to be lazy if at their teenage age they still don’t work. They raise their children to be independent different from Haitian that make their children to depend on them. Another fact is that Americans are not really friendly; they avoid contact with people, and they have a hypocrite smile on their face, however, Haitians are really friendly, sincere, and courteous.

In this part in particular, De La Fuente utilizes figures and solid facts to prove his claims, especially with his effective use of census records to show black flight from Cuba due to lack of opportunity (pg. 104). Speaking to social mobility and education, De La Fuente identifies the mediocrity of Cuban and American efforts to create a literate population. Although the government made significant strides to educate the populations, imperialist motivations fueled the system, which lacked secondary systems of support and training for Afro-Cubans. It is essential that De La Fuente identifies lack of labor opportunities and education in Cuba because both Afro-Cubans and white Cubans could eventually find solidarity in combatting these issues. Upon reading this chapter, De La Fuente’s revelation of a cyclical nature in Cuba with revolution and racism is uncovered.

Comparing Miami and New York culture is like comparing oranges and apples. Both has been highly influenced by different cultures, and both have a strong diverse heritage. Miami is well known by having Cuban community influence. In Miami’s streets many people speak Spanish, it 's loud music and the smell of the delicious Cuban food will make you fall in love with the culture and magic of this city. Contrary to New York, Asia and Puerto Rico has marked its community.

Haiti, which feed itself from the French in 1804, occupied Santo Domingo until 1822 and in its twenty year occupation had a profound impact on Dominican National Identity. The President of Haiti at the time tried to destroy the Hispanic culture by invoking French as the language of instruction and they took economical actions against the church and the catholic people by taxing them. The Dominicans did everything they could to deny they were like the Haitians, their language, their culture and in some respect their color2. In retaliation of the Haitians the Dominican president at the time, Trujillo, defined the Haitians as racially separate from Dominicans and had thousands of Haitians killed that resided on the border, he even went as far