Protesters gathered at the corner of 64th Street and 22nd Ave., carrying yellow placards reading "Stop Using Black Men as Target Practice," and "Free Haitian Refugees." "If we can't vote people in the positions to do the right thing then we have no other alternative than to protest," said [Lorraine Goddard], who held a sign that read "No Justice, No Transit Tax." "We demand that the police who have been guilty of killing our youth be prosecuted and put in jail," said Mel Reeves, an organizer with the coalition. "We also demand that they free the Haitian refugees who are being held in the Chrome detention center."
Arbitrary detention of Haitian refugees should not be part of U.S. foreign policy. Minors should not be held captive, nor should any of the refugees be denied due process or the right to legal representation. In the past, all Haitian refugees were considered economic refugees. Today, even the president of Haiti, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, is claiming that he is being persecuted. While the U.S. Special Forces and the State Department are busy chasing Al Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan, on the island nation of Haiti, a powerful and deadly drama is unfolding. Mob killings of reporters and shootouts in broad daylight between mayors and congressmen have become common occurrence.
"It was shocking to see the changes made," [Marleine Bastien] told The Times. "The U.S. does not have the capacity to detain all persons that make it to this country. This policy mainly targets Haitians." The U.S. Department of Justice released a statement which said, "Rumors of successful entry into the United States have fueled migration surges, and any perception of a relaxing U.S. immigration policy could cause future migrations at sea ... "Miami Immigration and Naturalization Services Chief of Staff John Shewairy said the revisions have been designed to deter large numbers of Haitians from migrating to the U.S. He told The Times that detention of the asylum-seekers who arrived by boat on Oct. 29 is an effort to thwart "smuggling" of migrants from Haiti.
Let me say this again: The Haitian community is not going anywhere. Instead, the Haitian community is looking ahead, to move forward to a better community. We welcome people from different ethnic backgrounds to come and join us in our efforts to move forward. If you don't want to or cannot help the Haitian community to overcome the economic adversity we face, at least don't spread rumors trying to create a false division between the Haitian and Black American communities.
Last May, President Bush signed an Executive Order allowing the Coast Guard to immediately turn back Haitian boat refugees without checking to determine if they were fleeing political persecution. Before that, thousands of Haitians had crowded into unsafe boats to try to get away from their dangerous homeland. The U.S. tagged them "economic" rather than political refugees. "The fact is our government has turned a blind eye to Haitians," said Wade Henderson, director of NAACP's Washington bureau. I have a dream that I intend to make a reality. I'm calling on African Americans and Haitians here in Miami to come together to sit down, talk and work out a plan to help Haitians. But I'm also asking that Hispanics, Jews, Anglos -- everyone -- pitch in to help.
Amid the flurry of designations by the media, law enforcement officials, and advocacy organizations--terms ranging from "migrants" to "asylum-seekers" to "economic refugees"--one thing was clear. The people aboard that boat had fled desperate conditions for safe harbor in the U.S. What awaited them when they touched land was then, and remains, a matter of great contention. When asked about the implications of the designation "migrant," Miami field office INS public relations officer Barbara Gonzalez said that in the context of INS policy, "There is really no such thing as a migrant." She said, "Many use the word," when the correct terminology for what they intend is "non-immigrant." How about the terms "alien" and "refugee?" Amnesty International notes that the term "alien" has been used in U.S. legislation to describe various types of non-citizens, including those Amnesty would call "asylum-seekers." Similarly, the INS describes an alien as any non-citizen or national of the U.S.
One group of Black immigrants have become involved in the economic and political life of Miami, and their power is being felt in North Dade. I call this the New Haitian Revolution. It began on many fronts. I remember listening to some Black American men laughing-at Haitians because family members would pool their money to buy a home. Multiple families would live in the house, and then the families would pool together and buy another house. Eventually, all of the Haitian families would own a home. I wonder what those same Black men are saying now, when Haitians now own homes and their detractors are still renting. This was the start of a quiet new Haitian revolution. Haitians working together to improve their economic fortunes - a method employed by other successful immigrant groups such as Jews and Cubans. The revolution took place quietly, but it is now clear that there is a new power group in this community. Haitians have started successful medical practices, radio stations, law firms, and other businesses. They have taken over the politics of the City of North Miami, and are one of the new power groups being courted by anyone running a county wide race.
Another established Caribbean tradition runs counter to the claim that racism there is unusual and of recent origin. This is the tendency to account for a person's character by identifying the racial identity of that individual's parents. West Indians, quite spontaneously, account for each other's personality traits with statements such as "Well, after all, his father was white," or "His father was quite dark you know. In Guyana and Trinidad, one hears frequently that East Indians are by nature "cheap". Elsewhere, Syrians and Jews are, reportedly, successful merchants because of their "clannishness". The Caribs of Dominica are described as Creoles as "lazy drunkards", and the Caribs accuse Creoles of being "mean" and "immoral". Throughout the islands, Creoles who are dark are said to be less motivated for success, and those who are lighter are accused of being snobbish and too sober for their own good. Since independence, racial discrimination has been systemically condemned, and with a good deal of success. But racism (at least in the form of the belief that "once we know a person's racial background, we then know much about that persons' abilities and character traits,") is very much ingrained in the thinking of many West Indians. This style of racism has met with no effective challenge comparable to the American Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's. In the absence of racial segregation or the North American type of racial polarization, and with what scholars call the Caribbean "myth of racial harmony," most leaders throughout the region seldom address this insidious racism.
Over half a century later, it would be Marcus Garvey, the goer, against WEB Dubois, the stayer. Although, even Du Bois himself was to get so fed up with American racism that in the `60s at the time of the great new possibilities promised by the Dr King's Civil Rights Movement, he left America to go to Nkrumah's Ghana where he was to die on the eve of Dr King's, `I Have a Dream Speech'. Following Du Bois and Garvey, the Rastafarian movement-which was founded in the 1930's in Jamaica, were to be the next manifestation of goers even though its real impact was not to be felt for another forty years. They were followed by the next great two goers and stayers - Malcolm X (and the Nation of Islam) and Martin Luther King. Luther King's `I Have a Dream' speech was in the tradition of frederick [Frederick Douglass], and was perhaps the most eloquent statement yet of the need to sit tight, fight and make manifest the dream of the brotherhood of man. Dream So [Bernie Grant]'s latest call is in the tradition of many others before him - [Martin Delany], Garvey, the later Du Bois, and Malcolm X. Many of those who denounce Bernie at the movement, would turn around and cite some of those whose tradition Bernie embraces as heroes.
