Haitians in North America

The name is Samuel Xavier. A big and tall, openly bisexual young Black man of Haitian descent who has lived in the city of Brockton, Massachusetts, for a decade. I'm heading to Canada in a few days. I'll stop by Buffalo first to get some things squared away. I'm glad to be leaving the city of Brockton. My once-beloved city has begun to disgust me. The racism of the city's white men and white women, especially the civil servants ( librarians, police officers and teachers) is appalling. Also appalling is the lack of unity among Brockton's people of color, who comprise over fifty two percent of the town's one-hundred-thousand-person population.

As I went around saying my goodbyes to my friends, I stopped by Brockton's Haitian-American Seventh Day Adventist Church. The one downtown, located near the Brockton Area Transit. I brought with me a copy of my latest book. A 300-page anthology where an unusual protagonist, a bisexual Black male college student, gives his opinions about the changes happening in America. Changes ranging from America's rapidly changing demographics to the rise of women in hate groups, racism in law enforcement, the foreclosure crisis and its effect on Americans of all ethnicities, the War in Iraq and Gay Marriage. Issues affecting everyone in America as well as many people overseas. My publisher liked the novel. The Haitian ladies at my church didn't. The mere fact that a bisexual Black male was the protagonist of the novel was enough to turn them off. Homophobia is alive and well among America's Black people. Especially Black women in the church.

That's how Blacks in America treat Black fiction writers whose works they disagree with. Scores of Black writers only write about romance, sexuality and other such trivial topics. They don't seem to like Black writers who dare write about the unusual, such as science fiction, horror, or a pro-Black look at the world of American politics. Too often, Black people don't support their own. White people always support their own. That's why racist cops who shoot unarmed Black men get acquitted ( when they're put on trial at all) by carefully selected white juries. In order to advance, America's Black men and Black women need to stick together. Stop expecting the government to bail us out. The U.S. Government doesn't like Black people. Remember the racist cops beating up African-American protesters during the 1960s. They did so with impunity. Remember those times.

During the ten years I spent living in America, I tried really hard to make it a better place. I fought for the causes of Men's Rights and Gay Rights. As a bisexual Black male, I tried to show the world that Men's Rights Activism and the struggle for Gay Equality weren't mutually exclusive goals. I tried to expose the extreme Gender Bias in the American Criminal Justice System. Don't know about it? Try asking a father who wants to spend time with his son or daughter. Especially if the mother doesn't want him to spend time with them. The courts would have you believe most American fathers are delinquents and the most irresponsible men of all. I know better. Most dads in America are loving parents who do everything they can to take care of their sons and daughters. Unfortunately, the courts deny them their rights. The courts almost always favor the mothers. Unfit mothers get custody while devoted fathers are denied. Welcome to America.

I also tried to help America's fast-growing minority communities, especially the Black community. Historically, Black men and Black women living in America have been the victims of racism and both sociological and financial disempowerment. After the civil rights movement of the 1960s ended segregation in America, things looked better for the Black Community. Unfortunately, their troubles were just beginning. Many Black men and Black women started attending college, earning degrees and making money. Quite a few of them succeeded in business and politics. Unfortunately, the bulk of America's Black Community continued to suffer. Why? There are many reasons. The wealthy white corporations who control America don't exactly have African-Americans best interests at heart. The Recession of the late 2000s has hit all Americans, yet African-Americans suffer more. Cities with majority Black populations like Detroit ( Michigan), Brockton ( Massachusetts), Atlanta ( Georgia) and a few others have been hit the hardest by the Foreclosure Crisis gripping America. That's no accident. It was planned. The wealthy white corporations who control the real estate market want to use the Foreclosure Crisis to remove scores of African-Americans from these Black-dominated cities and towns. They want to sell their foreclosed houses to wealthy white families through the never ending process of Gentrification.

I wish more African-American homeowners realize that sinister forces in the worlds of politics and business are plotting their doom. They should admit this to themselves and band together during the Foreclosure Crisis. The Hispanic, Asian and Middle-Eastern communities have been hit hard as well but it's African-Americans who bear the brunt of this sociological and financial trauma, as usual. When will Black Americans realize that they're their very own only hope? Stop counting on the government to help you out. Stop counting on "benevolent" white people to help you out. They don't have your best interests at heart. They never did. White people realize that they're about to become minorities in tomorrow's United States of America. And they blame Black people for this. For if it weren't for Black American men and Black American women's struggle for racial and political equality, there wouldn't be scores of Hispanic, Asian, Middle-Eastern and African immigrants entering the country. Why would so many people of color leave their countries of origin and live in the racially segregated America of the old days? They wouldn't. Thanks to America's Black men and Black women, segregation based on race became illegal. Thanks to them, people of color moved into the country en masse. Thanks to them, a Black man is President of the United States. White America hasn't forgiven Black Americans for ending their lily-white, segregated world and bringing about movements championing racial inclusion, diversity and equality.

In the Southern city of Atlanta, a strong Black woman is running for Mayor in 2009. And you know who's deserting her? The majority Black city's scores of African-American voters. They'd rather support a wealthy white female from the suburbs. The strong Black woman running for Mayor of Atlanta is a smart, educated and capable person. She understands Atlanta's people and their unique needs. Sometimes I wonder why Black people are their own worst enemies. They think white men and white women have changed. Decades ago, Black politicians and Black homeowners transformed Atlanta from a racist white enclave into the bedrock of African-American political and financial power in the Old South. Now, the city's African-American voters want to undo all that by handing the reins of power over to a wealthy white woman doesn't have a clue what Atlanta's people really need. White people are so crafty. They'll say anything to get you to trust them and they'll always betray you in the end. And Black people are so naïve and trusting. Oh, well. The weak deserve their fate.

In the Republic of South Africa, you'd think that after centuries of suffering at the hands of white men and white women, the Black population would know better than to support white political candidates. Yet that's exactly what they did. They chose a rich white woman to become Governor of one of South Africa's biggest provinces. And as first order of business, she gathered an all-white and all-male cabal as her political cabinet. Ah, racism is alive and well among South Africa's white men and white women. The President of South Africa is a Black man, and officially the racist system of Apartheid no longer exists but the naïve Black people who live there will continue to suffer at the hands of Europeans because they're too trusting and naïve.

The Black people of South Africa and America disappoint me with their naïve ways, their lack of unity and their eagerness to trust white people. My fellow Haitians know better than that. You see, African-Americans were grudgingly granted their freedom by white people ( who suddenly grew a conscience ) after centuries of enslavement. South Africans were freed from the racist regime of Apartheid by members of the international community. Haitians weren't given their freedom by anyone. We took our freedom by booting the French colonists off our island and creating the modern world's first independent Black republic. We're living proof that Europeans aren't invincible and imperialism doesn't last forever. Today, even though we're in a tough situation financially and politically, we still walk around with our heads high. There are eight million of us on the island and twenty million of us living overseas. How about that?

In places like Canada, America and even parts of Europe ( there are lots of Haitians in London, England) we're creating our own enclaves. May our people prosper in the twenty-first century. Unlike South Africans and African-Americans, we're not victims who were granted human rights by our victimizers, we're revolutionaries who defeated overconfident imperialists. The flame of liberty burns bright inside of all us. And as Europeans become minorities worldwide, we'll keep inspiring the global fight of people of color against imperialism. Freedom isn't free. It's something you have to fight for.