The Development of Group Identity and its Influence in Shaping a New Democratic State: Haiti
For example, language played a major role in creating a sense of group identity as it served as a tool of power and a tool for exclusion and oppression. During the French colonial ruling period, French served as the official language, and the language was associated with the powerful elite. After independence, French remained the dominant language in education, government, and other spaces of administrative operations, thus extending the status quo as French benefited those in power. On the other hand, the Black Haitian community spoke Creole, and thus Creole was inherently tied to race, class, and power. Creole also had deep ties to the Haitian practice of voodoo, a religion representative of expression, resilience, and collective liberation; it was also a religion that had been misconstrued as evil and laced with anti-Black sentiment by outside perspectives. Even today, it is very important to note that though French is the official, dominant language, only about 5% of the population actually speak it, and instead the popular language spoken is Creole (Chepkemoi). Clearly, language created deep divisions in Haitian society over time, posing as a major barrier to representation and participation in decision-making spaces and positions for Haitians, especially for the Black majority.
To hear and learn more about the Creole language, check out “Haitian Creole vs French Speakers | Can They Understand It?” and "Can This Teacher Guess What Language People Are Speaking?" (starting at 4:14).
Beyond social identities, the Haitian people continuously faced political and institutional barriers that reinforced social division, thus impacting their grip on self-determination and access to resources to allow their state to fully develop, function, and flourish. Specifically, the period of U.S. occupation greatly hindered and further disrupted the Haitian people’s ability to pursue democracy and participate in the development of their new state as it created and sustained structures of oppression. This can be historically traced to the unstable presidential terms and disruptive transfers of power, consistent peaceful ones denoting a healthy democracy:
Between 1843 and 1915, only 2 out of Haiti’s 22 presidents during this period served full terms. While 5 died in office, 13 were thrown out of office, 1 was executed, and 1 was assassinated (Corbett). During U.S. occupation, presidents served full terms as they were appointed by U.S. powers. After U.S. occupation, Haitian elections and presidency suffered from the continuation of struggles for political stability, the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021 as a result of political motives being the most recent example (BBC).
For a more detailed chart, please visit "Heads of States of Haiti: Presidents, Kings, and Emperors."
Delving deeper into quantitative data observing Haitian civil society, Freedom House’s 2022 report gave Haiti a total score of 33/100, shifting it from its 2021 status of being “partly free” to “not free.” In particular, Haiti scored a 15/40 with regards to political rights and 22/60 with regards to civil rights. The report highlights the failures to achieve free and fair elections, noting “fraud in the vote tally, inconsistent voter registration lists, voter disenfranchisement,” and other forms of election violence as major concerns. In addition to the “low voter turnout of 21%,” legislative, mayoral, and presidential elections faced patterns of disruption, being significantly delayed or indefinitely postponed.
In addition to limited participation in the political realm, one that is historically characterized by violence and fear, Haitians also face immense inequalities that hinder their capabilities in the private and public realms. For example, the report finds that “over 50 percent of Haitians live on less than $2.41 a day,” and the pressures have led to a significant amount of child labor, exploitative and concerning working conditions, and work abroad. Furthermore, Haiti has been historically and currently ranked as the poorest nation in the Western hemisphere (Porter). Altogether, it is no surprise that there is great distrust in the government as documented in the corruption perception index as pictured below (Romero). Moreover, these conditions of Haitian society and state are the product of Haiti’s long struggle for socio-political stability, realities that foreign powers are largely responsible for creating.