12653: Editorial on Haitian discrimination in Bahamas (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Daniel Schweissing <dan_schweissing@hotmail.com>

Social News
It's Healing Time for Hurting Hearts!

Released Wednesday, July 24, 2002 at 10:44 am EST by Anthony Capron

Ask Doctor Lisa (The Queen of hearts)


Dr. Lisa-Anne M. Knowles

Dear Dr. Knowles:

I am a Haitian-Bahamian who is proud of both my Haitian and Bahamian
heritage. I speak French, Creole, and English fluently. I was born in The
Bahamas 25 years ago. I got a good education and was awarded a scholarship
by an overseas university. That is a long story. In short, the odds that I
overcame to get where I am today are accomplishments in themselves.

I have a concern with my Bahamian people. Even though I was born and raised
in The Bahamas, I was never accepted as a Bahamian. Yet I share a flat with
someone who was born in America to a Bahamian. My flatmate is fighting to be
a Bahamian legally. How odd, and I bet my flatmate will be accepted as a
Bahamian more than me even though I am the one who was born in the country.

My father was also university educated. He is an accountant who had to do
many odd jobs to keep food on his family's table. Yet so many Bahamians look
down on him as if he was dirt. He and my mother only left Haiti to find a
better way of life. My flatmate's parents left The Bahamas to find a better
way of life as well. No one looks down on her when she visits The Bahamas.

So why the injustice? Why do Haitians have to justify seeking a better way
of life, and when Bahamians move to the U.S., Canada, and England to better
their condition, Bahamians look up to them? Some even envy their
accomplishments and newfound wealth. Wouldn't you say that is hypocritical?

I speak three languages and I am learning a fourth. I took advantage of the
educational opportunities available to me, so that I could better my
family's condition. No one gave my father a chance to prove himself as an
accountant in The Bahamas, but they do not have any trouble importing a
white foreigner from the U.S. and worship the dirt he walks on!

My father also speaks English, French and Creole well. He was the one who
taught me all three languages! He would have been an asset to any accounting
firm. Now he is only waiting until I finish to retire, because I told him he
won't have to work hard anymore.

Both my parents are in The Bahamas legally. Yet we were always considered
outsiders.

I am leading in my medical program here. I am far ahead of eight other
Bahamian students but I am sure that they will be hired faster than me in
The Bahamas, even though I have more to offer. I find this strange because I
have already been approached by three leading hospitals in this country. Why
is it that they see my worth and my own country can't appreciate what I have
to offer?

Disappointed with the way things are



Dr. Knowles:

Dear Disappointed with the way things are:

I sympathise with your frustrations. Some of the things you have shared were
concerns I previously raised with a number of colleagues locally and abroad.
Many of my questions started when I had to write a paper in university about
Haitian migration to The Bahamas. Honestly, I have my own concerns about how
this country can support such a large number of immigrants. At the same
time, I am often appalled by how some of our Bahamians treat our Haitian
brothers and sisters. I know that for many of these Bahamians who are
hostile towards Haitians, if they or their children were to work abroad,
they would not like to face the kind of treatment and discrimination that
they so readily dish out to Haitians.

Do not be disheartened about future employment locally. The present system
of employment has not always been fair to qualified individuals born in The
Bahamas to Bahamians either. My only suggestion to you in this regard, is to
keep all your options open locally and abroad.

I have heard about many educated Haitians who have had to take jobs doing
menial tasks. I am sure that many of them have been frustrated, especially
when they are being insulted by individual's who may not be as academically
gifted as they are.

Your letter seems to be more of an opportunity to vent your frustrations
rather than to ask for advice. That is why I am printing it, because it is
worthy of stirring up some interesting comments locally.

My concerns are usually on the level of one human being's interaction with
another. It is not the individual who should be blamed for trying to find a
better way of life for themselves and their family.

This problem must be tackled on a government-to-government basis. More
radical strategies need to be implemented on a global basis to help with
what author Dawn Marshall termed "The Haitian Problem". Obviously, what has
been done so far is not working. The non-government official in me would
take a pointedly simplistic view of the situation and say: "If what
governments have been doing all along to solve this problem locally and in
Haiti has not worked, then they need to change their strategies!"

What you and your parents have suffered bleeds my heart! There is no
justification for ill-treating another human being. I wish you all the best
in your studies. I am sure you will make your parents and birth country
proud.


It's Healing Time for Hurting Hearts is a weekly advice column provided for
our readers by Dr. Lisa-Anne M. Knowles "The Queen of Hearts" from the Child
& Family Counselling Services Clinic, Ltd. You may send your requests for
counselling advice to:

P.O. Box FH 14228, Nassau, The Bahamas; or e-mail Dr. Knowles at
childandfamilyadvice@sherwoodpark.ca or childandfamilyadvice@sherwoodpark.ca
The phone numbers for the Clinic are 1-242-324-0498 /

1-242-364-0660

Copyright (c) 2001 by Nassau Guardian

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