25970: Vedrine (article): Haitians And The Mith About Blacks Dont Read (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: E Vedrine <evedrine@hotmail.com>


HAITIANS AND THE MITH ABOUT ‘BLACKS DON’T READ’

(by E. W. VEDRINE, 08-13-05)


Not long ago, some writings have been circulating on the internet about ‘Blacks 
don’t read’. Some people have even done extensive research on the theme. But 
for us, Haitian educators living in the U.S, how can we talk about this 
problem? What can we do in order to get deeper and deeper in this matter and 
see what can be done to help breaking the ice, knowing that to read and write 
is quite a powerful weapon an individual can have in his hand?

Most of the times, these pieces of writing circulating on the net tend to blame 
Blacks instead of finding out the cause and effect. As a minority within a 
larger one, should we - as educators, just blame them and never finding out the 
real reason? As new Black immigrants, we (or our offspring) will soon be 
integrated in that larger Black Diaspora. When Haitians leave Haiti, they don’t 
leave their traditions behind. Those living in Diaspora always represent a 
sample of those who remain behind in the main land.

In the Haitian Culture, most things are still at the oral level since most 
Haitians in Haiti never had access to school. That means most of Haiti’s oral 
traditions have not been written down. As research shows, 85% of the population 
is illiterate. No joke about it! And yet, we don’t have any government who 
cares about that big problem. Their sole purpose is to get to power (by any 
means possible), steal as much money as possible, put their friends in key 
positions and then go into exile later.

It’s only after the Civil Right Movement that Blacks in the United States had a 
real chance to go attend “some schools”. It was not easy for them beforehand. 
Those who were lucky to go to school before, had to seat in the back of the 
class or gave up their seat to white students (most of the time). And after 
graduation, one of the jobs available for most black graduates in the U.S (late 
19th century & beginning of the 20th was being a waiter in some restaurants or 
hotels.

Haitians who arrived in the United States after the Civil Right Movement were 
quite lucky, and many of them never realized that Dr. Martin Luther King had 
also sacrificed his life for them. So, in a way, some would buy the negative 
stereotypes about Afro-Americans without trying to know their true history and 
their struggle to survive in a country what was build upon their own their 
sweats.
Second, some Blacks in the U.S look straight where opportunity opens its doors 
to them, and most of the youth in this sense find that in MUSIC, SPORTS & the 
ARTS. So, to them, why bother working hard going to college and cannot get a 
good job later when they can make million of dollars in music and sports? Is 
this a silly thought for survival?

Back in Haiti, EDUCATION opens doors to the “Pitit Sòyèt” (children of the low 
& lowest class – the untouchables) and it’s the ONLY PATH that can help them 
climbing the social ladder. Let’s not make BLAMING something funny here (as it 
appears to be in some writings), but rather let’s try to understand the REALITY 
of the world, and as educators, see to what extent we can help changing the old 
order of things for the better.

If a kid grew up seeing his parents are reading /writing - they have a library 
at home, it’s natural that this kid will become a reader at a very young age. 
By the age of five, Jean-Paul Sartre was already a great reader. Why? He grew 
up in the midst of his Grandpa’s library. Simome De Beauvoir (his girlfriend 
for 52 years) published her first novel before the age of ten.

When I went to Paris (for the first time in 1982), I would feel uncomfortable 
If I did not have anything in my hand to read while riding the metro. That’s 
the culture there (everyone reads). “Andere Lande, andere Zitten (Other 
country, other culture) as the German saying puts it.
Sometimes, some of us may put the same blame on Haitians without going deeper 
into The Haitian Reality back home (where in this case, people care more about 
the meal that they are going to find for the day and as we know, over 90% of 
Haitians don’t have access to good meal on a daily basis). So, are we going to 
blame them for not being able to read and write when they don’t have access to 
FREE SCHOOLS? And even if any real government (in the future) opens up free 
schools throughout Haiti, I don’t think that will be a total success without 
FREE MEALS in order to keep the kids in school because most parents cannot feed 
them.

Not being able to eat at least one meal every day in Haiti is one of the 
reasons why the country has many dropouts where most students never had a 
chance to even complete the Elementary Cycle. And again, SCHOOLS ARE NOT 100% 
FREE there (as it is the case in the U.S up to high school). Let’s discuss what 
can be done to help solving these problems (be it in Haiti or in the Black 
Diaspora), in order to  try to break the ice.

(E. W. Vedrine)