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26979: Hermantin(News)Schism threatens Haitians' political progress (fwd)
Posted on Mon, Dec. 19, 2005
SOUTH FLORIDA
Schism threatens Haitians' political progress
South Florida's Haitian-American community struggles to come together to
increase its political clout.
BY JACQUELINE CHARLES
jcharles@herald.com
Old loyalties, bitter infighting and even ousted Haitian President
Jean-Bertrand Aristide stand in the way of South Florida's Haitian community
expanding its political clout.
The divisions were once again evident last week as Miami-Dade County
commissioners zeroed in on a replacement for retiring commissioner Barbara
Carey-Shuler. Across town several Haitian-American leaders met inside a
cavernous Little Haiti community center seemingly ready to announce their
choice and flaunt their political weight.
Instead, an hour after their press conference was set to begin, the leaders
called the whole thing off. They could not agree on which Haitian-American
candidate to support.
The battle over Carey-Shuler's seat stands as a harbinger of the schism within
the Haitian-American community that threatens to derail bids by Haitian
Americans to extend their political reach beyond Miami and Tallahassee to
Washington. And Aristide has become the spoiler from afar -- with pro-Aristide
local radio personalities and other power brokers using political candidates'
support for Aristide as a litmus test for backing local campaigns.
Compounding that dynamic are growing tensions between Miami-Dade's
African-American political machinery -- which doesn't want to give up any of
its hard-fought gains -- and up-and-coming Haitian-American leaders.
`THE BIGGER PICTURE'
''The disloyal and unnecessary competition among Haitians makes it impossible
for us to come together,'' said Dr. Laurinus Pierre, director of the Center for
Haitian Studies in Little Haiti. ``We fight among each other, and we don't look
at the bigger picture.''
The bigger picture involves Haitian Americans seeking to keep two legislative
seats, and eyeing at least two county commission seats -- plus U.S. Rep.
Kendrick Meek's congressional district, which covers one of the largest
concentrations of Haitian Americans in the country.
Among the political hopefuls: Gepsie Metellus, a Haitian-American community
activist who spent 10 years working for Carey-Shuler at the Miami-Dade County
school district and county government.
Metellus, fellow Haitian American and former Miami City Commission candidate
Georges William and El Portal Mayor Audrey Edmonson, an African American and
Carey-Shuler protégé, are all jockeying to be tapped by the county commission
to replace Carey-Shuler, until an election next fall.
Although the commission is likely to pick Carey-Shuler's choice -- Edmonson --
on Tuesday, Metellus says she intends to run for the seat in September.
''There is a little voice in me that tells me I am ready for this,'' said
Metellus, executive director of Sant La Haitian Neighborhood Center.
Whether the Haitian-American community is ready to put its political muscle to
the test remains to be seen.
''I absolutely believe that they can do a real sweep,'' Marc Villain, a
political advisor to several Haitian-American politicians, said about those who
plan to run next year. ``All they have to do is unite once and stay united for
a year to pull it off. They've done it before, and they can do it again.''
Haitian Americans have been extending their political grip ever since Philippe
Derose, now a North Miami Beach councilman, became the first Haitian American
elected to public office in 1993, when he won a seat on the El Portal Village
Council, becoming its mayor seven years later.
In 2000, Phillip Brutus became the first Haitian American elected to the
Florida Legislature. In 2001, Brutus' political rival, former North Miami Mayor
Josaphat ''Joe'' Celestin became the first Haitian-American mayor of a large
Miami-Dade city.
Surpassing 245,000 in Miami-Dade, Haitian Americans are leading South Florida's
black growth and building a middle class. But now, reeling from Aristide's
February 2004 forced departure from a chaotic Haiti, Haitian Americans have
become increasingly divided.
''The stability of Haiti is extremely important for the advancement of
Haitian-American politics in Miami,'' said Jacques Despinosse, one of two
Haitians on the North Miami City Council. ``Good or bad, Duvalier did one thing
for us. He united us.''
Just as Cuban leader Fidel Castro serves as a catalyst for Miami's
Cuban-American community to unite against him, Jean-Claude ''Baby Doc''
Duvalier's regime kept Haitian exiles unified.
Realizing that citizenship translated into power at the ballot box, Haitian
refugees became U.S. citizens. Today, there are eight Haitian Americans in
local public office.
''Now, we need each other more than ever,'' said Despinosse, noting past
efforts to bring elected Haitian Americans together have been stymied by
rivalries and distrust. ``We've become self-destructive.''
Nowhere was this more evident than in this year's mayor's race in North Miami
where Haitians outnumber other ethnic groups.
In a campaign fought on Creole-language radio, a group of Aristide supporters
led a divide-and-conquer attack against North Miami mayoral candidate Jean
Monestime, portraying the former boat refugee and Aristide opponent as an
uppity politician disconnected from average, working people. Monestime lost the
race, and the Haitian community lost its majority on the council.
There are signs that efforts are under way to bridge the divide -- or, at the
very least, create a mutual cease fire.
For instance, after years of being considered public enemy No. 1 by members of
the pro-Aristide grass-roots group Veye Yo, Brutus, a Democrat, recently
offered to lead a delegation to Haiti to try and free jailed former Miami
activist and Aristide spokesman the Rev. Gerárd Jean-Juste.
WELCOMES SUPPORT
Brutus, who is considering challenging County Commissioner Dorrin Rolle, an
African American, for his heavily Haitian District 2 seat, could not be reached
for comment.
Veye Yo spokesman Lavarice Gaudin said the group welcomes Brutus' involvement
in the Jean-Juste case, though he would not go so far as to embrace Brutus for
the District 2 commission seat. The group has no problem with the job Rolle is
doing, Gaudin said.
''We are not going to elect someone just because . . . you are Haitian,'' he
said.
Nevertheless, Carey-Shuler's resignation has fueled debate on both sides.
Some Haitians say the commissioner missed a historic opportunity to help them
finally get representation at the county level. Meanwhile, African Americans
question why they should be expected to give up the seat when they still make
up the largest voting bloc in the district.
Noting Miami-Dade's changing black demographics, Metellus supporters say she
has the ability to build coalitions between both groups because of her
crossover appeal, and her intentions not to play identity politics.
''It has never been my intention to run as a Haitian candidate . . . but as
someone who can represent everyone,'' Metellus said.
Christopher Malone, who teaches political science at Pace University in New
York, said the community here is facing the same political maturation process
that other immigrants faced throughout American history.
''If you have the right leadership, it can be successful,'' Malone said. ``If
you don't have an overarching enemy or something to unite these groups, the
fragmentation becomes visible. The sad reality is, you get over it by finding
another enemy.''
Former U.S. Rep. Carrie Meek said the Haitian-American community should not be
criticized for wanting to raise its political profile.
''If they don't challenge now, they will challenge soon. That is the way the
system works,'' said Meek, whose son replaced her in Congress and may soon face
a Haitian-American challenger.
Eventually, she said, both native born and foreign-born blacks will have to
come together for the greater good.
''Unity is going to make all of us much stronger. When we isolate ourselves,
there is very little we can do,'' she said.