Haitian Diaspora

The Haitian diaspora grew in distinct waves: occupation-era migration (1915-1934), Duvalier-era political exile (1957-1986), and post-1986 economic labor migration. Haitian communities in New York, Miami, Montreal, and Paris maintained transnational ties to Haiti while negotiating racism, exclusion, and institutional barriers in their host countries. Diaspora identity was not simply carried from Haiti intact but produced through encounter with US and European racial systems, giving rise to what scholars describe as a "dependent ethnicity" shaped by triple minority status.