Haitians and African Americans A Heritage of Tragedy and Hope

In this first comprehensive study of the relations between Haiti & black America from the colonial period to the present, Leon Pamphile shows how historical ties between these two communities of the African diaspora have affected their respective histories, cultures, & community lives. Spanning some 200 years of relations between Haiti & African Americans, Pamphile's study is valuable for its thorough grounding in primary material, offering especially detailed treatments of 19th-century relations. He examines perceptions of Haiti in the United States during the debate over emancipation & slavery in the first half of that century & Haiti's role as a model in the struggle for liberation & then an asylum for many escaping oppression in the United States. His treatment of the decades from emancipation into the early 20th century, as descendants of African slaves struggled for legitimacy & respect in the post-slavery setting, is similarly meticulous. He highlights efforts to rehabilitate & elevate the black communities as well as dilemmas posed to African American leaders who defended Haitian independence during the U.S. occupation of 1915-34 & then sought to promote economic development on the island. He also treats relations between Haitian Americans & African Americans in major U.S. cities & traces the changing view of African American leaders toward Haiti during the Duvalier & post-Duvalier period as well as the role played by African American leaders in the U.S.-Haiti policy debate. Pamphile demonstrates that Haiti & the African American community, though separated by national cultures, remained linked by the common experience of slavery & its aftermath. His detailed accounts of these connections in the areas of politics, agriculture, arts, religion, & family organization will provide valuable insights to scholars working in Caribbean & American history & foreign policy & in race relations.Pamphile, Leon D. is the author of 'Haitians and African Americans A Heritage of Tragedy and Hope' with ISBN 9780813021195 and ISBN 0813021197.