Haitian, Bahamian, both or neither? Negotiations of ethnic identity among second-generation Haitians in the Bahamas

ABSTRACT

Using open-ended, semi-structured interviews, this essay analyzes the various ways second-generation Haitians negotiate their ethnic identity in the Bahamas. Second-generation Haitians are exposed to and sometimes forced to choose between two cultures because they have been told they cannot be both Haitian and Bahamian. Based on participant’s responses, six categories emerged: individual, African/Black, Bahamian, Bahamian of Haitian descent, Haitian, and Haitian-Bahamian. This essay argues that second-generation Haitians negotiate similar sociocultural factors in the construction of their identity. Growing up in a country where there is a stigma of being Haitian, participants negotiated connection to culture, citizenship, stigma, belonging, and self-ascription/ascription by others. Further, I argue that identities such as Bahamian, Bahamian of Haitian descent, and Haitian-Bahamian are challenging ideas of what it means to be Bahamian. Last, I argue that the Haitian identity is formed primarily in resistance to and protection from the hostility experienced in the Bahamas.

KEYWORDS:

• Second-generation Haitians
• the Bahamas
• identity
• ethnic identity
• Haitians

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank my participants for volunteering their time and sharing personal details of their life, Dr. Bertin M. Louis Jr. for helping me find contacts in the Bahamas, and the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee for the travel award aided in conducting this research. I would also like to thank the reviewers for their feedback which strengthened this article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by a travel award from the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. This statement confirms that I have agreed to the submission of Haitian, Bahamian, both or neither? Negotiations of ethnic identity among second-generation Haitians in the Bahamas and to confirm that this article is not currently being considered for publication by any other journal.