26979: Hermantin(News)Schism threatens Haitians' political progress (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

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.