No, I have never been asked that question – verbatim. What I do get often are pauses and looks of bewilderment when I say things like “in my culture…” I think my lack of accent when speaking English leads people to assume that I am Africa- American. Once they find out that I am a Haitian immigrant, the next logical statement [of course] is “Well, you don’t look Haitian?”

I actually don’t know how I grew up with such a strong attachment to my culture of origin, while this not often the case for my peers. Just like many children of immigrants in the US, my parents spoke Haitian Creole to me and I answered in English. We went back to visit Haiti for summer vacations and Mardi Gras and that’s when I got to hang around my gazillion other cousins, aunts and uncles.

What stands out from my adolescence are a couple vacations – one to New York and one to Haiti – when I just had a strong sense of ease being around Haitians. I observed a lot of the norms and started to view them as very comfortable, as opposed to weird. I never felt uncomfortable with the American culture, there was just always a struggle between what my family found appropriate and what my friends wanted me to do.

I guess when I had this cultural epiphany (sounds important, doesn’t it), I completely embraced it. I wanted to know more, I wanted Haitians to see me as simply Haitian – not a diaspora. So, I read a lot of Haitian history and polished up my Haitian Creole. I felt that I would be able to be both Haitian and American without putting either at risk, so to speak.

In case you’re wondering, the jury’s still out on whether I succeeded or not.

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