"Where are the Haitians?" That’s part of the headline of a story from the Haitian Times, an online publication that focuses on issues of the Haitian communities living in the United States.
Forums have been held in Springfield to address the challenges of the city’s Haitian community. But Wedly Cazy, a reporter from the Haitian Times, noted very few Haitians at one recent roundtable discussion.
This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.
Wesley Cazy: It was basically just Springfield leaders from pastors, lawyers, community leaders, nonprofit people coming together to figure out ways to help the Haitian community but with that story a lot of things came up such as where are the Haitians.
And there was a lawyer there who said how could we even know what's going on with the Haitian community when they're not even here? Where are the Haitians? Why is a group of white individuals that are speaking on the behalf of the Haitians trying to come up with scenarios in different ways to help that community when they are not in those rooms?
People don't truly know who to trust. They don't, because they don't see the Haitians.
Mike Frazier: Did you do any digging to find out why other Haitians may not want to participate in these efforts?
Cazy: Based on answers after interviewing people, some people are saying that the Haitians are scared in terms of they're still hiding, they don't want to come out, and they don't wanna put their life in jeopardy and things like that. And then others are saying that they just don't know about it. They're not made aware of what's going on. But honestly, personally, I think it may be a little bit of both, but also like they're being kept out of the loop.
Cause it's like, how are you going to create a whole assembly for the Haitians without getting in contact with the Haitians so they could come? But you rally up the white individuals to come up, to come together, to talk about a community, and that community is not even present.
The last time I went to Springfield, I was at a Haitian store and some ladies were buying candles because their electricity went out, because they couldn't pay for the electricity because they lost their job and they can't drive to work. So they were using candles for light in their house. Things like that are not being talked about because it's like, how are we supposed to know some of the Haitians don't have electricity because they can’t work because of their whole TPS thing and they're not able to work and now they're using candles, which is a known thing that people use in Haiti when we don't have electricity, they use candles for light. How are we supposed to know they're using candles for light? Either using Vaseline or Lwil Maskriti (Haitian Black Castor Oil), which is like something we use in Haiti for body heat. It's like some sort of oil that gives you body heat and that was this past winter that just happened. So I went there, I was at the store, I was just shopping, just doing my regular shopping, browsing the store and then I heard those two ladies talking about that. And you wouldn't know that unless you go there and hear it for yourself.
The story we're talking about in my article about where the Haitians and tension surface. Nowhere did I hear people saying that some of the Haitians don't have electricity at their homes. No, I did not hear one word regarding electricity and what people are dealing with inside their homes, and that's things that should be brought up.
Frazier: What do you think the solution is based on your perspective to try to get more information on what Haitians actually need and what they're actually going through?
Cazy: I would say that people, especially Haitians, aren't just looking for short-term fixes.
What the Haitians are really looking for are stability, not quick fixes. Like those two ladies at the market; they don't want you to drop a bag of food at their house or drive them to the supermarket. No, they want electricity. They want that stability. But I would say at the federal level, they want clearer, longer term immigration pathways for the ones that are already living here and working here, whether that's extending the TPS or creating a more permanent status. But I would say locally in Springfield it’s about investment. So making sure that schools, translation services, and community organizations have the resources to support that growing population.
You can read Wedly Cazy’s article at HaitianTimes.com.
