Like the Italians, the Haitians immigrated to New York, or really anywhere in the ‘diaspora’, with a stereotype already assigned to them. They were placed in the racial category of “African Americans,” a group with which they did not identify. Haitians trace their roots to Africa, but do not see themselves as part of the African American culture that is associated with this classification. Therefore, Elizabeth McAlister claims that a major part of their ‘performance’ at the festa for the Madonna of 115th Street is “to create a new black ethnicity in the United States.” (149) Beyond their integration of Vodou practices, the Haitian devotion to the Madonna is different than that of the Italians as it seems rooted in a slightly different place.
The Haitians living in New York do not see themselves as the American part of their categorization as they do not disconnect themselves from their home in Haiti. What they struggle to do, as McAlister claims, is to create a new racial group through their religious association. Whereas most African Americans associate with the black Protestant church, the Haitians are affiliated with Roman Catholicism. They play the part by dressing in the blue and white “Sunday’s best” clothing during the festa and contributing to the processions. What I found most interesting was that just as Catholicism was a sign of higher class in Haiti, the Haitians in the ‘diaspora’ tried to rise to what they perceived as a higher class through the same religious affiliations. And in some ways, this attempt worked. The Italians accepted the Haitians into their festa (albeit based on the fact they were migrating to the festival instead of actually living in East Harlem like the Puerto Ricans whom the Italians did not accept). In parallel to this, the general Catholics in the United States accepted the Haitians and urged them to create their own ethnic churches. This differentiated them from African Americans at least in one sense. And so, in the same way the Italians were so devoted to the Madonna in a way that united the Italian American community, the Haitians demonstrated their devotion also as unification but unification with the purpose of distinction.
