"Brother, I'm Dying": Haitian Immigration and Inherent Racism

I just finished reading Brother, I'm Dying by Edwidge Danticat. I was not expecting this book to be very good, but I really got sucked into it.

Danticat tells the story of her family and the struggles they faced as immigrants from Haiti. Seems simple right? NO, wrong. The life of an immigrant, especially from such a poor and unstable country, is extremely complex and emotional.

Danticat was brought up by her aunt and uncle in Haiti because her parents went to the states and could not bring her there until they had the financial stability. Essentially, Danticat had two sets of parents, one of which that was hundreds of miles away with little to no contact with her and her brother.

The biggest issue that came up in this real-life story was the difference of treatment towards immigrants of lighter-colored skin compared to those with darker-colored skin. I've considered this before, but it never sunk in until Danticat described the implorable treatment her uncle received at the old age of 81 years old when he was trying to escape a war-stricken, violent Haiti. Meanwhile, cubans merely need to set foot in this country, literally, and they are citizens. Haitians, however, even with visas, if they indicate anything that might construe an attempt for permanent residency are taken away to border patrol and interrogated. They are asked questions about their living conditions in Haiti, which no matter how bad, the officer reporting seems to think they are not threatened. If border patrol decided there is no reason for this person to stay in the states they send them to Krome which is a prison!? Immigrants must stay there and face brutality physically and mentally until eventually they are shipped their home country.

Here's a question I want to ask: how can the immigration issue be resolved, regardless of the racism that is present?

Everyone who is against immigration usually argues that immigrants are taking away jobs from American citizens, which is probably true. However, it not one immigrants fault that their country's living conditions are less than acceptable. Most immigrants are faced with either leaving their homeland or failing to adequately take care of and protect their family.

Do you really believe that anyone would want to up and leave their family in order to survive? I highly doubt that. Governments are to blame for this and it is not fair or right to simply stop immigration.

Part of why Haiti is so poor and filled with violence is the fault of the United States who trained Haitian soldiers which in turn fueled a war and created massive despair. The United States also sent some of their own soldiers there who contributed more to its destruction than its improvement.

So immigration might begin to be resolved if the US gave countries such as Haiti the tools, skills, resources, and knowledge to improve their country and be self-sustainable. IF a country has a good economy and peace why would people ever have a need to go elsewhere?

I recommend Brother, I'm Dying to anyone interested in the complexities and difficulties of immigration. We must listen to those who experience struggle and oppression first-hand. Just listen.