Haiti: Acknowledging Haiti’s Aid During the American War of Independence

by Elliot Kriegsman / HaitiAnalysis

Wed, Oct 31, 2007 9:11AM

Napoleon once said that nothing could be as insulting as adding irony to injury. For more than a quarter century, Haitian “boat people” have been making headlines in our country risking their lives to escape the crushing poverty of theirs. Many, if not most, have been arrested, placed in detention centers, deported, interdicted at sea by the U.S. Coast Guard, repatriated to Haiti, or have drowned in their desperate attempts to reach our shores. That is the injury.

The irony is that the first Haitian “boat people” sailed north from what was then the French, slave colony of Saint Domingue to fight for our independence during the American Revolution, twelve years before their own. Two hundred and twenty-eight years later, their contribution has been officially acknowledged. On October 8th, the city of Savannah, Georgia, along with the Haitian American Historical Society, unveiled a monument in the city’s Franklin Square commemorating the courage and sacrifice of Les Chasseurs Volontaires. The ceremony was attended by local and regional politicians including Savannah mayor, Otis S. Johnson; former mayor, Floyd Adams, Jr.; congressmen John Barrow (D-Georgia) and Miami-based Kendrick Meeks (D-Florida). Representing the Haitian government were several members of its senate and Jean V. Geneus, Minister of Haitians Living Abroad.

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