Controversy over the selection of Miss Haiti 2010 Sarodj Bertin

by Hamlet Pericles

After 22 years of absence from the Miss Universe pageant, Haiti will finally have representation through 24-year-old beauty Sarodj Bertin, a multilingual lawyer, born on April 11, 1986 to Haitian parents in Puerto-au-Prince, Haiti but relocated to the Dominican Republic at the age of 9.

Having absolutely no knowledge of Miss Haiti, a research was conducted which connected pictures to her name – and those pictures were eye-catching, to say the least. After viewing the photos, something instantly came to mind, the talks regarding the way she looks will no doubt follow her throughout the pageant and after the competition.
Upon further research, those thoughts were accurate and on point, thanks to a few YouTube videos, a forum called HaitiXchange and other forums, where many disapprove of her selection to represent Haiti. The controversy stems from many claims, but only three main talking points will be referenced herein: (1) Miss Bertin’s light skin complexion, (2) her years in the Dominican Republic, and (3) her being an opportunist.

The first point of contention stems from Miss Bertin’s light skin tone, which some Haitians find problematic, for she does not represent the typical-looking Haitian. Once again, the issue of color shades has made its way into a Black conversation. This issue of skin color does not only consume and trouble those of Haitian descent but all Blacks worldwide, which is known as a broader term called colorism: a discriminatory discretion that puts those of a darker complexion in a category of less than and inferiors compared to those of a lighter complexion who are placed in a category of elitists, mainly occurring in one’s own ethnic group.

Brazilians, Dominicans, Trinidadians and Tobagonians, Jamaicans, Cubans, Bahamians, just to name a few, have all dealt with colorism and continue to deal with it today. The United States, which embodies a melting pot of various ethnicities, is a perfect example where this behavior persists constantly. Therefore, there is no indecision when stating that every Black person, not only in the U.S. but universally, has witnessed and/or has been personally attacked by this disparaging behavior through his/her lifetime, not only by a non-black person but by a person of the same ethnicity or another ethnicity.

Strangely, women seem to harbor more venom when it comes to colorism, and I’ve seen it personally from junior high school through higher education. A Black woman who is of light complexion does not even have to whisper a word, once she walks into a room, some girls roll their eyes, utter something under their breaths, and some even say the common phrase, “She thinks she’s all that.” If she’s attractive and has long hair, the hatred will be more palpable and brutal.

Society for centuries has promoted that a person of a lighter skin complexion is superior, prettier, and more worthy than one of a darker complexion – and some Blacks have naturally adopted and fostered this ideology by freely bashing and hating one another because of it.

This is no longer an issue of societal blame and/or the white man using brainwashing techniques to keep Black people fighting each other as some like to claim; it’s an issue of general Black stupidity that continues to dehumanize the Black diasporas when comments like, “She’s too light to represent us Blacks,” or “She’s not Black; she’s light-skinned” are uttered (as if people of a lighter and darker complexion are different).

Miss Bertin, as a Black Haitian woman, radiates a light skin tone which shouldn’t surprise anyone, for Haitians are not limited to one color. Like many ethnicities, Haitians come in various shades of colors; black, dark brown, light brown, white, etc. – and Miss Bertin is no different.

The argument that she does not represent the typical-looking Haitian is ignorant, insulting, and asinine. What is a typical Haitian? There is no such thing as a typical Haitian; the question alone denotes that there is a norm, and everything outside of that norm represents an incorrectness, an imperfection. What does a Haitian look like? There is no uniformity in appearance of Haitians, for Haitians are universally diverse. What are the characteristics of a Haitian? The characteristics of Haitians vary from person to person, because each person carries his and her own identity and individuality. Why is this so hard to understand?

One can not look at group of Haitians and automatically label all Haitians similar. There are many Haitian personalities such as the Governor General of Canada Michaëlle Jean, singers Maxwell, Jason Derulo, actors Jimmy Jean-Louis, Ron Selmour, actresses Jessica Lucas, Meta Golding, Lela Rochon, athletes Pierre Garçon, Jonathan Vilma, and they all come in different color shades, different appearances, and hold their own identities.

The second point of contention stems from Miss Bertin’s residency in the Dominican Republic, giving some Haitians the ammunition to argue she is too Dominican; i.e., she’s “Dominicanized.” Moreover, some have even stated that she has aligned herself with the enemy (which will be briefly mentioned because of its absurdity).

This is a person, at the age of 9, who had to endure the assassination of her mother Mireille Durocher Bertin (October 20, 1959 - March 28, 1995); she was a well-known lawyer, a social leader and human rights activist who formed a political party in attempt to capture the presidency of Haiti in 1995, and was violently silenced via Jean-Bertrand Aristide’s Lavalas political faction. This tragic event caused Miss Bertin’s father Jean Bertin to relocate her and her three brothers to Haiti’s sister island, the Dominican Republic – not by design but by obvious circumstances.

Anyone with common sense would have taken the same action as Mr. Bertin because safety comes first. And some have the audacity to argue she is too Dominican and not Haitian enough? If that’s the case, musician Wyclef Jean – a true representer of everything Haiti – who immigrated to the U.S. at the age of 9 and settled in New York City is not an adequate Haitian because he is Americanized. Following this nonsense belief, the thousands of Haitians who immigrated to the United States and various countries around the world do not represent the Haitian culture because they are inadequate, and thus should not represent Haiti in any fashion. Where is the logic in such belief?

More ridiculous, some Haitians have claimed her residency in the Dominican Republic makes her an enemy, because of a brutal event in October 1937 known as the Parsley Massacre in Hispaniola, ordered by Dominican President Rafael Trujillo. In brief, more than 25,000 Haitians were executed because they could not pronounce the word “parsley”; thus, they were considered Haitians and murdered with machetes, guns, and other harsh manners.

To connect this happening with Miss Haiti, in any fashion, is not only fatuous but sickening, because it fosters no rational argument. It shows that some will invoke anything to disapprove of her status as Miss Haiti, even though no connection is present.

People leave their country of origin annually for a better lifestyle, opportunity, political pressure, and many other reasons. It does not mean that those people are no longer connected to their country and ethnicity – and are enemies.

Obviously, Miss Bertin is Dominicanized because she spent most of her years in the Dominican Republic. However, it does not make her less of a Haitian, nor does it make her an enemy. Anyone who lives in a country for a long period of time will be culturally connected to that country in some manner, whether it be through language, foods, beliefs, and so forth. It’s a natural adaptation.

The third and final point of contention stems from wild claims that Miss Bertin is using the January 2010 earthquake that devastated Haiti to garner fame. Because she holds the title of Miss Haiti, she’s an opportunist and is taking advantage of a devastating occurrence?

There is no grain of evidence of her taking advantage of the January 2010 earthquake. However, there is evidence of Haitian leaders taking advantage of the disaster by refusing to distribute foods fairly to all of its people, by selling donated food to its people (while they suffered from thirst and famine), by making it difficult to allocate foods and toiletry because of bureaucracy, and by raising the price of beans, rice, and cooking oil, which caused riots. (Thus, if one wants to find exploitation, look no further than the shysters within Haitian government.)

Miss Bertin may not reside in Haiti, but it does not mean that she has abandoned her country, and her work with the International Alliance for Haiti’s Recovery (IAHR) since 2002 supports her ambition to better Haiti. Her participation in Miss Universe simply gives her a broader voice that will promote her agenda to help Haiti.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Miss Bertin expresses her elation of representing Haiti: “The Miss Universe pageant has always been a dream for me, since I was a kid. I used to watch the contest and think, ‘Why is my country not participating? I want to see Haiti participating.’ ... When I finished college, I gave up on the idea. I thought it would never happen. I thought someday ... I could celebrate the contest and send a girl myself. So when they told me that they were going to do it this year ... I trembled, I cried, I screamed.”

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When asked about how her nomination can help Haiti, she responds: “There are many people who want to help but don’t know how and sometimes they need a voice to tell them what are the necessities of the people. I want the people, through me, to … say what their necessities are.”

In truth, Haiti needs people like Miss Bertin; she may not be a major voice like Wyclef Jean, who is an around-the-clock spokesman, but she represents a presence, nonetheless. Miss Universe gives her the perfect platform to keep Haiti in the subject of conversation, which is a positive thing. The more people of celebrity, especially of Haitian descent, that come out and inject Haiti into a conversation, the more attention Haiti will receive.

The controversy regarding this one woman shows how convoluted and damaged some people’s mindsets are. Despite so many issues that are raised by criticizers, the one issue that overshadows them all is her phenotype, her exterior, her skin complexion.

This behavior is embarrassing and pathetic, because it breeds hatred. The fact that majority of the attacks are coming from Haitians (natives of Haiti and foreigners), people of her own ethnicity, is appalling. People attack their ethnicities all the time, which is normal; however, when the attack comes by way of colorism, it is the worst. This behavior is destructive to all people of color and seems to be a constant plight that will continue to plague the Black population as a whole.

People disapproving of Miss Bertin’s selection will not stop her from representing Haiti, because when she walks across that stage on Monday night, August 23rd , wearing the sash with Haiti on it, she will be an emblem of the impoverished island whether people accept her or not. She was born to Haitian parents in Haiti, and that is what she represents, a Black Haitian woman who is of light complexion.

Skin colors do not filter out hatred, ignorance, stupidity, nor discrimination, people who embody those skin colors do.

One who is ignorant but walks with eyes will hit more walls, fall, and be misdirected, than one who is blind and walks with reason.

Miss Haiti 2010 Sarodj Bertin represents an intelligent woman, a multilingual woman who speaks four languages (Haitian Creole, French, English, Spanish, and learning Mandarin), and a stunningly beautiful woman. She has what it takes to contend for the title and hopefully her goal of being crowned Miss Universe 2010 becomes a reality.

Most people have a problem with how she was selected? not because shes too light or because she lives in DR("enemy country" lol.). Most people have a problem because 95% of her interviews have been in Spanish(Miss HAiti). She hasn't (to the best of my knowledge) done an interview in french or creole? No interviews to the haitian masses or hatian medai just a couple of photo ops. Yes I her consider haitian because she was born in haiti.
Most people including myself ask if she were to win where would she land first? where would the crown reside?

I wish her luck because these things are a business and theyre rigged.

Also people in haiti look down on the "diaspora". It's not her it's anybody living abroad. My 2cents.

Iggy you get what you pay for

"The argument that she does not represent the typical-looking Haitian is ignorant, insulting, and asinine. What is a typical Haitian? There is no such thing as a typical Haitian; the question alone denotes that there is a norm, and everything outside of that norm represents an incorrectness, an imperfection"

Come on now, who are you trying to kid, Hamlet Pericles? What is a typical Haitian? You and I know that the vast majority of the Haitian populance is predominately black African with a small non-black and mulato minority. Nevertheless, I ask myself, why would this writer consider it offensive to state that most Haitians look black? Are they not proud of their black African ancestry? If that were the case, then we should not be having this discussion in the first place. Do not all Chinese/Asian people have slanted eyes, regardless of whether or not they come in various shades of yellow? It is a fact that needs and should not be challenged.

Let me give you another example, we know and it is a given, Great Britain is predominately white Anglo-Saxon, but we are also aware that there are many other native born British subjects that are black and Indian. But that is the exception and not the rule. The same with Haiti, yes we know Haiti has many mulatoes and non-blacks, but again the point here is that they are the minority and not a true representation of the vast and overwhelming majority of the Haitian masses.

What the article attempts to convey is that Haiti is supposed to be some kind of melting pot as if it were an all-encomposing nation like the USA, a plural society in which people from all walks of life, nationalities, races and creed were welcomed, have stay and assimilated over the years to become a place of mixed race people, but that is far from the truth. Since its foundation Haiti has been a closed society which purposely made no room for non-blacks. However, the writer attempts to argue the opposite. He makes an incorrect allegation and wants us to accept it as true and to do otherwise would characterize one as "ignorant, insulting and asinine", but what he wants us to believe is so much against reality that it is preposterous to be anything but convincing.

Regardless of whether or not Haiti prides itself with the onerous title as the first free black slave republic in the western hemisphere is besides the point. I personally don't have any qualms with the selection of Miss Haiti, she has a suffcient enough afro-ancestry that her skin color is irrelevant and should not be a reason for rejection. However, I do have an issue and a point of contention, with what she actually and really represents, the elite and upper crust of Haitian society instead of the Haitian people. But no matter what, she is Haitian born from Haitian parents, who just so happens to be of a lighter complexion. Though her selection is not improper, It would have been much better if post-earthquake and after a 22 years absence, some one from the lower classes, which probably would have been of a darker complexion, were preferably given a chance for the crown, instead of someone that is already priviledged. But who said life was fair.Which leads me to conclude that deep down I don't think the controversy was really about race or skin color, but rather what that lighter skin color historically represents to Haiti.

To make matters worse in an interview on Spanish Television she was asked to explain the reason for her language skills. She stated, in her own words, that "French is our first language," ('frances es nuestra primera lengua" Now that was a slap in the face. Can you believe that? French is her first language, when in fact very few people speak French in Haiti other then the well educated. The Haitian people only speak Haitian Kreyol and can barely understand French. Creole, Not French, Is Haiti's Official Language.

"Creole is a language whose body is French but whose soul is African." (Aimé Césaire)

The CIA world fact book reports both French and Creole as official languages of Haiti but here is the real fact: Creole is the language of Haiti, spoken 100% by all haitians across the territory.

From Wikipedia: "French is an official language of Haiti although it is mostly spoken by the upperclass and well educated whereas Haitian Creole is more widely used."

So I again ask the writer Mr Hamlet Pericles who are you trying to kid? If you want Miss Haiti to be accepted as a candidate because of her beauty and qualifications, now that is one thing, but to state that she is a true representation of the Haitian people is something else. If Miss Haiti was chosen under that premise then I consider it blasphemous and "ignorant, insulting, and asinine" to my intelligence.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1El19DemNpQ&feature=player_embedded

More info about Hamlet Pericles http://www.helium.com/users/307914/show_articles?page=5

Guillermone
"The argument that she does not represent the typical-looking Haitian is ignorant, insulting, and asinine. What is a typical Haitian? There is no such thing as a typical Haitian; the question alone denotes that there is a norm, and everything outside of that norm represents an incorrectness, an imperfection"

Come on now, who are you trying to kid? What is a typical Haitian? You and I know that the vast majority of the Haitian populance is predominately black African with a small non-black and mulato minority. Nevertheless, I ask myself, why would the writer consider it offensive to state that most Haitians look black? Are they not proud of their black african ancestry? If that were the case, then we should not be having this discussion in the first place.

Let me give you an example, we know for a fact that Great Britain is predominately white Anglo Saxon, but we are also aware that there are many other native born British subject that are black and Indian. But that is the exception and not the rule. The same with Haiti, yes we know Haiti has many mulatoes and non-blacks but again the point here is that they are the minority and not a true representation of the vast and overwhelming majority of the Haitian masses.

What the article attempts to argue is that Haiti is supposed to be some kind of melting pot as if it were an all encomposing country like the USA, a plural society in which people from all walks of life, nationalities, races and creed were welcomed and have stay and assimilated over the years to become a nation of mixed race people but that is far from the truth. The writer attempts to make this allegation and wants us to accept it as fact, and to do otherwise would characterize one as "ignorant, insulting and asinine", but what he wants us to believe is so much against reality that it is preposterous to be anything but convincing.

But regardless of the whether or not Haiti proudly self-proclaimed itself as the first free black slave republic in the western hemisphere is besides the point. I personally dont have an issue with the selection of Miss Haiti but I do have a problem with what she actually and really represents, the elite, priviledge and upper crust of Haitian society.

To make matters worse in an interview on Spanish Television she was asked to explain the reason for her language skills. She stated in her own words that "French is my first language," ('frances es nuestra primera lengua" Boy that was a slap in the face. French is her first language, when in fact very few people speak French in Haiti other then the well educated. The Haitian people only speak Haitian Kreyol and can barely understand French.

Creole, Not French, Is Haiti's Official Language.

"Creole is a language whose body is French but whose soul is African." (Aimé Césaire)

The CIA world fact book reports both French and Creole as official languages of Haiti but here is the real fact: Creole is the language of Haiti, spoken 100% by all haitians across the territory.

From Wikipedia: "French is an official language of Haiti although it is mostly spoken by the upperclass and well educated whereas Haitian Creole is more widely used."

So I again ask the writer Mr Hamlet Pericles who are you trying to kid? If you want Miss Haiti to be accepted as a candidate because of her beauty and qualifications, now that is one thing, but to state that she is a true representation of the Haitian people is not only blasphemous but also "ignorant, insulting, and asinine" to my intelligence.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1El19DemNpQ&feature=player_embedded

No matter if the Queen of Sheba was elected to represent Haiti the gossipers would have come down on her for one reason or another, and this constant fault finding is typical of anti-Christ Haitian way of doing business. Haitians should be celebrating the selection of Ms. Bertin, who could be a real contender to the crown.
Instead infighting and further exploitation of the Haitian poor by the shysters within Haitian government, are the norm, constant put down and critique of the diaspora and any shade of brown follows the "scorched earth" policy ingrained in the Haitian genes and is typical.
Haitians since their independence are a very discriminate and intolerant society, and remain so to this day.

blabla

If I wake up in world war three
I see destruction and poverty
And I feel like I wanna go home
It’s okay if you’re coming with me, it’s alright

Your love is my love and my love is your love
it would take an eternity to break us up
The chains of Amistad couldn’t hold us

(Whitney Houston)

Let's stop talking, let's help each other