Today is the 23rd anniversary of the day that thousands of Haitians and Americans alike, stormed the Brooklyn Bridge headed to NYC's City Hall to protest the FDA's discriminatory banning of Haitian blood donors.
I wrote about this last year.
Left out from that post, was a few of the Haitian responses to the blood ban. The 80's and 90's were great era's for conscious Haitian music, and a lot of Haitian musicians used their voices and influence to reach, educate, and protest issues the diaspora faced.
When the FDA (and CDC) decided that Haitian blood was high-risk, a few songs were released to challenge the blatant prejudice. Many Haitians responded with organizing protests, and some musicians responded with music—not just reaching Haitian's living in the U.S., but to the entire Haitian diaspora and francophone communities. Though a lot of the songs were sung in Kreyol, the message in these songs were powerful.
One of the most popular response songs was by Yole and Ansy Derose, a husband and wife duo, that released the song "FDA Ou Anraje." The word anraje (French: enrage), means mad or rabid—which perfectly described the shameful blood ban. The song title loosely meant, 'are you out of your mind.'
Here's the music video to the popular song:
In the song, the Deroses' question why the FDA would impose such an outrageous and baseless ban. They also talked about how this was a slap in the face to Haitians considering the history of Haitians contributing to the U.S. and American history.
Here are some lyrics:
Si nou gen SIDA, se ou ban nou SIDA
If we have AIDS, you gave us AIDS
They continue:
FDA apa ou anraje. FDA apa ou deraye.
FDA are you mad!? FDA are you out of your mind!?
The Derose's also brought up the U.S. foreign policy in Haiti and how that contributed to Haiti's poverty. They did not shy away from exposing American hypocrisy, and it's expressed clearly in the beginning of the song. Several strong accusations are made and they somewhat allude that AIDS is man-made disease, and the blood ban ruling is racist, which would explain why the FDA felt so comfortable blaming Haitians.
Another song was from a mini-jazz group called Djet-X—the song is titled '20 Avril (Pon an Souke)'. It means April 20th (The Bridge Shook). It was written in the aftermath of the protests, but summarized the events and feelings of that day in one song.
An interesting fact about this song is the sub-title (Pon an Souke). This would be something my father would repeat to me whenever he told me the story about that day. He was present at the demonstration, and one of the resounding echos in the crowd, was "nou souke pon an", or we shook the bridge. My father recalled the bridge shaking as people crossed the bridge to enter Manhattan. The protest attracted more demonstrators than expected, and they shut down the Brooklyn bridge that afternoon. This is a New York Times article reporting on the event.
In the song they summarize the Haitian response on April 20th, naming important figures, like radio jockeys, community organizers, and popular Haitian activists, like Wilson Desir.
Some lyrics:
M'ap pral kapital youn jou espesyal, pou'm ka di koman'm feel, paske'm pa na ranse vre.
I'm going to the capital on a special day, so I can say how I feel, because truthfully I'm not kidding around.
They speak directly to the FDA:
FDA papa, sa se l'injustice, se pa nou fe SIDA.
FDA man, this is an injustice, we didn't create AIDS.
Throughout the song they also say in English no blood, no sweat. Interpreted as, if Haitian blood is not worthy, well neither is the sweat of Haitians who've worked hard in the U.S.
Read more about the ban here.
Twenty-years have passed, but the damaged hasn't quite been erased.
On April 20, 1990, thousands of Haitian-Americans in New York City walked across the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan to protest the Food and Drug Administrations (FDA) shameful policy, ruling that Haitian's living in United States should be discouraged from donating blood because they were a 'high-risk' group for AIDS. What did this mean? It was an ongoing discussion among American health agencies. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) was the first organization to designate Haitians as a high-risk group for AIDS and HIV, placing Haitians in the discriminatory '4H' list. The 4H list comprised of four alleged high-risk groups. Haitians were one of the four; the other groups were hemophiliacs, heroin users, and homosexuals.
Under this jurisdiction, the FDA joined the bandwagon in 1984, barring Haitians from donating blood. Being that most Haitian-Americans are Black, many activist groups felt that the policy was racist and unfair. The categorization of Haitians as carriers of HIV/AIDS during a period of heightened fear and misinformation of the disease itself, led many to believe that it was a typical shift of blame. During this period, many Haitians began to feel the toll and damage the policies caused. Haitians were wholly stereotyped and discriminated against, already dealing with the challenges of adjusting to life as immigrants in a foreign land.
And this was not the first time Haitians were blamed for diseases that ravished Americans. During the yellow fever epidemic of 1793, several Philadelphian's pointed to newly arrived Haitian immigrants as the source of the disease.
To further add to this history of blame (especially on immigrants), Haitians were not the only nationalistic group used as a scapegoat for disease. The Anglo-American, or WASP's, had a history of blaming anyone who wasn't WASP for any disease that affected them. This is despite their own ethnic-borne cooties, that are infamous for being capable of killing off a large portion of an entire racial group (Native Americans).
The Irish were blamed for cholera. The Chinese were blamed for the bubonic plague and smallpox. The Italians were blamed for polio, and Jews from East Europe were blamed for a various sickness, including Tuberculosis.
It did not end there, and into the 21st century the blame game continued. Haitians may have been the last ethnic group to become victims to the prejudice of the American health industry, however the culture of prejudice in health could still be rationally argued in references to racial statistics that are released by various American healthy agencies. Many may argue that the release of this information is a safety warning, while others may see it as a form of bias and a continuation of latent racial superiority. Given that minority groups tend to rank high in statistical data on poor health, many have this belief and the distrust between those of the medical profession and minorities will seemingly widen.
Singling out an entire nationality is too cautious today and would draw an angry reaction. Which is why in December of 2010, a New York City radio host received negative backlash for mentioning Haitian women in a discussion about AIDS. The story brought back many memories to Haitians living in United States, many who were deeply affected by the ban FDA placed on Haitian blood in the '80's. Many reactions were a protest, criticism from rival stations, and calls for termination from Haitian leaders and supporters.
Nowadays it seems easier to just point out a racial group and let people form their own assumptions. Because whatever certain studies want to achieve, there also needs to be some responsibility on their part with the misinformation, classification and stereotyping that is birthed from them.
I speak from experience. As a young Haitian, it's not uncommon to still hear people associate Haitians with AIDS/HIV. It was over two decades ago and the attitude still prevails.
