A community is supposed to be a place of comfort, somewhere you should feel like you’re allowed to be yourself, with no restraints and no worry of discrimination. However, having lived in Haiti for the majority of my life and having been different from the “standard” I’m supposed to uphold, I can tell you that we are not that. Yes, the Haitian community is a very welcoming one and they are always there to uphold those who can’t support themselves, but the Haitian community, or the older Haitian community per se, ruins this sense of belonging with their close-minded ideals.
Everyone is supposed to dress one way or you get called uncultured, act one way or you get called an outsider . . . I could go on and on. This sense of closeness, this connection we are supposed to have as a community, has been tarnished. I can’t speak for everyone when I say this; however, the younger Haitian community, at least those who are more exposed to the reality of life and the evolution of our world and its people, often do not have a sense of belonging to this community. Wearing something you feel comfortable in, being able to speak up for yourself, homosexuality, and so much more are regular ideas that we in this community can’t express due to the judgment that will come along with it.