What is the cultural identity of Haiti?

Answer 1

Haitians primarily are the descendants of enslaved Africans and mulattoes. Haiti ended slavery in 1804 with the second successful colonial revolution in the New World after the 13 English colonies gained theirs. However unlike the US, Haiti was forced to pay reparations (150 million francs; $22 billion today) to France after she beat the Great Napoleon's unbeatable army (I know you didn't learn that in school). Since Haiti was a free black country Europe placed an embargo because it would set a bad example in other colonies. Nonetheless, Haiti was instrumental in South America's liberation and all of Latin America owes Haiti a great debt (I know you didn't learn this in school). Thus Haiti's culture is a Creole culture, mix with French, West African and indigenous elements that can be seen in one of the languages they speak (called Creole, the other being standard French) based on 90% old French vocabulary accompanied by West African lexicon and loanwords from Portuguese, Spanish and Taino languages; through their cuisine a unpretentious and simple, but yet a bold and spicy flavor that blends African culinary aesthetic, paired with a very French sophistication; through its religion as 95% of Haitians are Roman Catholic with a sizable part believing in voodoo to a certain degree (that essentially synchronized an African religion with a European one); etc. Those who believe in Voodoo but don't practice Voodoo as religion tend to be VERY religiously Christian so as to ward off what ever bad they ironically believe really exist in Voodoo. The people were also historically called Creoles, as they are still called in Louisiana but since their independence, referring to one's self as a "Creole" is seldom used as they are a sovereign nation with their own demonym being "Haitian." Colorism exist in Haiti, a legacy of the mulattoes who drank the koolaid their white slavemaster parents gave them. Unlike the US, in Haiti mulattoes were freed and were not enslaved. There is a small middle eastern and white population and these three groups are partly responsible for Haiti's current condition. Like most nations in the African diaspora if whites would not always intervene, Haiti would be a democratic socialist republic. But white people know what's best so this can never be- anywhere except Sweden- oh but yeah white people live there and it doesn't have any Natural Resources white capitalist can steal.