Skip to main content

People of Haitian Heritage

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Handbook for Culturally Competent Care
  • 2778 Accesses

Abstract

Haiti, with a population of 10.4 million, is located in the Caribbean on the island of Hispaniola, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. The per capita annual income is $817. Only 13% of the people have access to potable water. Haiti defines itself as a black, 95% of the population, nation. In Haiti, the concept of color differs from the concept of race. The Haitian system has been described as one in which there are no tight racial categories but in which skin color and other phenotypic demarcations are significant variables. When Duvalier was elected president-for-life in 1964, many Haitians covertly immigrated to the US in small sailboats, resulting in their being labeled “boat people,” a term that is associated with extreme poverty.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 59.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 79.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Bibliography

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Purnell, L.D., Fenkl, E.A. (2019). People of Haitian Heritage. In: Handbook for Culturally Competent Care. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-21946-8_16

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-21946-8_16

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-21945-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-21946-8

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics