by Dr. Kevin J. Turnquest Alcena:

The Haitian President’s comment in regards to voting here in The Bahamas is being taking out of context as a result of paranoia and xonophobia that has a hidden political agenda. He said nothing that no other President when visiting another country to speak to their own people would, encouraging those who are of Bahamian descent and have a right to vote. Democracy is a very important thing and it is already known that President Obama, Hillary Clinton, the British Prime Minister go around the world telling people to exercise their democratic right to vote. 

Mr. Stephen Dillet was the first black member of Parliament and the Bahamas had two Governor Generals who were of Haitian descent. Many former and current members of our Parliament are of Haitian descent. Mr. Goodmans Bay was the first black millionaire and he was Haitian. Do your research! So this thing about Haitians wanting to take over the Bahamas is utter nonsense. The Haitian people have always played a very pivotal role in the development of America, the Caribbean and the Bahamas. If the Haitian military did not assist the United States in fighting for their independence then America would not have gained their Independence to this day. Check it! Google it! A point of fact that I want to bring to the Bahamian people’s attention is there are 300,000 millionaires living in Haiti with a population of over 10 million people. Haitians primarily come to the Bahamas for economic opportunities. Let us not forget that 41% of all blacks throughout the Caribbean are of Haitian descent. That’s a fact. Many first were as a result of Haitians. The Dominican Republic did not get their Independence from Spain, they got it from Haiti.

We have a bias element that is diabolically discriminate against anything that is Haitian. They blame everything (crime and even the state of the economy) on this group of individuals, legal or illegal. There is no middle ground. If they are illegal they should not be here but even if they are legal we still blame them for everything. That’s reality in an emerging country like the Bahamas. They blame the blacks and the Jews in the USA! Racism is real. Nazi Germans were real and all as a result of hate and bigottedness that has no place in a true democracy. So the negative denotation in regards to the history of these people must stop. 

What we see in the Bahamas does not represent the Haitian people. The Haitian migrants that are here who are working for Bahamians legally and illegally do not represent in one iota the people of Haiti. Do you know that the city of Chicago was built and designed by a Haitian? So let us not jump on the Haitian bandwagon for the sake of negative. Did you know that the Turnquest came to the Bahamas by way of Haiti? They descended from Norway to Haiti because they were sympathetic towards Touissant supporting him in his cause. After Touissant was arrested they banished the Turnquest who then literally drifted to Long Island and that’s a fact. One of the richest Bahamian families today in Haiti are the Cartwrights in Port-Au-Prince, the Williams from Long Cay and the Fergusons from Acklins who also have major empires in Port-Au-Prince. Devulaier was born in Inagua and became the President of Haiti. So Bahamians made history. Thousands of Bahamians migrated to Haiti. Check your archives. When Haiti was doing well Haiti was the Pearl of the Caribbean so Bahamians migrated there to look for jobs and some of them are still living in Haiti. Check the Haitian phonebook you will be shocked to see how many Bahamians live in Haiti and are doing well.

No Haitian, no Jamiacan, no Chinese, no Puerto Rican will be eligible to vote unless they are Bahamian citizens. This election is not about the comment from the Haitian President. He is not God. We are a Christian nation and only God can decide the outcome of this election. So the propaganda drums and the gossip mongers will continue to echo their concern and distaste for a foreign President to come and make a suggestive comment. It is their right to make comments. Welcome to the world of Bahamian democracy! 

In conclusion I still feel that the right to vote is an individual decision. The Linguistic articulation in regards to the President’s comment may have been somewhat distasteful to the Bahamian populous but you have to understand that the linguistic interpretation may have somewhat been misunderstood and taken out of context. I think what he meant to say was all individuals have a right to choose who they want to vote for individually not collectively. If you look at French and the translation of French that is precisely what he meant. It was totally a misunderstanding. There is no conspiracy that Perry Christie or the Prime Minister brought him here. That is a bunch of foolishness that is spreading quickly in our country. A man has a right to travel. It was the Haitian embassy that invited him here because they saw an opportunity for him to come here and that was it.

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