This interview takes place in Montreal, in the summer of 2009. Karl-André St-Victor, is a producer working in Montreal. He recently returned to Haïti. Here are his thoughts and reflections on Haïti and being black in Montreal.
Giovanna Nicolo - What was it like growing up as a black kid in rural Quebec?
Karl-André St-Victor - It is was complex. On the one hand, there was a life that you lived based on expectations and on the other, the one you portrayed to your friends. But to answer your question, I feel like I was brought up more as a Haitian, then as Black. Haitian means having a cultural identity, and black is just a race.
When my parents arrived in Trois-Rivières in the 60’s they experienced things that they never really talked about to us. I believe that because of these experiences they instilled in us the mentality to strive to be beyond the best and to always be clear that equality does not exist.
GN - Are you the same way with your own young son?
KSV - Pauses. No, not to that extent. I believe that my parents had a style of parenting that was reflective of where they where from. And I, as a parent have a style that is reflective of my life here, having a bit of both worlds and my own views on how kids should be taught to be their best, with the continued belief that there is no equality. I believe that our parenting styles can’t be compared, but see how they have evolved. These days I don’t think it means anything to push your kids to strive to be the best if it doesn’t mean anything to them. I push my son when I see his desire to strive to be his best. However, he is only three years old so ask me this question again in a few years.
GN - What about as a black person working in media?
KSV - You’ve been in the business so you see what I see. I don’t think that it is a matter of being Black in the media. It’s a about belonging to a clique. In every profession there are little circles that are born. These circles or cliques are incestuous. And for me, it’s not about belonging, but about being able to integrate and create a space within these cliques. In the end it’s just business and to maintain who I am in these cliques I don’t just walk the walk, I walk with a bounce!
GN - I read in Mat’s article (see below) somewhere that Quebec Blacks have the highest rate of unemployment outside of Mississippi.
KSV - It’s a fact, it’s hard to accept - However, the stats don’t paint the full picture, stats in general are biased. Why do they not also show the stats for racial profiling and show the correlation between the two. People that come to Canada come to work, they like everyone else have dreams and they want to move forward. I doubt they come here to be unemployed and be taken care of by the system. More often then not people work two or more minimum wage jobs to not only care for their families here but also care for their families back “home”. To assume that people don’t want to work is to assume that they don’t have pride.
GN - The last time you were in Haïti was 1999 - can you tell me how things have changed since then?
KSV - It is hard to say how Haïti has changed, because I have changed. So, I see it in a different way. Before,I believed that Haïti was going backwards, but now I see that it has just turned around and is going in a different direction. If you walk backwards you could still see what’s ahead of you, but now it feels like it’s on a totally different path - maybe a path to nowhere. As a kid we used to go there every year. My recent trip there was my first trip back as a father, My family and I were taking my father’s ashes back to his place of birth. It was a trip with a very specific agenda. It was clear to to me that Haïti, the Haïti that my father left, bragged about and dremt of returning too, was not the same one. In my opinion Haïti became a country of broken dreams (at least for those who left with the intention of returning). But on the other hand it has maintained a warmth that radiates from it’s people that makes people want to return.
GN - You talk of the country going down another path, what do you mean by that?
KSV - Haïti is stuck with it’s history they need to mourn and let go of their past. I understand it’s their point of reference but they have reached a point where it does not serve them any longer.
Haïti is a paradox, it became the first independent black republic in the new world because of western ideology, and now 200 years later Capitalism has cultivated a world of corruption and individuality, which have overshadowed the basic human needs of the people of Haïti.
There is a lot of sympathy in the western world for Haiti. Is it real sympathy or just a reason that will allow them to look good on
the world stage. There is no war in Haïti, yet the UN soldiers ride in their tanks on the streets as if country is at war, although they are only controlling traffic. What is even funnier is that they travel by tanks in a country that often does not have enough oil. What do they gain from this? Haitians see them as tourists. They drive around all day, stay in the best hotels, get the best food and lounge on beach. Tourists!
GN - “Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, president of Liberia says that the first thing you need to do in a country that’s been ravaged by war, is to instill the rule of law - and until the rule of law is instilled, one can’t talk about democracy…
KSV - I think that Haïti is not as dangerous as the media likes to portray it , but I think that’s she’s right. Law and order makes people respect their country men.
GN - Tell me about some of the images that come to mind when you talk about Haiti - Things where you think to yourself, My God this can’t or can be happening.
KSV - It’s clear that there is a lack of judgement that people with means have sometimes. I feel like they don’t really challenge themselves intellectually because if they did they would use their position to find a collective solution. And if they do the country is yet to reap the rewards of it.
GN - Maybe they need a kind of ‘Truth and Reconciliation’ like they did in Rwanda
KSV -It’s a good example because people need to mourn, they need to let go so that they can see the future.
