From Douglass to Duvalier: U.S. African Americans, Haiti, and Pan Americanism, 1870-1964

Millery Polyné's From Douglass to Duvalier: U.S. African Americans, Haiti, and Pan Americanism, 1870-1964 manages to examine U.S. African-American-Haitian collaboration and solidarity through the lens of Pan-Americanism in a variety of fields, such as international relations, economic uplift, black nationalism, tourism, dance, and education. In some ways quite indebted to Plummer's work on Haiti and U.S.-Haiti relations (as well as reminiscent of her work on the role of African-Americans in shaping US foreign policy), Polyné introduces the reader to several interesting figures who shaped African-American relations with Haiti, and in turn, U.S.-Haitian relations. Pan-Americanism as an important area for the African Diaspora of the Americas also has relevance here.

Moton, Barnett, Lavinia Williams, Frederick Douglass, etc. all shaped US relations with Haiti in important but understudied ways. Black nationalist sentiment, African-American sincere belief in US-centered Pan-Americanism (but critical of white supremacy and imperialism), and Haiti's legacy as a testament to black freedom motivated U.S. African-American involvement with Haiti, but due to the aforementioned motivations, sought to improve Haiti's economic and political turmoil from the late 19th century to the rise of Duvalier. Although I felt the chapter on Douglass was initially overly long in its coverage of Douglass's support for annexation of the Dominican Republic in the 1870s, one can see that chapter's relevance to later chapters of the text (specifically, some of the shortcomings of African-American Pan-Americanism that favored U.S. rule or capitalist development under inter-American policies dominated by the U.S.).

In the case of some African-Americans, inter-American relations were further weakened by a reluctance to criticize sovereign black leadership abroad, as in the case of Claude Barnett's influence in the U.S.'s black press and a refusal to repudiate Duvalier (something Polyné refers to as a nadir of African-American-Haitian relations). African-American deviance from Anglo-American Pan-Americanism, however, is another important theme in the text that illustrates how African-Americans have played a significant role in challenging US imperialism. In addition, African-American Pan-Americanism faced the economic constraints of the Great Depression (which undermined business initiatives connecting African-American capitalists and Haiti, though the success of Major R.R. Wright's investments in coffee and the African-American pilot, James O. Plinton, in starting a small airline and laundry service in Haiti demonstrate important examples of how African-Americans with capital and skill contributed to Haiti's economy, albeit not helping much with the rural sector).

Nonetheless, African-American dancers (Lavinia Williams, Haitian dancer Destiné, Moton, and Walter White (of NAACP fame) played an important role in promoting Haiti's tourism industry and cultural heritage (by bringing 'discipline' to folkloric dance, capital and advertising in tourism, and commissions to recommend changes in education during U.S. Occupation (besides uncovering and disseminating news of racial oppression, violence, and economic disaster under U.S. rule). African-American criticism of the paltry aid given to Haiti during the early Duvalier years, calls for increased investment, debt relief, cultural programs, defending Haitian sovereignty (exemplified by Douglass during the negotiations for the Mole St. Nicolas) and appreciation for Haitian history (as well as other forms of solidarity and intellectual exchange, such as cultural, literary, and Pan Africanist programs and movements) indicate additional ways African-Americans have shaped US-Haitian ways for the better.