Fall/Winter 2010  

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Washington University in
St. Louis

Department of Anthropology

Arts & Sciences

College of Arts & Sciences

Graduate School of Arts & Sciences

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Haitian Protestantism across Borders and Haiti after January 12, 2010
by Bertin Louis, PhD 2008

louis

Bertin Louis (back row, center) with members of an evangelical interdenominational church in New Providence, Bahamas

My primary research interests focus on understanding the growth of Protestant forms of Christianity among Haitians in diasporic contexts (the Bahamas and the United States) and Haiti. Traditionally, Haitians, both home and abroad, practice Catholicism and Vodou, but there has been a turn toward Evangelical Protestantism—a growing religious movement in Haiti that currently represents a third of the country’s population of over 9 million. Increasing numbers of Haitians practice various forms of Protestant Christianity, such as Pentecostalism and the Baptist, Nazarene, and Methodist faiths.

To understand this religious phenomenon, I have studied Haitian Protestantism transnationally in the Bahamas (New Providence), Haiti, and the United States (Boston, St. Louis, and Kansas City) since 2000. My dissertation research analyzed an interesting cultural issue that arose from research about Haitian Protestantism practiced by Haitian migrants living in Nassau, Bahamas. Specifically, many Haitian Protestants in Nassau use the symbolic boundaries of “Protestant” (Pwotestan) and “Christian” (Kretyen) to differentiate among members of their diasporic religious community. In other words, they see “Protestant” and “Christian” as two different identities. In Nassau, a “Protestant” represents a Haitian who attends an Evangelical Protestant church, but still leads a sinful life that is represented by their comportment and appearance. Kretyens (Christians), however, live their lives with a “fear of God” (Krent pou Bondye) and solidify their religious identity by critiquing the appearance and comportment of fellow church members.

What is even more interesting about this distinction-making process is that those who consider themselves to be Kretyen also view Kretyen as the ideal identity for Haitian citizens. In this sense, Kretyen can be understood as a religious identity and a form of nationalist expression that is used to combat marginalization in the Bahamas. In the context of a transnational social field that includes the Bahamas, Haiti, and the United States, the identity of Kretyen also forms a growing critique of Haitian society that the amelioration of the country’s current socioeconomic crisis lies in the overall transformation of Haiti into a Protestant Christian nation. In other words, Haitian Kretyen in Nassau believe that Haiti’s socioeconomic crisis stems from moral and spiritual problems among the Haitian government and citizenry. A book manuscript based on the dissertation is under review for publication.

In addition to research about Haitian Protestantism, I have also informed students and the general public about Haitian history and culture since the earthquake that ravaged Haiti on January 12, 2010. As part of my efforts, I have appeared on television and the radio in Knoxville, Tennessee (WATE-6 News at 5:30, Tennessee This Week, The George Korda Radio Show, The Hubert Smith Radio Show, and UT Today). I created the FOCUS ON HAITI website, which serves as the main Haiti informational website for the American Anthropological Association, for the Association of Black Anthropologists, and I wrote an essay analyzing Pat Robertson’s comments and Haitian Protestantism called “Haiti’s Pact with the Devil? Some Haitians (Haitian Protestants) Believe This, Too” on the Social Science Research Council’s THE IMMANENT FRAME blog.

Bertin M. Louis, Jr., PhD 2008, is an assistant professor of anthropology and Africana studies at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. His published work appears in several peer-reviewed journals such as The Journal of African American Studies, The Journal of Haitian Studies, and Transforming Anthropology, as well as in the Greenwood Press publication The Encyclopedia of Multicultural America (forthcoming 2010).