<ul class="summary-list"><li>The Biden administration faces pressure over viral images showing mistreatment of Haitian migrants.</li><li>Black immigrant rights groups are calling on the administration to halt deportations of Haitians.</li><li>Black migrants make up 7% of the undocumented population, but make up 20% of all deportations.</li></ul>The massive repatriation operation that has sent more than 5,000 Haitian and other Black refugees back to the island nation has only ramped up in recent days. Since viral images of refugees escaping ICE agents first garnered backlash last month, at least 60 ICE flights to <keyword id="11901216" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="haiti" source="Orion">Haiti</keyword>, carrying approximately upwards of 100 people each flight. <iframe title="Number of Deportation flights since Tuesday, Sept. 21" id="datawrapper-chart-Oh7tR" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/Oh7tR/3/" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="width: 0; min-width: 100% ; border: none;" height="423"></iframe>Local, Black immigrant rights groups are teaming up with national organizations to call out President Joe Biden's administration over their treatment of Haitians on the border. "They cleared out Del Rio of victims, or witnesses, and all forensic evidence! " Nana Gyamfi Executive Director of Black Alliance for Just Immigration told Insider of the 3,000 estimated refugees removed by authorities."They Ajax that mess. They cleared it out. You have this complete cover-up," she added. Biden administration faces pressure from Black Immigrant organization <a href="https://www.dhs.gov/news/2021/09/18/dhs-outlines-strategy-address-increase-migrants-del-rio">In a statement</a>, The Department of Homeland Security said "the majority of migrants continue to be expelled under CDC's Title 42 authority," first instituted under former President Donald Trump.The clause in the 1944 Public Health Services Law allows the government to prevent entry of individuals during a public health crisis. The Biden administration has carved out an exception for unaccompanied children who show up to the border. DHS is conducting regular expulsion and removal flights to Haiti, Mexico, Ecuador, and Northern Triangle countries."From October last year to August, 938,045 migrants have been repatriated under the law, according to US Customs and Border Protection data. The scrutiny of the Biden administration hasn't stopped there. Reports of migrants <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/sep/26/they-treated-us-like-animals-haitians-angry-and-in-despair-at-being-deported-from-us">being loaded on ICE flights</a>, shackled by their wrists and ankles, has drawn backlash from immigrant rights groups..A coalition of Black immigration organizations including UndocuBlack Network, and the Black Alliance for Just Immigration filed a complaint last month with the DHS's Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties.The organizations are calling on the Biden administration to investigate why migrants were shuffled away Friday before observers could speak with them as part of ICE's processing of refugees. The complaint, Gyamfi told Insider, accuses ICE officers of physical and verbal abuse, as well as violations of US and <keyword id="6356001" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="international" source="Orion">International</keyword> law. "They are talking about doing an investigation, who are you going to interview with? You're deporting all the victims and witnesses," Gyamfi said. "How are we going to know about the blood that was left on the ground because you've done bulldozed the earth," she added. Criticism is coming from in and out the administrationThe administration's treatment of Haitians at the border led US Special Envoy to Haiti Daniel Foote to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/context/read-resignation-letter-from-u-s-special-envoy-for-haiti-daniel-foote/3136ae0e-96e5-448e-9d12-0e0cabfb3c0b/">resign</a> last week in protest of the "inhumane counterproductive" treatment.In his resignation letter, Foote argued how the plight of Haitians at the border compounds a larger problem of interventionist US policy in Haiti. Gyamfi told Insider that while criticism of the Biden administration is valid, the government's disparate treatment of Black immigrants goes back far longer.Related Article Module: The US owes a debt to Haiti. Experts explain why their shared history led to a migrant crisis on the US's border.Black immigrants make up 7% of the undocumented population, but make up 20% of all deportations - according to The Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services.Haitians per capita are the most deported nationality, and they make up 44% of all families in ICE detention facilities, according to The Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services.Many of the Haitian refugees that had been under the Del Rio bridge the last few weeks were laborers and construction workers in Columbia, Chile, and Brazil. One man was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/sep/26/they-treated-us-like-animals-haitians-angry-and-in-despair-at-being-deported-from-us">sent to Haiti even though he is Angolan</a>. Once migrants are taken into DHS custody, Breanne Palmer, Interim Policy &amp; Advocacy Director for UndocuBlack Network, says that many Haitian migrants are confused about what is going on. Experts on the ground noted a lack of French and Haitian Creole speakers. <h2>Critics say they'll 'keep the pressure' Biden administration</h2>An appeals court, on Friday, suspended a previous federal order halting the Biden's administration's use of a pandemic-related border policy permitting the removal of migrants from the southern border.Neither DHS and ICE responded to Insider's request for comment. Palmer told Insider organizations like UndocuBlack "are working very hard to keep the pressure on the Biden administration to stop deportations," and to stop the use of Title 42. "The fact that ports of entry are closed to people seeking asylum and other protection is totally unacceptable," Palmer said. "It's not supported by the science or by public health measures."

Haitians are still being deported from the border. Experts say their plight exposes bias against Black refugees

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Gang leaders in <keyword id="57389" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Haiti">Haiti</keyword> are calling for a country-wide uprising in opposition to political leaders.</li><li>Haitian activists say <keyword id="49445" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Gangs">gangs</keyword> typically exploit political instability or influence local elections.</li><li>Some warn that, unchecked, a coalition of gangs could stifle any transition in government.</li></ul>The murky details surrounding Haitian President <keyword id="11590859" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="jovenel-mose">Jovenel Moïse</keyword>'s assassination left a vacuum of conspiracy theories and speculations. Prime Minister Claude Joseph <a href="https://time.com/6078323/haiti-president-jovenel-moise-assassinated/">says</a> it was "a highly coordinated attack by a highly trained and heavily armed group." At least 28 people are <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/haiti-assassination-suspects-say-plan-arrest-president-not-kill-reports-2021-7">suspected in the killing</a>, of which 26 are Colombian, and two are <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/08/americas/haiti-moise-assassination-suspects-killed-intl-hnk/index.html">US citizens</a> of Haitian descent. So far, 20 of those suspects have been detained while five remained at large, and three have been killed.A <a href="https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/haiti/article252711838.html">Florida-based Haitian doctor was arrested</a> in connection to the president's assassination, although his family now claims he's being framed. Still, the murder of the divisive political figure left even more uncertainty, political instability and empowered gang alliances behind. Days after the announcement of Moïse's murder, one of Haiti's most influential and protected gang leaders, Jimmy Cherizier - known locally as "Barbecue" - called for a violent uprising for justice and reparations from elite politicians."It is your money which is in banks, stores, supermarkets and dealerships, so go and get what is rightfully yours," <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/haiti-gang-leader-launches-revolution-violence-escalates-2021-06-24/">he told supporters last month</a>, - shortly after the former police officer turned leader of the "G9" gang <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2021/6/24/haiti-gang-leader-declares-revolution-as-violence-spreads">announced </a>he was launching a revolution against the country's bourgeoisie.G9 is a federation of nine gangs that include former police officers and community members. Last year, it was formed as a <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2021/6/24/haiti-gang-leader-declares-revolution-as-violence-spreads">"revolutionary" force</a> that claims to be not against the government, but its opposition. Business men, political elites, and former Haitian president, Michel Martelly, are known targets.Many of G9's victims, as well as activists, have revealed that members have, "<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/haiti-moise-coronavirus-barbecue/2020/08/14/2554fce4-cf4d-11ea-8c55-61e7fa5e82ab_story.html">looted and burned down shacks and stalls</a>, systematically raped women, killed at random, and dismembered or torched bodies" and is one of at least <a href="https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-07-12/haiti-gangs-complicate-recovery-effort-assassination">30 gangs</a> that control nearly half of Port-Au-Prince.Anti-government corruption activists in the country and throughout its diaspora say it's no surprise foreign leaders would exploit Haiti's political instability now. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet blockquote" data-lang="en" data-cards="" data-conversation="">-Marlene Daut (@FictionsofHaiti) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1414340939196293120?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 11, 2021</a></blockquote>"Whenever a movement seems to be starting, the [gang] violence resurges," activist Olrich Jean Pierre told <a href="http://woymagazine.com/2020/09/18/what-is-happening-in-the-neighborhood-of-belair/">Woy Magazine</a>. "Today it is more dire because the government has used the federation of gangs to create panic, and to stop people from mobilizing."According to <a href="https://twitter.com/MARADIOFM/status/1412534974822105091">Le Centre d'Analyse et de Recherche en droits</a>, more than 150 assassinations and nearly 200 kidnappings have been recorded in Haiti since June, including feminist activist Antoinette "Netty" Duclair and journalist Diego Charles. The number of abductions that targeted poor and working-class communities also increased by 150% compared to the year prior. "This is the first time we have gangs with such a large power," Rosy Auguste Ducena, program manager at Réseau National de Défense des Droits Humains, told Insider."The gangs are impacting life in Haiti. Today, there are several areas where we don't go because of the gangs," Ducena explained. "If we have an election in September, for instance, the candidates will not be able to campaign in some areas, even in Port-au-Prince," she added.Like many of the country's gang leaders, Barbecue's power and influence are <a href="https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-07-12/haiti-gangs-complicate-recovery-effort-assassination">financed by political elite, </a>including Moise's right-wing political party. In 2019 US <a href="https://www.congress.gov/116/meeting/house/110326/witnesses/HMTG-116-FA07-Wstate-EspranceP-20191210.pdf">Congressional testimony</a>, the director of Haiti's National Human Rights Defense Network, Pierre Espérance, confirmed that the gangs "regularly receive money and automatic firearms [from executive and legislative powers], and they never run out of ammunition."Ducena adds that instead of reinforcing the police institution, President Jovenel Moïse invested in gangs. In return, his government had earned allies who implemented a strategy to gain political support and repress the opposition, spiking insecurity. Activists say throughout the Moïse regime, the government relied on gangs to control territories and protect their party. But mismanagement, foreign interference, and lack of accountability further pushed locals into armed groups, making them more powerful over time."The government used the federation to remain in power and to establish a climate of fear in the country. They succeeded," said Ducena.Opponents take it a step further, <a href="https://twitter.com/derosepl/status/1413921362071203845">suggesting</a> that Moïse was never fully in control of Haiti once gangs and foreign parties became involved. Instead, it launched a state of fear. As for what is to come next, Ducena would like to see "a government of transition with a clear mandate but not only a transitional government for elections." "What we also need is to find the answers to our problems without foreign intervention of any type," she said. Or the exploitation of meddling, politically connected gangs.

Why are gang leaders in Haiti calling for an uprising? How their political influence puts the country's future at risk

Many were outraged as images of patrol border officers on horses were seen brutally whipping Haitian migrants as they neared the US-Mexico border. <ul class="summary-list"><li>The Biden administration faced outrage for dispersing thousands of Haitian migrants from the US-Mexico border.</li><li><keyword id="11901216" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="haiti" source="Orion">Haiti</keyword>'s history of foreign interference has shaped global perspectives and stunted the country's progress.</li><li>Experts estimate Haiti is owed billions in reparations from France and the US for colonialism and occupation.</li></ul>In the past week, nearly 14,00 migrants, mostly Haitians, were found seeking asylum in Del Rio, Texas, following a destructive earthquake and the assassination of Haitian president, Jovenel Moïse. Instead of providing shelter and refuge for the migrants, the US continued to deport Haitians to Port-au-Prince after years of being targeted by imperialism and xenophobia, and what experts say as history repeating itself. Related Article Module: The US deported dozens of children without Haitian passports to Haiti, report says"Anything you have read about Haiti thus far will remind you of an all too <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Pourquoi_Ha%C3%AFti_a_Besoin_de_Nouveaux_Dis.html?id=z2qABwAAQBAJ&amp;source=kp_book_descriptiontion">common and limited narrative</a>," artist Gina Athena Ulysse wrote in a 2019 essay for <a href="https://www.tikkun.org/blog/2019/02/19/haitis-unfinished-revolution-is-still-in-effect/">Tikkun.</a> "The 'first Black Republic' is 'the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere.'""What almost none of them will mention is that Haiti also has one of the highest numbers of millionaires per capita in the region," she added.Haitian scholars spoke with Insider about how assumptions and stereotypes about the island perpetuate the limited narratives that can put Haitian migrants at risk."Cuba, Haiti, and all others are as complex as the US, Canada, and European countries, and allowing room for these latter to have complexity while expecting uniformity from these islands or island nations are quite uninformed and essentialist," Dr. Manoucheka Celeste, associate professor at the University of Florida, told Insider. <h2>Political interference in Haitian politics shapes global perspectives</h2>Haiti and the United States share an intertwined history as the second and oldest countries in the Western Hemisphere, respectively.But the US refused to acknowledge Haiti's 1804 independence from France for nearly 60 years, kicking off centuries of military coups and political meddling that devastated the Caribbean nation - from a decades-long US invasion and occupation in 1915, to disastrous aid relief efforts today. Between France and the US, experts estimate Haiti is <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/colonial-era-debt-helped-shape-haitis-poverty-political/story?id=78851735">owed billions in reparations</a> for the impact of colonialism, slavery and even the US's <a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/09/the-united-states-owes-haiti-reparations.html">theft of an uninhabited island</a> the country owns.<blockquote class="twitter-tweet blockquote" data-lang="en" data-cards="" data-conversation="">-Your cousin’s friend (@michaelharriot) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1441525885757235205?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 24, 2021</a></blockquote>Dr. Celeste, whose book "Race, Gender, and Citizenship in the African Diaspora: Travelling Blackness" details this <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/world/haiti-antoinette-duclaire-murder/">shared history</a>, added that US imperialism influences how Haitians are received and treated abroad today. "Haitian immigrants have been particularly stigmatized, echoing images of Haiti, as poor, dangerous, sick, and this impacts how we are received in communities, schools, employment opportunities and all aspects of everyday life," she said.The Caribbean island has also been <a href="https://www.teenvogue.com/story/racist-stereotypes-haiti-media">misrepresented through the media,</a> manipulating perceptions of it. A misconception that <a href="https://www.wordswithoutborders.org/contributor/nadeve-menard">Nadève Ménard</a>, author and professor of literature at the École Normale Supérieure of Université d'État d'Haïti, has noticed is that the current political climate is somehow unique. "What is happening here is very much part of larger global networks," she told Insider. "Aid industries need aid recipients, for example. The sophisticated weapons that gangs here are displaying are being sold by someone." "Many people, Haitians and non-Haitians alike are benefiting from what is happening here in very concrete ways," Ménard argued. <h2>Coverage of climate disasters, corruption worsens anti-Haitian bias</h2><div type="image" title="Haitian migrant holding hand of child wearing an American flag, stars-and-stripes, hat." height="3236" width="4315" msid="86542297" hostid="261"></div>According to Dr. Celeste's research, even though the Caribbean is an incredibly diverse region - racially, ethnically, linguistically - it only makes <keyword id="6356001" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="international" source="Orion">international</keyword> or US <keyword id="11893589" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="news" source="Orion">news</keyword> when "bad" or "strange" things happen, like a hurricane or political crisis. Haiti, for example, saw <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/pda/2010/jan/14/socialnetworking-haiti">a spike in global news coverage</a> following the 2010 catastrophic earthquake, with outlets gaining readers and revenue from disaster profiteering that already impacted the country.For experts, it's like clockwork that the media feeds on disaster reporting when convenient. Professor Guerra explained that Haiti is seen as a failure whose problems are its own creation, not those of the outside world. It is certainly not the fault of consistently accumulated historical injustices. "We treat Haiti as a pariah that is undeserving of respect, let alone sovereignty," she concluded. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet blockquote" data-lang="en" data-cards="" data-conversation="">-Bianca Padró Ocasio (@BiancaJoanie) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1441090045826330633?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 23, 2021</a></blockquote>Following the president's assassination, there has been a rotation of Haitian politicians wanting to claim power. That insecurity was made worse when a sudden 7.2 earthquake struck Haiti's southwest, exacerbating the existing migration crisis at the southern border in Texas. Amid the <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/9/16/haiti-pm-henry-replaces-justice-minister-after-sacking-prosecutor">political reshuffles</a>, publications have been quick to point out Haiti's extensive corruption. Scholars call on observers to ask themselves why that is. "It is problematic to imply that corruption only happens in Haiti or happens here more than elsewhere.," she added. "Nations like to present themselves as paragons of virtue, but often their representatives are very much implicated in the corruption they point to in other places," she added.On Tuesday afternoon, following the images of US Customs and Border Protection agents grabbing Haitian migrants near Del Rio, Texas, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/psaki-border-patrol-whipping-at-migrants-not-who-we-are-2021-9">White House press secretary Jen Psaki s</a>aid President Joe Biden found the footage "horrific" and "horrible."According to the administration, an investigation has been launched to "get to the bottom of what happened."However, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/immigration-border-haiti-mexico-texas-09d7de5bc57e1dbd92d40751c0d91f69">according to the Associated Press</a>, the Biden administration kept deporting Haitian migrants since the images first surfaced, with more scheduled flights to come<a href="https://apnews.com/article/immigration-border-haiti-mexico-texas-09d7de5bc57e1dbd92d40751c0d91f69">.</a><h2>Advocates say centering Haiti and its diaspora is key to progress</h2>Scholars say the treatment of Haitians is based on racial stereotypes that have long existed before the incidents of the past year, but challenged those moved by recent events in Haiti to learn about Haiti from Haitians. "The way to counter stereotypes is to go to sources where Haitians are speaking for themselves," Haitian-American writer Edwidge Danticat told Insider in an email, encouraging people to listen to Haitian youth and elders. "We are not a monolith. Haiti is not a monolith. We don't always agree. We have layers. We contain multitudes," she added. With the dehumanizing visuals of Haitian migrants at the border this week, there are renewed calls to help Haiti - a common sentiment the internet shared just a few years ago. In 2010, after the catastrophic earthquake of a 7.0 magnitude killed <a href="https://www.worldvision.org/disaster-relief-news-stories/2010-haiti-earthquake-facts">hundreds of thousands of people, </a>many celebrities were found organizing concerts and<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/jan/24/hollywood-stars-phones-haiti-telethon"> benefits</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Glny4jSciVI">singing songs</a>, and centering themselves in the cause. <blockquote class="pullquote-wrapper"><q class="pullquote-quotation">The way to counter stereotypes is to go to sources where Haitians are speaking for themselves. We are not a monolith. Haiti is not a monolith.</q> <cite class="pullquote-source">Edwidge Danticat</cite></blockquote>Danticat encourages supporters to immerse themselves in Haitian-led cultural initiatives, including reading Haitian writers, listening to Haitian music, and taking in Haitian art and even social media. Today, politicians and public figures are using their platforms to take an explicit stance and remind people of the role international communities have had in Haiti; past and present. "I think the reason why we're not seeing more help, if I'm going to be frank about it, is because they are Haitian," <a href="https://twitter.com/TheView/status/1440366374883237898">The View co-host Sunny </a>Hostin said during the show's broadcast Wednesday.Following the traumatic year Haiti has seen, many Haitian scholars are calling out what is most familiar in pop culture: performative advocacy in the form of heartbreak<a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/08/17/1028428035/naomi-osaka-haiti-earthquake-humanitarian-aid"> emojis, prayers, and hashtags</a> on social media.Marlene Daut, a Professor of African diaspora studies at the University of Virginia, recognizes the public outcry as opportunistic and meaningless, highlighting the role of disaster capitalism on other Caribbean islands, like in Puerto Rico during Hurricane Maria. "I think a lot of people when they do charity, they want it to be easy," she said. "If you really want to do good things for Haitians, then it involves the difficult work of finding out what that would be," she said. With the diaspora and allies holding North America and Europe accountable, Daut says it "could be a moment for a reckoning, if we allow it to be, and for it to not get swept under the rug again, and also to not repeat the past. We need to remember that these things happened, because there's a dangerous moment right now in Haiti."

The US owes a debt to Haiti. Why experts say of their shared history led to a migrant crisis on the border

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="12337104" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="colin-powell" source="Orion">Colin Powell</keyword> became the highest ranking Black and Caribbean-American official in Washington. </li><li>Powell had many accolades throughout his military career but also many miscues in Washington. </li></ul>Former US Secretary Colin Powell's complicated and complex <keyword id="12403155" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="legacy" source="Orion">legacy</keyword> throughout his nearly five decade career is being remembered, critiqued and commemorated around the world.Powell, born and raised in the South Bronx, New York, died at Walter Reed National Military Hospital last week at the age of 84 from complications of COVID-19. The first Black Secretary of State had been battling a multi-year bout with myeloma, a type of blood cancer and Parkinson's disease. As Secretary of State under President George W. Bush, Powell became the highest ranking Black official in Washington before the election of Democrat President Barack Obama. Powell was a lifelong Republican who left the party after the attempted insurrection of January 6. And as the son of Jamaican immigrants, Powell was the highest ranking Caribbean-American official before the election of Vice President Kamala Harris - whose father hails from the same island. This week, in commemoration of Powell as a trailblazer, Black-immigrant communities gave balanced accounts of honoring Powell's accomplishments but also recognizing his record in some of the most powerful positions in the US government. <h2>Prominent Caribbean-American leaders and public figures shared their reflections </h2>Over the years Powell has stayed connected to his Jamaican roots, returning to the Caribbean nation at the request of then Prime Minister Michael Manley after the Gulf War in 1992. "Keep believing in yourself; keep believing in the strength of your society and your culture," Powell said at <keyword id="11909321" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="jamaica" source="Orion">Jamaica</keyword>'s 50th Independence gala. "Keep being proud of your heritage but recognize that there are problems that we all have to deal with." Jamaican officials also offered condolences to the United States and Powell family. In a statement, Prime Minister Andrew Holness celebrated the former secretary, noting "General Powell never forgot his roots and family lineage in Jamaica." Related Article Module: Advocates say US immigration is rooted in anti-Blackness. Here's how policies puts Black migrants at risk.The residential plaza where the US Embassy in Kingston, Jamaica, is housed is named in his honor. Vice President Kamala Harris, whose father was also a Jamaican immigrant before moving back to the country, expressed her condolences of the passing of Powell. Saying in part "he dedicated his life to defending our nation and always showed the world the best of who we are." Last week, President Joe Biden ordered the flags at the White House be lowered to half staff until October 22nd. Other<a href="https://katu.com/news/local/gov-brown-orders-flags-lowered-to-half-staff-in-honor-of-general-colin-powell"> state</a><a href="https://www.wsfa.com/2021/10/18/governor-orders-flags-half-staff-colin-powell/"> Governors</a> also ordered the flags be lowered to half staff last week to honor Powell.<h2>Public figures and communities online noted Powell's legacy can be both celebrated and critiqued</h2><div type="image" title="Colin Powell at the UN" height="1650" width="2200" msid="87315970" hostid="261"></div>In a statement on Twitter, Brooklyn, US Congresswoman Yvette Clarke, and fellow Jamaican-American extended her "deepest condolences to the Powell Family," and highlighted when President Obama sent her along with Powell to celebrate Jamaica's 50th Independence Anniversary. "While we both represent two different political parties and I've questioned his role with regard to the Iraq War, as also he ultimately did, he was a principled statesman who loved his country." Some throughout Caribbean-American communities questioned what Powell's job institutionally has done to the region and diaspora. "Good for him and his rise to prominence as a Black man," Kris Ayala Strachan, a Bahamian-American, tweeted. "But he was an integral part of why we struggled &amp; struggle today against white supremacy and US imperialism in the Caribbean &amp; globally."<blockquote class="twitter-tweet blockquote" data-lang="en" data-cards="" data-conversation="">-Kris Ayala-Strachan (@BahamaPapa_) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1450184020109758480">October 18, 2021</a></blockquote>And Washington Post Columnist Karen Attiah, a Ghanaian and Nigerian-American journalist, shared her conflicted thoughts about Powell in a Twitter thread, noting that for many Black families -- especially immigrant and first generation ones -- he represented "excellence in public service." Institutionally, however, Attiah adds that Powell's representation in Black in communities didn't mean much for Iraqi people. Many were on the receiving end of a devastating US occupation and foreign policy, and still face the consequences today. "I remember as a 16 year old, being aghast that Colin Powell was in front of the UN making the case for WMD's [weapons of mass destruction] in Iraq. I argued in my debate class that there wasn't enough evidence and the U.S. shouldn't invade unilaterally.I remember thinking 'why is he doing this??'"<blockquote class="twitter-tweet blockquote" data-lang="en" data-cards="" data-conversation="">-Karen Attiah (@KarenAttiah) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1450112855097884673">October 18, 2021</a></blockquote>MSNBC host Joy-Ann Reid, a Guyanese-American, argued that Powell's legacy can be both celebrated and criticized - especially among Black first generation Americans.On Twitter she called out the "tough moments around wars" while reflecting that Powell's "was a "decent man and a great American we could all be proud of." "I know my Caribbean-American [family] certainly are. Wishing peace to his soul &amp; family," she said, calling his death "so shocking and heartbreaking."<h2>Black immigrant communities wrestle with "a symbol of achievement" </h2>Over the last week, Black immigrant communities have shown a sense of pride in commemorating Powell but also acknowledged the harm Powell was directly or indirectly responsible for. Related Article Module: Haitians are still being deported from the border. Experts say their plight exposes bias against Black refugeesAttiah,in her final tweet of her Twitter thread argued that Powell can "stand for a symbol of achievement, and integrity," while offering an opportunity to reflect on America's capacity for cruelty and reckless aggression abroad --- and how we rarely hold our leaders accountable for it."Powell is survived by his wife Alma, three children and two grandchildren.

Black immigrant communities debate the complex legacy of Colin Powell with compliments and criticism

<ul><li style="list-style-type: none;"><ul class="summary-list"><li>"<keyword id="11551622" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="high-on-the-hog">High on the Hog</keyword>" inspired Black chefs to highlight the African diaspora's culinary connections.</li><li>Scholars detail similar dishes between Africa, the Caribbean, and Americas seen today in recipes.</li><li>Culinary arts is one of many exchanges between the diaspora, including ingredients, and language.</li></ul></li></ul><keyword id="6181" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Food">Food</keyword> critics often argue that Black food is treated as the underbelly of America's cuisine although it would be nowhere without it. Throughout the pandemic, cultural documentaries and explorations of US history have been in <a href="https://time.com/5932847/black-art-chad-sanders/">high demand</a>. But, viewers and creatives grow tired of diluted Black narratives that barely scratch the surface of community complexities."When our stories get told, when our food gets talked about, it's the 'hardship' story. I don't even mean celebrating resilience," food writer and host Stephen Satterfield <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/17/dining/osayi-endolyn-high-on-the-hog.html">told the New York Times</a>,following the release of Netflix's critically acclaimed docuseries "High on the Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America"The docuseries is based on the <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7200344-high-on-the-hog">New York Times bestseller</a> of the same name by culinary historian and co-host Jessica B. Harris. For Haitian chef Stephan Berrouet-Durand, he finally saw himself in the 4-part series. "As I watched, I'm seeing the connection between who I am, where I'm from, and within the story of how I became who I am," he told Insider.<blockquote class="twitter-tweet blockquote" data-lang="en" data-cards="" data-conversation="">-Reagan Gomez (@ReaganGomez) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1397703441422503937?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 26, 2021</a></blockquote>Led by an all-Black creative team, including Roger Ross Williams, Karis Jagger and Fabienne Toback, audience follow Satterfield as he navigated the intersections between the Atlantic Slave trade and the Black culinary traditions brought to America.But, for many, High on the Hog is more than just a food documentary; it's a celebration of Black liberation and resilience. Since its release, viewers were moved by this voyage to a piece of archived American history, deeming it an emotional and spiritual journey connecting traditional American cuisine and ingredients to the Motherland."This has always been part of our tradition as a diasporic people descending from the continent of Africa," Satterfield told the Times.Although Haiti's specific influence wasn't mentioned in the limited series, chef Berrouet-Durand says the film, and other cultural programming like it, has been crucial in highlighting Black stories told by the diaspora, without white gaze.<h2>Chefs across the African diaspora connected with the docuseries</h2><div type="image" title="greek okra dish ragout" height="668" width="1000" msid="84037800" hostid="261"></div>Inspired by the film, Berrouet-Durand and Black chefs representing Africa, the Caribbean and Americas are expanding culinary palettes with a taste of the diaspora's shared history - connecting cuisines along the entire Trans-Atlantic slave trade, including their diasporas in Latin America, Caribbean islands and parts of the African continent Hollywood often leaves out. "Food really tells you a whole lot about people's identity and people's cultural heritage," said Nigerian archaeologist Chioma Ngonadi. "So we need to tell these stories, we need to talk about these people to learn what has happened, and compare it with what is happening now." Scholars often pinpoint the shared histories in the African, Caribbean and Afro-Caribbean populations on account of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade and well after. From Afro-Mexicans whose celebration of Juneteenth <a href="https://www.texasmonthly.com/being-texan/mexican-village-juneteenth-celebration/">dates back to their African-American descendants</a>, to American <a href="https://slate.com/human-interest/2015/08/the-most-successful-slave-rebellion-in-history-created-an-independent-haiti-and-secured-the-louisiana-purchase-and-the-expansion-of-north-american-slavery.html">slave rebellions funded by Haiti,</a> the diaspora's inter-connectivity is nothing new.But <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5606333/">recent studies</a> have sought to shine a light on that history often excluded from classrooms. High on the Hog takes audiences on this journey through that its continued impact on the culinary arts.Haitian-American food historian and archaeologist Peggy Brunache told Insider the extensive similarities between the Caribbean and African food-ways are apparent as well.<blockquote class="twitter-tweet blockquote" data-lang="en" data-cards="" data-conversation="">-JAY BLESSED®️ (@JAYBLESSED) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1399040786222698498?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 30, 2021</a></blockquote>Highlighting Louisiana as an example, Brunache notes its distinct, Creole history is often cited as the northern extension of the Caribbean due to a significant influx of Black people leaving Saint Domingue (modern day Haiti) in 1791 and long after. "Having large numbers of Black people that are always amongst themselves, socially, culturally, racially segregated, allowed them to keep creating or recreating an Africanized food <keyword id="24504" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="culture">culture</keyword>," she explained. Ingredients like peanuts, tomato, corn, and cassava travelled from west to east on trade routes of colonizers by way of the enslaved. West African communities then brought their ingredients to the Caribbean and the Americas. <div type="image" title="Fried fish" height="538" width="800" msid="84037802" hostid="261"></div>In the film, when Satterfield recalls his childhood eating fried fish and tomato based spaghetti while eating Benin's comparable dish Ganvié (fried fish and tomato), Trinidadian Chef Brigette Joseph immediately thought of stewed fish - a similar dish through the Caribbean where the fried fish is tossed into a tomato-infused creole sauce. Chef Berrouet-Durand told Insider that's because "food tends to travel.""Food never stays in one place. Depending on where you are, food tends to evolve as well," he said. But stewed fish is far from the only connection. High on the Hog explores the crafts of technique, language, and ingredients also united African American, Afro-Caribbean and African communities.Even the lexicon in which traditional dishes are named is similar throughout the African diaspora. Accra, for example, is the name of the largest town in Ghana, while across the Atlantic, it's a beach in Barbados where enslaved Africans first made landfall from the Motherland's shores. In food, Accra is a Haitian fritter made of fried black-eyed peas and salted cod - called "stamp and go" in Jamaica. Most notable, perhaps, is okra. It's called "gumbo" in Haiti - the same word for the staple Louisiana dish for which descendants use okra for the base. Dr. Brunache explains that these parallels come from an exchange between the diaspora, which became ingrained in the culture. "It is a source of pride and joy. It didn't just feed the body; it fed the soul," Dr. Brunache said. "That's why it's called soul food." <h2>Culinary scholars told Insider it's essential to pass on the traditions</h2>While celebrating similarities, High on the Hog notes how Black cultures are not monolithic. Where Black communities come from are just as diverse. Trinidadian Chef Leigh Ann Martin told Insider it would be "an injustice to the entire diaspora" to try representing all of it in any given docuseries.<blockquote class="twitter-tweet blockquote" data-lang="en" data-cards="" data-conversation="">-Vers Bttm of The Barrel (@Danez_Smif) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1398730637587124227">May 29, 2021</a></blockquote>She said that's where Black chefs throughout the diaspora can step in, inspiring a new generation to continue the discourse. For many, High on the Hog validates the cultural resistance that kept the diaspora bonded through time. For chefs like Martin, it honors the Black "voices that have been here, African roots have been here," and serves as a reminder to the next generations to cherish the tradition while passing the torch."We have to carry on and contribute to the conversation," she said. "We all have work to do."

'High on the Hog' explores the journey of American cuisine from Africa. How the Netflix docuseries inspired Black chefs to highlight the diaspora's culinary connections

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Video from outside the home of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse reportedly shows the aftermath of his <keyword id="53597" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Assassination">assassination</keyword>. </li><li>A number of people can be seen with guns standing outside following the attack. </li><li>Moïse was assassinated early Wednesday morning at his home.</li></ul>Video from outside the home of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse reportedly shows a large security response following <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/haiti-president-jovonel-moise-killed-2021-7">his assassination early Wednesday morning.</a>The video, <a href="https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/haiti/article252617798.html">first obtained by Journal la Diaspora and posted by the Miami Herald</a>, shows a number of people with guns standing on a dark street after the attack.The clip also appears to show someone lying in the middle of the street.<iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=476&amp;href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fjournalladiaspora%2Fvideos%2F299101675241378%2F&amp;show_text=false&amp;width=214&amp;t=0idth=214&amp;t=0" width="214" height="476" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe>Moïse was killed at around 1 a.m. local time by a group of unknown assailants, Haitian Prime Minister Claude Joseph said in a <a href="https://twitter.com/SamuelleCharles/status/1412708349842542592">Wednesday statement</a>.The first lady, Martine Moïse, was also injured in the attack, the statement said.Joseph has not publicly identified the assailants but said some of them spoke Spanish. In another video obtained by the Miami Herald, a person can be heard shouting in English, "DEA operation" and "stand down."The Miami Herald reported that the assassins were mercenaries and that the US Drug Enforcement Agency was not involved, citing a high-ranking Haitian official.

Video reportedly shows the aftermath of Haiti president's assassination

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A group of mostly-American Christian missionaries were kidnapped in <keyword id="11901216" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="haiti" source="Orion">Haiti</keyword> on Saturday.</li><li>Insider spoke to experts who described how kidnapping has become an everyday fear for Haitians. </li></ul>The kidnapping of 17 Christian missionaries in Haiti over the weekend is drawing attention to what has become an everyday fear for Haitians. On Saturday, a group of mostly-American missionaries building an orphanage in Haiti for Ohio-based <a href="https://www.insider.com/christian-missionaries-from-us-kidnapped-in-haiti-by-gang-officials-2021-10">Christian Aid Ministries</a> was kidnapped by a gang called 400 Mawozo.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/reviews/out?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wsj.com%2Farticles%2Ffbi-will-help-investigate-kidnapping-of-missionaries-in-haiti-11634593701%3FAID%3D11557093%26PID%3D6415797%26SID%3Din%257C616ed19f6b02d856cb5329b1%257C1634660945603%26subid%3DBusiness%2BInsider%26cjevent%3Dbc276c8c30f911ec824f535d0a82b824%26tier_1%3Daffiliate%26tier_2%3Dmoa%26tier_3%3DBusiness%2BInsider%26tier_4%3D3861930%26tier_5%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.wsj.com%252Farticles%252Ffbi-will-help-investigate-kidnapping-of-missionaries-in-haiti-11634593701" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Wall Street Journal</a> reported on Tuesday that the gang is asking for <a href="https://www.insider.com/gang-demands-17-million-for-christian-missionaries-kidnapped-in-haiti-2021-10">$1 million</a> for each of the kidnapped missionaries, which include five children.Insider spoke to Haiti experts who said that kidnappings have become an everyday occurrence in the country, although data shows that the targets are usually locals rather than foreign nationals. According to consulting group <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/riskmap/2021/06/16/data-illustrates-magnitude-of-haitis-kidnap-for-ransom-crisis/?sh=773ea9db7259">Control Risks</a>, 95% of kidnapping victims in the country since 2018 have been Haitians. "We are scared. We know that each and every time that we go out of the house there's a legitimate chance that you're not going back home," Kinsley Jean, a university student and local activist, told Insider on Tuesday. "Everyone is constantly scared, constantly on edge, because you never know when this will happen.""Everyone that I know is suffering from some kind of anxiety or depression because it's tough," Jean added. <div type="image" title="haiti protest" height="1335" width="2000" msid="87143285" hostid="261"></div>A report in the <a href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://apnews.com/article/religion-caribbean-kidnapping-haiti-puerto-rico-d17832d664f210adb63a05702f6859a7&amp;sa=D&amp;source=docs&amp;ust=1634661093948000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2pICFSrW-WXH1WslOoO66grW-WXH1WslOoO66g" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Associated Press</a> detailed how everyday life in Haiti has been impacted by the kidnappings and rise in gang violence. Many Haitians are too scared to leave the house, and those that do are forced to take detours to avoid gang-controlled areas.Amy Wilentz, a journalism professor at the University of California, Irvine, with an expertise on Haiti, told Insider that kidnappings started to become an issue after the 2010 earthquake, which significantly destabilized the country. Haiti has experienced further chaos in the past few months due to the July assassination of President Jovenel Moïse and another earthquake in August. What makes things especially scary for Haitians is the fact that anyone can be kidnapped, regardless of how high of a ransom they could garner. "This can happen to anyone - doctors when they're at their hospitals, political opponents at the government, even people who are street vendors," Alyssa Sepinwall, a Haiti expert at California State University, San Marcos, told Insider. "The kidnappers seem to set their price according to what they think family members can pay, but they've still been very exorbitant." "It's really frightening for people, the idea that if they can't come up with this giant sum that their loved one is going to be killed," Sepinwall added. Jean said the kidnapping-for-ransom business is a factor fueling the Haitian diaspora. "If they don't fix this situation, there will be more and more people leaving the country, even if they have to enter illegally another country. Because they feel like they can't live here," Jean said. Wilentz said it also may lead to some non-governmental organizations pulling out of Haiti, taking away some much needed help for a country in need."I think some will react to this by saying we can't stay," Wilentz said. "It's very dangerous. It's like a war with no war."

Most kidnapping victims in Haiti are locals. It's gotten so bad that people avoid leaving home and take routes to avoid gang-controlled areas.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>In 2010, a 7.0-magnitude <keyword id="6362774" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="earthquake" source="Orion">earthquake</keyword> killed more than 200,000 people in <keyword id="11901216" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="haiti" source="Orion">Haiti</keyword>.</li><li>The American <keyword id="11897319" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="red-cross" source="Orion">Red Cross</keyword> raised nearly a half-billion dollars for Haiti after the 2010 earthquake.</li><li>An NPR and ProPublica investigation found that little of the money reached Haitians in need.</li></ul>A 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck the southwestern peninsula of Haiti on August 14, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/days-after-earthquake-strikes-haiti-tropical-depression-approaches-2021-8">killing and injuring thousands</a>. As its citizens search for survivors among the rubble, many Haitian Americans, Black activists, and individuals tied to the Haitian diaspora are <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=haiti%20red%20cross&amp;src=typed_queryuery">warning those interested in donating money</a> to recovery efforts to avoid giving to the American Red Cross.In 2010, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/72-magnitude-earthquake-hits-haiti-larger-than-epic-2010-quake-2021-8">hundreds of thousands of Haitians were killed</a> when a 7.0-magnitude earthquake rocked the country, which resulted in an outpouring of nearly a half-billion dollars in donations to the American Red Cross, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2015/06/03/411524156/in-search-of-the-red-cross-500-million-in-haiti-relief">NPR reported</a>.Dozens of Twitter users, including many Haitian Americans and individuals with ties to the Caribbean, used their platforms to remind their followers of a 2015 <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/how-the-red-cross-raised-half-a-billion-dollars-for-haiti-and-built-6-homes">joint investigation by NPR and ProPublica</a> that documented what the two <keyword id="11893589" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="news" source="Orion">news</keyword> organizations said was a gap between funds donated to the American Red Cross and what actually went toward directly assisting victims in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake.<h2><a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/how-the-red-cross-raised-half-a-billion-dollars-for-haiti-and-built-6-homes"></a>Their investigation found "poorly managed projects, questionable spending and dubious claims of success."</h2>Despite the nonprofit's claim that it housed more than 130,000 people in the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake, the investigation revealed it had only built six permanent homes.The investigation also found that many of the American Red Cross' reported failings in Haiti were of its own making and that less of the money had reached those in need than the charity had stated, <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/how-the-red-cross-raised-half-a-billion-dollars-for-haiti-and-built-6-homes">according to ProPublica</a>.Issues that hindered the organization's work in Haiti included "<a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2861873-Senator-Grassley-s-report-on-the-Red-Cross-June.html">an overreliance on foreigners who could not speak French or Creole</a>," difficulties navigating the country's land title system, and the lack of progress souring relationships with residents.Haiti's prime minister at the time of the 2010 earthquake, Jean-Max Bellerive, expressed doubt about figures relating to Haitian relief efforts that the American Red Cross used in its promotional materials."No, no," <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/how-the-red-cross-raised-half-a-billion-dollars-for-haiti-and-built-6-homes">Bellerive told ProPublica</a>. "It's not possible."When asked about the calls on <keyword id="11895013" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="social-media" source="Orion">social media</keyword> to avoid donating to their charity, the American Red Cross provided Insider a <a href="https://www.redcross.org/content/dam/redcross/uncategorized/11/RedCross-Projects-Partnerships-Haiti.pdf">financial breakdown</a> of how it spent donations following the 2010 earthquake in Haiti and said it strongly disputes the reporting done by NPR and ProPublica."Contrary to accusations, the American Red Cross has made a significant impact in Haiti, including investment in more than 50 hospitals and clinics, safer housing for more than 22,000 families, funding for the country's first wastewater treatment plant, support for Haiti's first-ever cholera vaccination campaign and so much more," a statement from the nonprofit organization read."Americans donated generously in the aftermath of the 2010 Haiti earthquake to save lives - which is exactly what their donations did. In fact, we spent nearly one-third of donations on helping to keep people alive in the first six months alone."<h2>When one nonprofit betrays community trust, the whole sector pays for it.</h2>Regina Birdsell, CEO of the Center for Nonprofit Management, said the real focus should be on transparency and whether a nonprofit uses the money to achieve the goals it outlined when soliciting donations. "The really important thing to remember is that [nonprofits] exist to serve the public. So as tax-exempt organizations, the trade-off is that we need to be transparent," she told Insider.Birdsell said that the nonprofit sector has been debating what percentage of donations is appropriate to spend internally and is concerned that nonprofits don't talk enough about their need to pay staff living wages."At the end, we want to make sure that we never have the community feeling like they were misled. That dries up confidence in our sector, and that's not a good thing," Birdsell told Insider.Nonprofits should proactively implement internal checks and balances before crises happen to ensure they have mechanisms in place to account for and properly disburse all donations, according to Birdsell. Even when billions of dollars are donated in response to a crisis, nonprofits need to be able to function in a dynamic environment and maintain transparency, Birdsell told Insider.A <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2861873-Senator-Grassley-s-report-on-the-Red-Cross-June.html">2016 Senate Judiciary and Finance Committee report</a> said the American Red Cross spent a quarter of the nearly $500 million it raised for Haiti relief efforts on internal expenses, such as salaries, travel costs, and "oversight."<h2>Read the American Red Cross' accounting of its work in Haiti after the January 2010 earthquake here:</h2><p style=" margin: 12px auto 6px auto; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none; display: block;"> <a title="View RedCross Projects Partnerships Haiti on Scribd" href="https://www.scribd.com/document/520467925/RedCross-Projects-Partnerships-Haiti#from_embed" style="text-decoration: underline;">RedCross Projects Partnerships Haiti</a> by <a title="View Bryan Logan's profile on Scribdribd" href="https://www.scribd.com/user/389601250/Bryan-Logan#from_embed" style="text-decoration: underline;">Bryan Logan</a> on Scribd<iframe class="scribd_iframe_embed" title="RedCross Projects Partnerships Haiti" src="https://www.scribd.com/embeds/520467925/content?start_page=1&amp;view_mode=scroll&amp;access_key=key-wPIIN9GPAbTCgCaQEqjlgCaQEqjl" scrolling="no" id="doc_57763" width="100%" height="600" frameborder="0"></iframe>

The American Red Cross' 2010 performance in Haiti has become the focus of critics who are urging people not to donate to the organization

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Second generation Americans, or the children of immigrants, are a growing part of the US population.</li><li>Not all children of <keyword id="11657604" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="black-immigrants">Black immigrants</keyword> assimilate or accept labels like 'African American.'</li><li>Activists say combating racism is sidetracked by debates about country of origin.</li></ul>Alex Love is a born and raised New Yorker. She's lived in that city for the past 34 years she's been on this earth. But unlike many Americans, she doesn't like McDonald's, favors a chicken patty over takeout, and says "good morning" to strangers she passes on the street."I grew up knowing that I was American, but not a 'regular American,'" the consultant told Insider.Both Love's parents are from Barbados. So how she shows up in American society and views her Blackness was first shaped by that Black immigrant experience. "If you have a parent born in another country, even though you're born here, your upbringing is still predominantly led and shaped by where your parents came from and their own <keyword id="24504" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="culture">culture</keyword>," said Haitian-American journalist, Edvige Jean-François who speaks extensively on the Black immigrant experience. Straddling the line of an African American and Black immigrant identity can even make it difficult to feel connected to historical milestones and celebrations unique to the US, including recent Juneteenth commemorations."I think that it's great that people are celebrating, but I don't feel connected to it," she said. "For me, I can trace my history within Barbados so that's where I feel rooted." Black, second-generation immigrants spoke with Insider about that intersectionality, and how they internalize American Blackness through a different lens than their African American counterparts whose existence dates back to US slavery. <h2>Children of Black immigrants are growing part of the population</h2>Second-generation immigrants - people born in the US with at least one immigrant parent - make up <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/hispanic/chart/first-and-second-generation-share-of-the-population/">12%</a> of the American population, according to a 2017 Pew report. But the term can also be applied to those born abroad and raised in the US. Black immigrants with parents from the Caribbean, <a href="https://www.migrationpolicy.org/pubs/AfricanMigrationUS.pdf">Northern and sub-Saharan Africa</a>, and a smaller group from Canada and Europe are included in that makeup."Unfortunately, people do look at [all] Black people here as being black when it comes to these things and don't recognize our individual cultures and ethnicities," Jean-François said.<div type="image" title="Pew Research graph of first and second generation demographics change in US" height="1132" width="1400" msid="84487309" hostid="261"></div>Vice President Kamala Harris has had her own Blackness <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/03/15/black-like-kamala-harris-an-identity-dilemma-second-generation-black-immigrants/">called into question</a> on account of her Jamaican heritage. And former President Barack Obama faced lingering attacks on a racial identity, and US citizenship from the far-right who pinpoint his Kenyan father.With parents or guardians from countries where Black people are usually the dominant majority race, some second-generation immigrants like Love hold a different view of their place in the US in comparison to African Americans with longstanding history here. Sociology professor Nancy Foner noted pressure to reject the dominant culture "is usually found in first-generation immigrants," but with second-generation immigrants often "a small minority" still favor their ancestral home and cultural practices.For those that do, their reasons can be as rooted in societal anti-Blackness in the US that positions African Americans as inferior, as it is cultural pride. As a result, some second-generation Americans, even those who migrated to the US as a child <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/solidarity-when-caribbean-immigrants-become-black-n308686">attempt to distance themselves from African Americans</a>. "My upbringing is very heavy on manners. I kind of had a different standard," Love said. "So I kind of grew up believing that Americans didn't have as good manners as Caribbean kids."One of the things that she found most challenging was navigating between being identified as Caribbean and being identified as African American, especially being born and raised in the US. <h2>Black immigrants don't always accept with the term 'African American'</h2><div type="image" title="harris.capitol" height="2000" width="2666" msid="84487311" hostid="261"></div>Foner said there is often a struggle second-generation Black immigrants face to define their Blackness, often most closely associating with their parents' homelands."They think of themselves in many cases as African Americans, but they also think of themselves in many cases as Jamaicans or Nigerians," she told Insider. "And because of how other Americans view race, they have a problem establishing their ethnic identity."Some research suggests most children of immigrants <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1229545014000217">eventually assimilate</a>, taking on the cultural norms of where they reside to better fit in with the world outside of their homes. But that's not always the case - especially for Black second-generation Americans whose parents themselves may be unaware of the societal nuances that dictates what it means to be Black in America. Those who lean heavily towards becoming more Americanized may do so with the intent of being part of the African American culture. Jean-François told Insider she was keen to learn about Blackness in America and determined to understand the African American experience beyond what she learned in her Haitian home. Her parents, who migrated to the US in their 30s and 40s, didn't necessarily understand the systemic racism, redlining, economic disenfranchisement, or just being treated differently primarily because of the color of their skin. Their idea of navigating American society and becoming successful hitched on the cornerstone of attaining proper education and avoiding political or social activism and groups - something they didn't associate with their African American counterparts. Jean-François' own experience proved that to be untrue having moved to Canada, then the US. She was first made aware of her racial difference when, at eight years old, a white girl asked Jean-François whether her parents had left her in the toaster for too long. Love, too, came to the realization that what she learned in the home sometimes did not translate to when she was out in the world as a Black person, especially in the corporate world. At home, she was taught to be humble, keep her head down, and that with a good education and hard work she would be successful. But "that has not been true, in my experience, in the [American] workforce," she said. There are times, she said, when she had to be bold and make herself seen in a way she was told African Americans behaved to get ahead. But as part of the African diaspora overall, Love told Insider African Americans and Black immigrants are connected through shared traumas of slavery and segregation.<h2>Institutional racism impacts Black Americans no matter country of origin</h2><div type="image" title="solidarity protests " height="1335" width="2000" msid="84487312" hostid="261"></div>Black immigrants are part of the larger Black community in America and have similarly been treated institutional racism. As recent as 2018 the killings of St. Lucian American <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/07/us/dallas-police-shooting-botham-shem-jean/index.html">Botham Shem Jean</a> and Jamaican American <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/04/nyregion/police-shooting-brooklyn-crown-heights.html">Saheed Vassell</a> made national and international <keyword id="6355005" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="news">news</keyword> as two Black immigrants who were victims of police brutality. Differences like Jamaican, Ghanaian, or Panamanian may be important at home - not within American institutions that devalue Black skin regardless of whether it carries a blue or red passport. "Being Black in America, the rest of the world doesn't care what my name is," Ephiphane Yohou, a Maryland-based global marketing strategist said, adding non-Black people seldom say 'let me go and find out where her last name comes from.'" "If you're Black, you're Black," she told Insider.Yohou, whose parents migrated from the Ivory Coast in West Africa, is often subject to the same stereotypes as all Black Americans - including the over-policing of her dress, hair, and mannerism in the workplace.She says the complexity of being Black in America, with various ethnic backgrounds, is all rooted in the desire to be accepted and free in the US - regardless of if a Black person is born in America or makes a home here for themselves. The diaspora has been uniting to fight against racial injustice, including <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2020/09/10/why-haitian-americans-brooklyn-have-aligned-black-lives-matter-column/5757831002/">marches</a> in solidarity with the <keyword id="2771111" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="black-lives-matter">Black Lives Matter</keyword> movement. Second generation Americans' lived experience also uniquely position them to fight against anti-Black racism while amplifying imm migrant issues.Black immigrants are detained and deported at <a href="https://www.insider.com/how-trump-tps-immigration-policy-could-affect-black-immigrants-2020-1">disproportionate rates relative to their population</a>, and many young migrants from Africa and the Caribbean are <keyword id="2382465" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="DACA">DACA</keyword> recipients."We have to recognize African American cultures in the fight that they have waged historically, for African Americans, but all Black people who come here have benefited and are benefiting from it," Jean-François said.Even though their upbringing resulted in two different views of where they stand on being Black in America, both Love and Jean-François agree on one thing: being a Black person in America means dealing with racism. With that experience nearly universal across the diaspora, Jean-François says country-of-origin debates detract from liberation for all Black people, no matter where they're born."Whether or not we celebrate our individual cultures, when it comes to America and how they view Black people, we face the same challenges," she said.

For some children of immigrants, 'African American' doesn't fit their unique, Black experiences in the US

<img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5e34520162fa812a1926b3e3-2400/gettyimages-1197352805.jpg" alt="courier wuhan" /><ul class="summary-list"><li>As fears over the deadly coronavirus from China grow, so are racist and xenophobic incidents against Asian communities in the US, Canada, and Europe.</li><li>People of Asian descent have described to Business Insider and other outlets being discriminated at work, Costco, and a university campus.</li><li>In larger-scale incidents, customers from mainland China were banned from businesses in Japan, South Korea, and Vietnam, and more than 126,000 people in Singapore called for Chinese nationals to be banned from the country. </li><li>"We tend to exist in social silos where we're surrounded by people who look like us, think like us, and act like us, and we are innately suspicious of folk that we don't have contact with and we don't understand," Robert Fullilove, a professor of sociomedical sciences told Business Insider.</li><li>He also said it's "almost impossible to contain stories" of misinformation and xenophobia when news moves so quickly in the media.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul>The novel coronavirus from Wuhan, China, has killed more than 304 people in less than two months after its first case.Authorities in China have quarantined more than ten cities, and the US, UK, and several other countries are quarantining all travelers who have recently visited China.Yet some of the virus' unexpected victims are those who have never even been anywhere near Wuhan.Members of the Asian diaspora living in the US, Canada, Britain, and Italy have in recent days described, to Business Insider and other outlets, multiple incidents of being racially discriminated and isolated at school, work, and other public places.<img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5e341d9224306a6e9115da02-2400/gettyimages-1196735676.jpg" alt="Wuhan market" />Here's a roundup of apparently racist and xenophobic incidents, inflicted on Asian residents in foreign countries, in the past two weeks alone: <ul><li>An eight-year-old boy - whose mother is Korean-American, and father is a mix of ethnic backgrounds including Filipino, Mexican, Chinese, Native American, and white - wearing a face mask was told by a Costco sample-stand worker to "get away because he may be 'from China.'" <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wuhan-coronavirus-kid-turned-away-food-samples-at-costco-2020-1">Business Insider's Sara Al-Arshani has the full story.</a></li><li>Students of east Asian descent at Arizona State University <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/asian-students-asu-claim-different-treatment-because-of-wuhan-virus-2020-1">told Business Insider's Bryan Pietsch</a> their peers have started moving away from them and staring at them "a second longer" whenever they cough or sneeze.</li><li>Peter Akman, a reporter at Canada's CTV broadcaster, <a href="https://twitter.com/stephanie_ip/status/1221536862243827714">tweeted</a> an image of his Asian barber and said: "Hopefully ALL I got today was a haircut." He has since deleted the post, <a href="https://twitter.com/PeterAkman/status/1221543374492225538">apologized</a>, and <a href="https://www.straight.com/news/1354031/journalist-peter-akman-no-longer-works-ctv-after-infamous-coronavirus-tweet">been fired</a>.</li><li>The director of Rome's prestigious Santa Cecilia music conservatory, Roberto Giuliani, suspended the lessons of all "oriental students (Chinese, Korean, Japanese etc.)" due to the epidemic, <a href="https://roma.repubblica.it/cronaca/2020/01/29/news/roma_conservatorio_di_santa_cecilia-247107490/?refresh_ce">La Repubblica reported</a>. Most of these students are second-generation Italian immigrants who have no relationship to the countries of origin, the newspaper said.</li><li>Le Courrier Picard, a daily regional newspaper in northern France, described the coronavirus as a "yellow alert" in a <a href="https://twitter.com/GillesKLEIN/status/1222084973638885379">front-page headline</a> last Sunday. It has since apologized, and French Asians have protested on social media under the hashtag <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23JeNeSuisPasUnVirus">#JeNeSuisPasUnVirus</a> ("I am not a virus").</li><li>Sam Phan, a British-Chinese Masters student at the University of Manchester, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jan/27/coronavirus-panic-uk-hostile-environment-east-asians">described in The Guardian</a> overhearing people fearing going to London's Chinatown, and seeing people physically move away from them in public areas.</li><li>A woman of Cambodian origin <a href="https://www.lemonde.fr/planete/article/2020/01/29/coronavirus-le-racisme-antiasiatique-se-propage-en-france_6027701_3244.html">told Le Monde</a> that her manager at a Paris bag store told her, "laughing: 'I hope that your family hasn't brought the virus back.'"</li><li>Frank Ye, a Chinese-Canadian student at the University of Toronto, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-jan-28-2020-1.5442819/chinese-canadians-speak-out-against-racism-misinformation-in-wake-of-coronavirus-1.5442824">told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation</a> his Asian Canadian friends had been told to move away or cover their mouths. "[It's] this idea of 'yellow peril,' of this Chinese horde coming to destroy Western civilization," he said.</li><li>Instagram users commented on a <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B7zC8vplAo7/">photo of a Chinese restaurant</a> in Toronto, saying things like "No eating bats please!! That's how coronavirus started in China!!" and "I ain't tryna catch no virus."</li></ul>In more large-scale incidents, businesses in <a href="https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3047144/no-chinese-allowed-japanese-shop-criticised">Japan</a>, South Korea, and Vietnam have posted signs banning customers from mainland China; the hashtag #ChineseDon'tComeToJapan trended in Japan; and more than 126,000 people have signed a <a href="https://www.change.org/p/immigrations-checkpoint-authority-of-singapore-stop-china-mainlands-from-entering-singapore">Singaporean petition</a> calling for Chinese nationals to be banned from their country.<img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5e32f6b95bc79c1ebb3689f4-1778/gettyimages-1196870321.jpg" alt="A woman walks on an empty road on January 27, 2020 in Wuhan, China." />Some of the conspiracy theories and misinformation circulating about the coronavirus also have tinges of racism and xenophobia.A video appearing to show a young Chinese woman eating a raw bat with chopsticks has gone viral in recent weeks, with thousands of social media users - and <a href="https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/coronavirus-woman-eats-whole-bat-21349468">some</a> <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7920573/Revolting-footage-shows-Chinese-woman-eating-bat-scientists-link-coronavirus-animal.html">media</a> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZsFHu-AaGQ">outlets</a> - claiming that the footage was taken in Wuhan, and suggesting that this is part of the normal Chinese diet.(The video was actually taken in Palau, the Pacific Island country, in 2016 and was part of an online travel show about eating unusual local delicacies. Earlier this week she <a href="https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3047683/sorry-about-tasty-bat-chinese-online-host-apologises-travel-show">apologized for eating the food</a>, saying she had "no idea during filming that there was such a virus.")The bat has since spurred multiple memes mocking what users think are Chinese eating habits, like "bats and bamboo and rats and s---," and linking them to the disease.Other misinformation surrounding the virus include theories that it can be <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-coronavirus-wuhan-cure-qanon-mms-bleach-conspiracy-2020-1">cured with toxic bleach</a> or <a href="https://www.insider.com/coronavirus-wuhan-memes-social-media-is-responding-to-the-illness-2020-1">oregano oil</a>, or that it stems from a leak from China's <a href="https://twitter.com/NarangVipin/status/1220905405141913600">bioweapons program</a> or <a href="https://fullfact.org/online/wuhan-5g-coronavirus/">5G network</a>.The Wuhan coronavirus is spread from human to human, and has now <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-virus-everything-we-know-deadly-2019-ncov-wuhan-spread-2020-1">spread to more than 20 countries</a>. It is believed to have jumped from <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wuhan-coronavirus-sars-bats-animals-to-humans-2020-1">bats to snakes to humans</a>.The virus doesn't seem to be as deadly as the SARS coronavirus - which, at current comparison levels, had a higher mortality rate - with experts <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wuhan-coronavirus-unnecessary-panic-experts-say-2020-1">telling Business Insider's Holly Secon</a> that global panic over the Wuhan virus is unproductive and unwarranted.<h2>Blaming 'the other'</h2>Many people of Asian descent faced <a href="https://www.thestar.com/life/opinion/2020/01/28/i-experienced-anti-chinese-racism-during-sars-but-with-coronavirus-scare-social-media-makes-it-so-much-worse.html">racist and xenophobic comments</a> during the <a href="https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3047964/those-asian-people-wearing-face-masks-amid-coronavirus-fears-they-arent">SARS epidemic</a> too. SARS, like the Wuhan coronavirus, also originated from China.Robert Fullilove, a professor of sociomedical sciences at the Columbia University Medical Center, told Business Insider the xenophobic fear surrounding coronarvirus is similar to the reaction toward HIV/AIDS in the 1980s, when there were no clear answers as to what caused the virus.He said at the time, people blamed anyone but themselves - or "the other" - for AIDS, which was becoming rapidly deadly in communities of Haitians, intravenous drug users, and gay men.This sort of reaction isn't new, either. It dates as far back as Bubonic Plague in the 1300s, when there were false notions that Jewish people were poisoning peoples' water to spread the infection, Fullilove said. The accusations led to the destruction of Jewish communities, and in parts of France and Switzerland, some Jews were banned from <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/history-well-poisoning-180971471/">consuming food and drinks meant for Christians</a>, while <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/24/world/middleeast/mahmoud-abbas-claims-rabbis-urged-israel-to-poison-palestinians-water.html">others were burned alive</a>."We tend to exist in social silos where we're surrounded by people who look like us, think like us, and act like us, and we are innately suspicious of folk that we don't have contact with and we don't understand," he said of why xenophobic views spread in times of panic, adding that people use others as scapegoats. <img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5e345f4c62fa813d56616122-2400/2020-01-30t233107z1lynxmpeg0t2bortroptp4china-health.jpg" alt="FILE PHOTO: Taxi drivers in protective suits are seen in front of a residential area, following an outbreak of the new coronavirus and the city's lockdown, in Wuhan, Hubei province, China January 28, 2020. Picture taken China Daily via REUTERS" />Fullilove said the best way to stop misinformation, especially when it comes to blaming a specific person or race, can be to make sure people have a clear idea of what's happening with the virus.Because of how quickly news spreads today on the internet, it becomes "almost impossible to contain stories" of misinformation and xenophobia, Fullilove said."Xenophobia works at its worst if people decide that the only thing they have to do is stay away from folk who are from China," he said."There will come a point when it's much more diverse in terms of who's impacted, and if we're unable to get people a clear message about what they have to do to protect themselves, not only will we not do the things that will help us stay reasonably safe, we'll also create a lot of social damage that it will be very difficult to clean up."<img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5e3221ce62fa814cee736a73-1773/2020-01-30t001955z1lynxmpeg0t00jrtroptp4china-health-usa.jpg" alt="Women and children walks past personnel in protective clothing after arriving on an aircraft, chartered by the U.S. State Department to evacuate government employees and other Americans from the novel coronavirus threat in the Chinese city of Wuhan, at March Air Reserve Base in Riverside County, California, U.S., January 29, 2020. REUTERS/Mike Blake" />John C. Yang, president of the Asian Americans Advancing Justice civil-rights group, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/coronavirus-spreads-so-does-concern-over-xenophobia-n1125441">told NBC News</a> that when people play off stereotypes to come to conclusions about the virus, they are "going for a simplistic and completely misinformed and frankly, ignorant answer."With the coronavirus, people have focused on stereotypes about Chinese people when coming to conclusions about the virus, he said."Unfortunately, there are definitely those people that still believe that somehow, Chinese culture generally, it's backwards and foods are considered 'exotic,'" Yang told NBC News. "That certainly leads to misperception and, even worse, misinformation or disinformation about what actually happens and what is the source of the coronavirus."The stigma appears to have become so prevalent that the medical officer of Toronto Public Health, Dr. Eileen de Villa, had to warn in a <a href="https://www.toronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/955d-MOH-Statement_Novel-Coronavirus_29January2020.pdf">Wednesday statement</a>: "Inaccurate information continues to spread and this is creating unnecessary stigma against members of our community ... Discrimination is not acceptable."<ul class="read-more-links"><li>Read more:</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wuhan-coronavirus-kid-turned-away-food-samples-at-costco-2020-1">A Costco sample stand worker turned away a kid wearing a face mask because she thought he was 'from China' and could give her coronavirus</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-wuhan-memes-social-media-is-responding-to-the-illness-2020-1">People are spreading memes and fake news online as the deadly coronavirus spreads across the globe</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/uc-berkeley-called-out-anti-chinese-xenophobia-normal-reaction-coronavirus-2020-1">UC Berkeley is getting called out for saying anti-Chinese xenophobia is a 'normal reaction' to the coronavirus</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-wuhan-coronavirus-china-completes-emergency-hospital-eight-days-2020-2">China just completed work on the emergency hospital it set up to tackle the Wuhan coronavirus, and it took just 8 days to do it</a></li></ul><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">my friends colleague sent her this viral Instagram post about China/coronavirus (with 600k likes) and asked her "if they eat weird food where she's from in Asia" and grilled about what "weird food" she's eaten. <a href="https://t.co/C4zc0qOcAO">pic.twitter.com/C4zc0qOcAO</a>- Rossalyn Warren (@RossalynWarren) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1222806124841308160?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 30, 2020</a></blockquote><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">it's completely insane how the wuhan coronavirus hasn't generated sympathy for the victims or people most at risk but instead spiralled into racist hysterical conspiracy theories about "dirty" chinese people who eat weird food or a victim-blaming mentality. <a href="https://t.co/MSxKWkykJZ">pic.twitter.com/MSxKWkykJZ</a>- werner herzHog 🍞📈 (@post_hog) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1220492280580263938?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 23, 2020</a></blockquote>

The Wuhan coronavirus is causing increased incidents of racism and xenophobia at college, work, and supermarkets, according to Asian people

<div class="KonaFilter image-container"><div class="image"><img src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/52cc7ce9ecad046953d75d8f-1200-600/chen-guangbiao-new-york.jpg?maxX=800" border="0" alt="Chen Guangbiao New York" width="800" />Courtesy of Chen Guangbiao</div></div>
As he geared up to sing, karaoke style, a song he had apparently authored ("My Chinese Dream") to a few dozen reporters in a conference at a hotel on Central Park South, one thing seemed about this eccentric Chinese millionaire seemed clear - Chen Guangbiao isn't afraid of the limelight.
"Since you all have equipment in your hands, you don't have to applaud for me," Chen said through an interpreter as the song started.
Chen was almost unknown in New York until two weeks ago, though he had a big reputation in China. Reportedly one of the 400 richest people in China, the recycling magnate is claims to be the number one philanthropist in the country; Chen was <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/chinese-recycling-tycoon-says-he-wants-to-buy-the-new-york-times-2013-12">reportedly worth $740 million in 2012</a>, but he has pledged to give away most, if not all, of his wealth before his death, inspired by Bill Gates' "Giving Pledge."
Since Chen offered to buy the New York Times, however, he is a star in the Big Apple. Chen made the announcement at the end of last year, explaining that he was working with an unnamed Hong Kong financier and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/chinese-recycling-tycoon-says-he-wants-to-buy-the-new-york-times-2013-12">due to meet with a</a> "leading shareholder" in New York in early 2014 to discuss a deal. Chen is an eccentric man by any standards - he <a href="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/52c2bd60eab8eafb3f036860-524-393/chen-guangbiao-1.jpg">owns at least one lime green suit</a> - and his announcement was met with shock. While the New York Times <a href="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/52c2bd60eab8eafb3f036860-524-393/chen-guangbiao-1.jpg">announced that they have</a> "no information" about negotiations with Chen, the millionaire shot back with an op-ed in the Chinese state newspaper Global Times.
"I have said as long as the price is reasonable," Chen wrote, "There is nothing that cannot be bought."
Officially, the press conference today wasn't devoted to the New York Times rumors, though it did touch on it. Even so, it was memorable in its own right - and may showcase some of the problems Chen might have if he truly wants to get in on the New York Times.
After his song, Chen explained why he was here. He brought out a mother and daughter, Hao Huijun and Chen Guo, who wore hats and veils as they walked up to the stage. Chen carefully removed their veils to show the disfiguring marks to their faces. The pair had been severely burned over ten years ago, he explained, and now Chen was going to pay millions of dollars for them both to have reconstructive surgery in New York.
That sounds incredibly nice, of course, but the second Chen opened the floor for questions, things got nasty. You see, Hao and Chen were injured during a 2001 self-immolation protest when they were part of the spiritual movement Falun Gong, banned in China since 1999. While it rarely makes headlines abroad, the Falun Gong situation is extremely controversial within China and the Chinese diaspora, and the 2001 self-immolation case has been no different - many have suggested that the Chinese government may have actually played a role in the high profile protest in a bid to discredit Falun Gong.
At the press conference, the questions bore a remarkably aggressive tone - many of the reporters were from media outlets skeptical of the Chinese government, including the Falun Gong-linked New Tang Dynasty Television and the Epoch Times. At one point a man asking a question (who later turned out to be from the World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong) grew so irate during his questioning that when the microphone was taken away from him, he carried on speaking - virtually shouting. The session abruptly ended after a handful of questions, and after he left some of those gathered complained that Chen was here as part of a pro-Communist Party publicity stunt.
In a relatively modest hotel suite upstairs after the press conference, Chen told Business Insider that he had not been anticipating the controversy, but he was not concerned. He said that Hao and Chen had been writing to him for years. "As the number one Chinese philanthropist, I felt obligated to help them," he explained. "This is my honest thinking."
Chen went on to say he had helped over two million people with his philanthropy and had donated money after natural disasters such as the 2010 Japanese Tsunami or the Haitian earthquake from the same year. When asked what lies behind his style of charity, however - a style which he himself as dubbed "flashy philanthrophy" - Chen immediately distanced himself from the Chinese state.
"There is nothing related to the government," he said."I was raised up as a poor child, when I was four years old my older brother and sister starved to death. Because of my high profile over the past few years, the government officials, the rich people, have not liked to interact with me. Chinese people like to do things with a low profile, they do not like to expose their wealth. Wealthy people and government officials, they keep a distance from me."
Chen says he sees himself as different from other wealthy Chinese businessmen. "I never get involved in drinking, smoking, or playing poker games," he explains, before waving his large Samsung phone. "If anyone ever finds me doing these things, with proof of photograph, I will reward this person 10,000 RMB [approximately $1,600]."
His "flashy philanthropy" was a tactic, he explained, to get other wealthy Chinese businessmen to donate their own fortunes. "My reputation as a high profile philanthropist will, I hope, give some pressure to other rich people," Chen explains, before adding that the pressure on him is a burden. "Even though I am smiling, I have some suffering in my heart. How can no one extend their help to me since I have helped so many other people?"
Chen seems sincere when he says stuff like this, and he genuinely puts a lot of effort (and money) into charity work and environmentalism. He says he wants to bring this to America, proposing to use his environmental demolitions methods to San Francisco <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Demolition-crews-start-chipping-away-at-old-Bay-4979154.php">to help demolish the old Bay Bridge</a> (and to donate all his net profits to charity, 60% within America).
Still, Chen does have a remarkable confidence that may verge on egomania - if he had a worse haircut he might come across as a Chinese Donald Trump. As unlikely as the purchase might be, does America want its paper of record to be owned by a man whose nine titles on his English-business card include "Most Influential Person of China" and "China Moral Leader"?
When I asked Chen how he'd help the New York Times, he argued that his Times bid had already helped the paper gain more name recognition amongst China's 1.3 billion citizens. How would he change the country's coverage of China? I pressed him on the issue of the islands in the East China Sea, known alternatively as the Diaoyu/Senkaku islands, at the center of a simmering conflict between China and Japan. Chen clearly feels strongly about them - he took an advertisement in the Times <a href="http://www.chinasmack.com/2012/stories/diaoyu-islands-belong-to-china-ad-in-ny-times-chinese-reactions.html">last year that called on the U.S. to accept the islands as Chinese territory</a>.
Chen's refused to get drawn into specifics, instead replying wih the Chinese idiom: "Seek truth with facts." The saying apparently dates back to the Han Dynasty, but Chen attributed it to the person who popularized it in the 20th century: Mao Zedong.

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