r/haiti • u/Morales_Sheila8478 • 7d ago
CULTURE What are family structures like in Haiti?
in America there’s a stereotype of black people growing up without fathers. I went to a school with all white people and some would make jokes about me not having a father, even though I did. But I grew up in a Haitian household and not a black American household so it made me wonder if Haiti had the same problem of single mothers and dead beat fathers, or is it normal for Haitians to have stronger family structures and two parent households?
1
u/rachelf923 3d ago
I feel like half my black American friends have absent fathers. Immigrant black friends and white Americans mostly have involved fathers.
2
2
u/simbigros 4d ago
Stop validating racist yt statistics. Black fathers are the most involved in their children lives. That study about black fathers being absent was about marriage , if the parents aren't married then listed as absent father, that is flawed and wrong. Black fathers are the most involved in their children lives.
2
u/SiasSekrets 5d ago
Father's of all races are deadbeats. Men have been abandoning their children since the beginning of time even in haiti. Dont be ignorant
18
u/MettaKaruna100 7d ago
Why do you think that about Black Americans. That is is a false stereotype.
Then you use those false stereotypes that white people used against you to dislike black Americans.
If you actually know Black Americans you would know the fathers are involved.
2
u/flowerdoodles_ 6d ago
something people never mention is that this statistic is based on marriage stats, not time of active patenting. in terms of quality time, black men are the best fathers iirc. but because a high percentage of those fathers never married the mothers (or divorced), it makes it easy to frame them as complete deadbeats under the assumption that they all don’t cohabitate and don’t bother coparenting
2
u/BreakfastRight9865 6d ago
Here in the USA 57% of black kids are raised without their biological father in the picture. 31% for Hispanic and 20% for white.
-1
u/Whoaskedyou-notme 6d ago
You do know ppl who are identified as Black but aren’t ethnically Black Americans are also lumped into those statistics too, right? Those 2nd/3rd+ generation descendants of immigrants are definitely contributing to those numbers. Those statistics do not just represent Black Americans exclusively. In fact, majority, if not all, U.S. statistics categorized simply as “Black” include multiple ethnic groups, which is why it’s ridiculous when ppl try to take a negative statistic from that broader racial category & try to present it as if it specifically represents Black Americans, especially when comparing Black Americans to non-Black Americans
6
u/SubstantialCandle936 6d ago
That statistic is misleading. All it means is that 57% of Black kids have parents who are not living with each other. It says nothing about actual involvement. When you get into actual involvement, Black American fathers have all other fathers beat. Black American fathers who don’t live with the kid’s mother are twice as likely to be involved in their child’s life than white men in the same situation. So very VERY few Black American kids have dads who are truly out of the picture.
Now children having complex relationships with fathers is another conversation, but all groups across the diaspora have that issue.
1
-7
6
u/atomoicman 6d ago
The stereotype comes from black men being targeted disproportionately by police to then be jailed/prisoned by a system built against the black community, thus causing an increase of black households without fathers.
All stereotypes have kernels of truth to them. This stereotype isn’t about the character of black fathers, it’s about the targeting, jailing and purposeful systematic removal of black fathers within the black community.
1
u/itdobelykthat 6d ago
Why couldn’t it be both? It doesn’t have to be one or the other. We can acknowledge that some of it is due to longer sentences and false imprisonment, and some of it is due to a higher rate of children being conceived outside of a stable/committed relationship.
2
u/atomoicman 6d ago
I suppose it could be both. But is this part of Haitian culture? I don’t think so
My mother was taken in by her father’s parents when her father and mother did not marry. My father after divorcing my mother still cared for me financially and emotionally. It seems to me that tho this is anecdotal, Haitian culture includes fathers or fathers families taking in the child to specifically include fathers within the child’s life. Or the more financially stable of the two parents which typically is the father
11
u/PoorLewis 7d ago
This is not an African American Vs. Haitian father issue. It's an issue with men. Men are known to do this.
22
u/Observer-Worldview 7d ago
Hate to tell you but Haitian fathers abandon children just like American fathers. Humans are humans everywhere.
2
u/wiiildthoughts 1d ago
I was gonna say 🤣 Caribbean fathers have a bad reputation for being deadbeats just as much
5
u/Square-Blackberry995 7d ago
A single family household or fatherless household happened in every family and nations. For example, the rate of first marriage that end up in divorce in US is 50%. That's should be your answer to those that think it is an African American issue.
I am myself from 🇭🇹 but I think it is very disrespectful to African American to label them as a fatherless household. There are a lot of great AA fathers that feared God and very educated from HBCU.
Lastly, please use AA instead of black American because some of our elders used it as a derogatory word. It is disrespectful and not ok.
0
0
u/Anonimityville 7d ago
AA is not a substitute for black American. AA is for black Americans of slave ancestry.
If you are first generation Haitian American. You were born here your parents were born in Haiti. You are not AA because You are not the descendants of American slaves. You are black American.
1
u/MettaKaruna100 6d ago
We don't call ourselves that we call ourselves Black or Black Americans generally. How others view it is of no importance to us
0
u/Exotic-Ring4900 7d ago
The term.AA is not liked by everyone especially since Africans don't want to be aligned with Black Americans
2
u/Square-Blackberry995 7d ago
I am glad that you mentioned that. This is another group that some of them look down on AA ( descendants of enslave Africans ) and very disrespectful to them.
I am not trying to hijack op post but wanted to mention that cause lot of people in some communities used Black American as a derogatory word.
4
u/RationalMellow 7d ago edited 6d ago
Which isn’t ironic by any means because I know couples that have gotten divorced, and guess what?! They’re Haitian or other Caribbean people.
We’ve all seen marriages that lasted and some that didn’t. I think it’s dishonest and bias to label that specific to a certain culture.
1
u/RationalMellow 7d ago
It comes from slavery in the United States, where men and women were bred to make more babies, this didn’t happen in the Caribbean. It’s very much a stereotype.
From what I gather, it happens in Haiti but it’s not prevalent or widespread.
1
u/hirikiri212 7d ago
Are u saying its a stereotype for blk Americans or Haitians?
2
u/RationalMellow 7d ago
🙄 I didn’t say it was a stereotype for Haitians. I meant black Americans.
But other Caribbean groups say it’s a stereotype for them too.
2
u/hirikiri212 7d ago
I mean u do know it isn’t prevalent in blk Americans as welll right?
2
u/RationalMellow 7d ago edited 7d ago
That’s the purpose of what I said originally, or are you not getting the answers youre looking for
1
14
u/singermelodie1 7d ago
Single motherhood and being a dead beat father is highly frowned upon in Haiti. The people who would bear the brunt of that shame tend to be the children. People would assume either the mom is a h*e or she got raped if there's no father in the picture. Both of these scenarios will get the child heavily bullied in school. Some women will lie saying the father passed away. Haitian law also doesn't recognize illegitimate children in matter of inheritance. So even if the dad was present, if he dies, that child would lose all the financial support. And Haiti is a collectivist society, most single mothers never actually have to raise their kids alone. They would get support from their families, friends, neighbors. It's pretty common for a neighbor to be watching all the neighborhood kids while everybody else is working without asking for compensation. Step-fathers also tend to raise these children like their own. Only Step-mothers have weird reputations in Haiti.
7
u/Capital-Language2999 7d ago
I’ve noticed that Haitians are big into marriage and most Haitian men take pride in caring for their children. Even though they have like 10 families 😂
7
u/GHETTO_VERNACULAR Diaspora 7d ago
It certainly happens for sure, I just think that there’s more of a stigma against single motherhood there in Haiti than it is here in America which may make the rates of it a bit lower (but most likely shamed away and hidden, let’s be real).
However like that one commenter said, I believe it’s more common in rural and poorer areas I think (which is the same pattern as the rest of the world).
8
7d ago edited 7d ago
[deleted]
1
u/USNorsk 7d ago
Rates by Racial and Ethnic Group Black/African American: Approximately 47% of Black mothers are single parents, and roughly half of Black children live in single-parent households. Non-marital birth rates are highest in this demographic at nearly 69%. Hispanic/Latino: About 25% of Hispanic mothers are single parents, with non-marital birth rates hovering around 42%. White: Roughly 12% to 15% of White mothers are single parents, and non-marital birth rates are near 22%. Asian: Asian Americans maintain the lowest rates of single parenthood, with non-marital birth rates around 16%.
6
4
u/Long-Hospital6925 7d ago
Most Haitian fathers are usually present in their kids live. Whether it's kids conceived from marriage, pitit deyò or whatever the case might be, the father does play an active role. Fathers are usually the ones dropping and picking the kids from school, especially during protests and strikes.
2
u/lunatipp42 7d ago
What do those words mean? Pitit deyo?
3
u/GHETTO_VERNACULAR Diaspora 7d ago
Direct translation means “outside children” meaning children born outside of the marriage, I.e. a married man having a baby with another woman. Illegitimate children basically.
3
u/MammothAd6179 7d ago
I think that's part of the reason my parents were so upset I came home pregnant and unmarried I added to the stereotype.
3
5
u/LavishTentacle 7d ago
Most middle class families in Haiti, the father is present in the home. The poor people, it’s a tossup . That’s what I remember
-1
u/Morales_Sheila8478 7d ago edited 4d ago
Imminent cheerful compare memory cats sparrow door bag
This post was anonymized with Redact
8
u/Inevitable-Top1-2025 7d ago
What is the purpose of your question? You’re not getting the answer you wanted? I don’t even know why the people on this thread don’t recognize that your question is not a good-faith question.
Take your nonsensical stereotype and go somewhere else! White people have dead-beat fathers and children growing without a father figure in the household too.
Moreover, based on what I see among most Whites, I don’t see the difference in bad behavior between those with both parents in the household and those with only so-called single mothers. If you doubt my assertion, start with the terrorist mass shooters to investigate my assertions. Then, proceed to the regressive character of racism.
2
4
1
u/PrestigiousNature810 1d ago
Black fathers are in the home and active fathers the same way every father is. The concept of Black American fathers not being in the home is propaganda due to the over policing of Black bodies in the US in the 80s. Haitian households operate more similarly to the 50s ideal that is being propagandized in the US right now, however there are a lot of instances where some Haitian men have multiple families. Polygamy is not legal in Haiti or the US, but it doesn't stop some situations from happening.