Tout Moun Bezwen Lave Tet, Everyone Needs to Wash Their Head: An Analysis of Foreign Relations between the US and Haiti

After the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in 2021, Haiti was a hot topic in American news outlets. Soon after, there was footage released of Haitian migrants attempting to cross the border while border patrol agents on horseback charged at them, whipping them and shouting obscenities. Following this event, Donald Trump went on Fox News announcing old stereotypes about Haitians bringing AIDs to the US. He degraded Haiti similarly to how he did in his 2018 comments from an oval office meeting, when he stated that their country was a “shithole.” Following these comments and events, Haitian migrants were being refused Temporary Protected Status “TPS,” and being deported back to Haiti - the treatment they received was as congresswoman Alexandia Octavio Cortez described, in “stark contrast,” to that of the Ukrainian refugees who were automatically being granted TPS at the time. This thesis analyzes the history of Foreign Relations between the US and Haiti in order to understand the US’s involvement and responsibility for Haiti’s current state. I start with a historical analysis of American Occupation of Haiti in 1914, and continue through the Duvalier dictatorship, NGO involvement in Haiti, up until Haiti’s current political state, in order to give the socio-political context for the image portrayed of Haitians in American news, social media, film, and TV outlets. My thesis contends that racist stereotypes have been used in media and government alike to dehumanize Haitians and justify exploitative foreign policy.