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The Problem with the Haitians Is Their Language”: Language As South Dakota State University Open PRAIRIE: Open Public Research Access Institutional Repository and Information Exchange Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2018 “The rP oblem with the Haitians is their Language”: Language as Color-Blind Racism Ruthie Wienk South Dakota State University Follow this and additional works at: https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/etd Part of the Community-Based Research Commons, Demography, Population, and Ecology Commons, Migration Studies Commons, Place and Environment Commons, Race and Ethnicity Commons, and the Regional Sociology Commons Recommended Citation Wienk, Ruthie, "“The rP oblem with the Haitians is their Language”: Language as Color-Blind Racism" (2018). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2444. https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/etd/2444 This Dissertation - Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by Open PRAIRIE: Open Public Research Access Institutional Repository and Information Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Open PRAIRIE: Open Public Research Access Institutional Repository and Information Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. “THE PROBLEM WITH THE HAITIANS IS THEIR LANGUAGE”: LANGUAGE AS COLOR-BLIND RACISM BY RUTHIE WIENK A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy Major in Sociology South Dakota State University 2018 iii This dissertation is dedicated to the members of the Haitian community who opened their lives and shared their stories. This work is about you, but I hope finds use for you. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Like most dissertations, this project represents the cumulation of many fits and starts, mediocre ideas and better ideas, wrong turns and recalibration. In short, this work represents, for me, the unlearning that must accompany new learning. Through the process, many people have informed the learning and patiently guided the unlearning. And it necessary to formally mention those who have been instrumental in this process. Firstly, I would like to thank my primary advisor, Dr. Meredith Redlin. You have provided me with the freedom to develop independence while also supporting my academic risk-taking to develop confidence. Not only have you patiently guided me through this dissertation process from conceptualization to execution, you taught my first class in my PhD program, and I’ll never forget the first paper I wrote for you, and feedback on every draft came back with some patient form of “Don’t forget the theory. It’s not sociology without theory.” By this point, I hope to have finally gotten the lesson. I also would like to thank Dr. Julie Yingling, who has been on my committee from the very beginning. You have provided encouragement and guidance throughout this project. You have let me just drop into your office over and over again, even without a meeting. You have talked me through conceptual issues, analytic snags, and even just the weariness of running out of words. Most importantly, you have never stopped providing encouragement. Dr. Jessica Ulrich-Schad, I would also like to formally mention you in this process. Thank you for agreeing to be on my committee right before the defense proposal. Thank you for your assistance with my analytical questions, and the constant feedback you provided as I tried to put all of these pieces together. I have learned so v much from you. Also, thank you for your incredible flexibility on the day of my defense. I still cannot believe your response to the circumstances on that day. On a more personal level, thank you to my first academic mentor, Dr. Joan Wink. I never would have had the courage to start this process without your encouragement and support. You are a steadfast advocate for women and children. You have taught me the most important lessons about critical theory and about teaching—that they are rooted in kindness, love, and deep respect. These lessons have been formative, and I hope to pass them on to women and students as I move into new roles. I would like to acknowledge the Haitian population that welcomed me into their lives. Even when my questions were awkward and my manners were culturally ignorant, you were generous and gracious. Thank you for telling me your stories. More importantly, thank you for teaching me the best of humanity. Thank you to my family: my mother who I can count on to always be my biggest fan, and my father who was the first to instill a social conscious in me. Thank you, Mom, for listening and encouraging. Thank you, Dad, for explaining why the term “ghetto blaster” was inappropriate when we were shopping at Radio Shack when I was nine. Rusty, thank you for believing that I could actually do this, even when I didn’t believe it myself. More than that, thank you for the countless sacrifices, small and large, that made this work possible. Thank you to the one who is always with me. There is no me without you. vi CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES……………………………………………………….vii LIST OF TABLES………………………………………………………...ix ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………….x INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………1 METHOD.…………………………………………………………………14 LITURATURE, QUALITATIVE DATA, & DISCUSSION ……………..41 QUANTITATIVE DATA & DISCUSSION……………………………..144 CONCLUSION, LIMITATIONS, & FUTURE QUESTIONS ……….…171 REFERENCES………………………………………………………...…178 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page Figure 1: Concept Map of Axial Codes Used to Determine Subject of Photographs…..25 Figure 2: Haitian-Owned Businesses…………………………………………………...34 Figure 3: Bilingual Work Advertisement in English & Spanish………………………..74 Figure 4: Bilingual Workplace Caution Signs in English and Spanish ……………...…77 Figure 5: Context of Bilingual Workplace Caution Signs……………………………....78 Figure 6: We are dying, not growing: Image Sent by Participant………………………79 Figure 7: Bulletin Board Explaining Labor Laws in County Office……………………83 Figure 8: Chart with Languages of Various Labor Laws & Protections…………...…...84 Figure 9: Health Care Clinic with Bilingual Signs in English and Spanish …………...89 Figure 10: Monolingual & Bilingual Signs at County Health Department ………….…90 Figure 11: Meritocratic Signs Outside Elementary School …………………….………95 Figure 12: Sign to Parents Outside Elementary School ………………………………..96 Figure 13: Bilingual Signs Outside Middle & High School in English & Spanish….…99 Figure 14: Native American References in Community Identity ……………………..103 Figure 15: Representations of African American Men Preparatory Courses…….…….107 Figure 16: Representations of White Men in Technical Courses………………………108 Figure 17: Representations of African American and White Women in Technical Courses ………………………………………………………………………………………….109 Figure 18: Bilingual Signs for Food Assistance Programs in English & Spanish……..111 Figure 19: Trilingual Signs Outside County Tax Office in English, Spanish, & Creole.115 Figure 20: Trilingual Signs Outside Jail in English, Spanish, & Creole ………………116 Figure 21: Legitimating Attributions Defined …………………………………………124 Figure 22: Legitimating Attributions Examples ……………………………………….125 Figure 23: Population Percent Change from 2009-2015 by Race/Ethnicity……………146 Figure 24: Pyramid of Haitian Population in Immokalee………………………………149 Figure 25: Pyramid of Hispanic/Latino Population in Immokalee……………………..152 viii Figure 26: Pyramid of Non-Hispanic/White Population in Immokalee……………...153 Figure 27: Dependency Ratio for Race/Ethnic Groups………………………………155 Figure 28: Percent of Population by Race/Ethnicity & Ability to Speak English……160 Figure 29: Percent of Population over 25 by Race/Ethnicity % Educational Attainment …………….…………………………………………………………………………..161 Figure 30: Labor, Insurance, & Poverty by Ethnicity ………………………………..163 Figure 31: Median Household Income………………………………………………..165 ix LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Percent Population Change in Immokalee by Ethnicity……………………...146 Table 2: Haitian Population in Immokalee by Age & Sex……………………………..148 Table 3: Hispanic/Latino Population in Immokalee by Age & Sex……………………151 Table 4: Non-Hispanic/White Population in Immokalee by Age & Sex………………153 Table 5: Selected Characteristics of Immokalee by Race/Ethnicity......………………..157 Table 6: Effect of English Ability on Poverty ………………………………………....168 x ABSTRACT “THE PROBLEM WITH THE HAITIANS IS THEIR LANGUAGE”: LANGUAGE AS COLOR-BLIND RACISM RUTHIE WIENK 2018 This project explores the mechanisms of exclusion and oppression of a Haitian population in a rural community in South West Florida. The analytical approach taken is an analysis of the social field and habitus as dispositions and embodied culture. Language has been identified as a tool to marginalize the population in the general social order. Through this process, language operates as a form of color-blind racism which justifies the exclusion of the Haitian community but is insufficient in explaining their overall social outcomes. Qualitative data were collected for this project in the form of unstructured interviews, focus groups, photographs of the local community, and observational field notes. Participants principally came from the Haitian population in the target community. Other community stakeholders, including elected county officials, were interviewed to obtain background and contextual information. Also consulted were county documents and demographic planning profiles. Secondary data were used for the quantitative analysis portion of this project. These data were taken from the US Census Bureau American Community Survey. Both xi aggregated data
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