Pride Against Prejudice: Haitians in the United States (Part of the New Immigrants Series)

Alex Stepick is one of my favorite anthropologists, and I really enjoy his easy-to-read writing style. He does an excellent job in "Pride Against Prejudice," which is an overview of Miami's Haitian-American community. Haitians in Miami constitute a relatively recent ethnic immigrant population, with most coming to South Florida's shores since the late 1970s and early 1980s. Stepick details the history of Haitian migration, the transnational nature of Haitian lives which connects those on the island with those in Miami, and the prejudice and discrimination Haitians faced throughout the 1980s and to the present day. One chapter is devoted to the differences Haitian and Cuban refugees have faced in coming to the United States: Cubans have historically been welcomed as political refugees fleeing communism, while Haitians have been regarded as illegal aliens and told to keep out. I found this mini-ethnography extremely informative, but with less than 140 pages of text, the $28 price tag is a bit extreme.