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From Haitian Slave Child to Middle-Class American
University of Texas Press
January 1998
On Sale: January 1, 1998
193 pages
ISBN: 0292712030
EAN: 9780292712034
Paperback
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Non-Fiction Memoir
African slaves in Haiti emancipated themselves from French
rule in 1804 and created the first independent black
republic in the Western Hemisphere. But they reinstituted
slavery for the most vulnerable members of Haitian society—
the children of the poor—by using them as unpaid servants
to the wealthy. These children were—and still are—
restavecs, a French term whose literal meaning of "staying
with" disguises the unremitting labor, abuse, and denial of
education that characterizes the children's lives. In this memoir, Jean-Robert Cadet recounts the harrowing
story of his youth as a restavec, as well as his inspiring
climb to middle-class American life. He vividly describes
what it was like to be an unwanted illegitimate
child "staying with" a well-to-do family whose physical and
emotional abuse was sanctioned by Haitian society. He also
details his subsequent life in the United States, where,
despite American racism, he put himself through college and
found success in the Army, in business, and finally in
teaching.
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