Reply #13: Haitians fight for equal representation in Fla. government

[MelissaB]

Haitians fight for equal representation in Fla. government
JENNIFER KAY
Associated Press
MIAMI - When the Haitian man sat for a passport photo at the shop doubling as Dufirston Neree's campaign headquarters, he was handed a black suit jacket to wear over his bright blue T-shirt.

It's a perk Neree gives customers at Ben Photo. It elevates them, he says, makes them look more professional. He does it, too: He arrives for an interview in khakis, but briefly excuses himself to don a pinstriped suit.

Haitians need, he says, to be better represented - in passport photos and in person. Hoping to be the first Haitian elected to Congress, he has challenged incumbent Kendrick Meek in the Democratic primary Sept. 5 in Florida's 17th District.

...snip

Either immigrants themselves or the children of immigrants, these Haitian candidates say they can relate to potential voters who express having difficulty adjusting to life in the U.S. - and they can do it in Creole, the language that separates Haitians from other black voters.

Haitian leaders advocated for Creole to be included as a protected language in the Voting Rights Act, the recently renewed civil rights law that opened polls to millions of black Americans when it was first enacted in 1965.


More: http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispo/15320140.htm