(Miami Herald) – Two weeks after a Haitian man was lynched in the Dominican Republic, thousands marched through the streets of Port-au-Prince on Wednesday, demanding justice and denouncing rising anti-Haitian sentiment in the neighboring Spanish-speaking country.
“Despite our diversity, despite our differences, we are a country, we exist and we deserve respect,” said Roman Catholic Monsignor Pierre-André Dumas, who helped planned the march. “We are neighbors, sharing the same island. The question of racism and barbarism need to be finished with on this island.”
It was a rare display of unity that attracted a cross-section of Haitians, including professionals, former presidential candidates, musicians and everyday citizens. With flags draped around their shoulders, they walked alongside school children who sang the country’s national anthem, La Dessalinienne, as they made their way from the Champ de Mars to Haiti’s Foreign Ministry to finally, the Dominican Embassy in Petionville.
At the Foreign Ministry, workers in a silent display of solidarity displayed the Haitian flag and handed out miniature flags to marchers, including police officers, who waved them while escorting the protest.