by Hamlet Pericles

Created on: August 19, 2010   Last Updated: August 21, 2010

After 22 years of absence from the Miss Universe pageant, Haiti will finally have representation through 24-year-old beauty Sarodj Bertin, a multilingual lawyer, born on April 11, 1986 to Haitian parents in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti but relocated to the Dominican Republic at the age of 9.

Having absolutely no knowledge of Miss Haiti, a research was conducted which connected pictures to her name – and those pictures were eye-catching, to say the least.   After viewing the photos, something instantly came to mind, the talks regarding the way she looks will no doubt follow her throughout the pageant and after the competition.

Upon further research, those thoughts were accurate and on point, thanks to a few YouTube videos, a forum called HaitiXchange and other forums, where many disapprove of her selection to represent Haiti.  The controversy stems from many claims, but only three main talking points will be referenced herein:  (1) Miss Bertin’s light skin complexion, (2) her years in the Dominican Republic, and (3) her being an opportunist.    

The first point of contention stems from Miss Bertin’s light skin tone, which some Haitians find problematic, for she does not represent the typical-looking Haitian.  Once again, the issue of color shades has made its way into a Black conversation.  This issue of skin color does not only consume and trouble those of Haitian descent but all Blacks worldwide, which is known as a broader term called colorism: a discriminatory discretion that puts those of a darker complexion in a category of less than and inferiors compared to those of a lighter complexion who are placed in a category of elitists, mainly occurring in one’s own ethnic group.    

Brazilians, Dominicans, Trinidadians and Tobagonians, Jamaicans, Cubans, Bahamians, just to name a few, have all dealt with colorism and continue to deal with it today.   The United States, which embodies a melting pot of various ethnicities, is a perfect example where this behavior persists constantly.   Therefore, there is no indecision when stating that every Black person, not only in the U.S. but universally, has witnessed and/or has been personally attacked by this disparaging behavior through his/her lifetime, not only by a non-black person but by a person of the same ethnicity or another ethnicity. 

Strangely, women seem to harbor more venom when it comes to

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