History Of The Haitians In Salisbury, Maryland
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The city of
Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...
,
Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
is home to a small but rapidly expanding
Haitian-American Haitian Americans (french: Haïtiens-Américains; ht, ayisyen ameriken) are a group of Americans of full or partial Haitian origin or descent. The largest proportion of Haitians in the United States live in Little Haiti to the South Florida area ...
community. There are an estimated 2,000 Haitian-Americans living in the
Salisbury metropolitan area The Salisbury, MD-DE Metropolitan Statistical Area is a United States Census Bureau-designated metropolitan area centered in and around Salisbury, Maryland, including four counties: Somerset, Wicomico, and Worcester in Maryland; and Sussex in Dela ...
. The community is growing quickly and Haitian businesses, restaurants, media, and religious and cultural organizations have been created to cater to the needs of the population.


Demographics

The Haitian community of Salisbury originated because Haitian economic migrants were employed by local poultry processing plants such as Perdue Farms, Tyson Foods, and
Mountaire Farms Mountaire Farms is the fourth-largest producer of chicken in the United States, with headquarters in Millsboro, Delaware. The company operates internationally, serving the United States and foreign markets as far away as Asia. Mountaire Farms has ...
. Many members of the community came to Salisbury from
Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
or
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
. In 1993, only a few dozen Haitian-Americans lived in Salisbury. In 2010, the Haitian-American population of Salisbury was 963. As of 2017, there were 1,967 Haitian-Americans in Salisbury.


History

In 2016, local Haitian-American activists organized to gather funds for Haitian victims of Hurricane Matthew. Haitians in Salisbury have been disproportionately effected by the
COVID-19 pandemic in Maryland The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached the U.S. state of Maryland in March 2020. The first three cases of the virus were reported in Montgomery County on March 5, 2020. , the Maryland Department of Health (MDH) reported 1,303,829 p ...
. Lack of access to resources, linguistic barriers, and other factors have exacerbated the rate of COVID-19 in the Haitian community. The Salisbury Coronavirus Recovery Task Force has been credited with having a substantial influence on the Haitian community's experience of COVID-19 by promoting inclusion, expanding community outreach, and providing more translators.


Culture

Several media outlets have formed in Salisbury to cater to the Haitian population. The Wozo Marketing Group offers television programming and a radio station called Radio Wozo. Content is offered in both English and Haitian Creole. Wozo's programming is directed at Haitians who may not speak English or have an advanced education, and thus otherwise might not be knowledgeable about local news. The WRBY-LP radio station offers religious broadcasting in
Haitian Creole Haitian Creole (; ht, kreyòl ayisyen, links=no, ; french: créole haïtien, links=no, ), commonly referred to as simply ''Creole'', or ''Kreyòl'' in the Creole language, is a French-based creole language spoken by 10–12million people wor ...
. There are several Haitian restaurants in Salisbury, including the Caribbean Creole Cafe, Glory Caribbean Express, Grandma's Worldwide Caribbean Restaurant. Other restaurants in Salisbury serve Caribbean cuisine, such as the Jamaican restaurants Caribbean Flava and Reggae Soul Cafe. There are several Haitian churches in Salisbury, including Word of Life Center and the First Haitian UMC of Salisbury. The Word of Life Center conducts services in Haitian Creole and has a congregation of more than 300 people. An annual Haitian Flag Day Festival is held in downtown Salisbury to celebrate Haitian art, culture, music, and cuisine. The festival is organized by the Word of Life church and Rebirth, a Haitian-American community organization. County officials in Wicomico have declared the month of May to be Haitian Heritage Month.


Notable people

Fernando Guerrero (boxer), a Dominican-born boxer of Haitian descent.


See also

*
Haitian Americans Haitian Americans (french: Haïtiens-Américains; ht, ayisyen ameriken) are a group of Americans of full or partial Haitians, Haitian origin or descent. The largest proportion of Haitians in the United States live in Little Haiti to the South Flo ...


References


External links


Caribbean Creole CafeFirst Haitian UMC Salisbury Maryland
{{Haitian diaspora Afro-Caribbean culture in the United States Caribbean-American culture in Maryland
Salisbury, Maryland Salisbury () is a city in and the county seat of Wicomico County, Maryland, Wicomico County, Maryland, United States, and the largest city in Eastern Shore of Maryland, the state's Eastern Shore region. The population was 33,050 at the 2020 United ...
Haitian-American culture in Maryland Haitian-American history Salisbury, Maryland