Haiti Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Racial discrimination=== {{Main|Gens de couleur}} Under colonial rule, [[Mulatto|Haitian mulattoes]] were generally privileged above the black majority, though they possessed fewer rights than the white population. Following the country's independence, they became the nation's social elite. Numerous leaders throughout Haiti's history have been mulattoes. During this time, the enslaved persons and the [[affranchi]]s were given limited opportunities toward education, income, and occupations, but even after gaining independence, the social structure remains a legacy today as the disparity between the upper and lower classes have not been reformed significantly since the colonial days.<ref>{{cite journal|jstor=2574763|title=Class Structure and Class Conflict in Haitian Society|first1=Roland|last1=Wingfield|first2=Vernon J.|last2=Parenton|date=1965|journal=Social Forces|volume=43|issue=3|pages=338β347|doi=10.2307/2574763}}</ref> Making up 5% of the nation's population, mulattoes have retained their preeminence, evident in the political, economic, social and cultural hierarchy in Haiti.<ref>{{cite web|last=Smucker|first=Glenn R|url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field%28DOCID+ht0033%29|title=A Country Study: Haiti; The Upper Class|editor=Haggerty, Richard A. |publisher=Library of Congress Federal Research Division|date=December 1989}}</ref> As a result, the elite class today consists of a small group of influential people who are generally light in color.<ref>{{cite journal|jstor=2769747|title=Caste and Class in Haiti|first=John|last=Lobb|date=2018|journal=American Journal of Sociology|volume=46|issue=1|pages=23β34|doi=10.1086/218523|s2cid=144100302}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page