Global Security and Intelligence Studies Volume 3, Number 1, Spring/Summer 2018 | Page 21

Global Security and Intelligence Studies
transformed into a quarterly journal largely focused on articles that mapped out
the uniqueness of Africans and their descendants from people of the west (Smith
2009). Duvalier and Denis wrote articles espousing that Haiti was negatively impacted
by “the assimilation of French values which had impaired the proper development
of Haitian society” (Smith 2009, 24). The Haitian problem was thought to
be the result of the population’s inability to break free from the burdens of French
colonial values.
When evaluating questions of political stability, these noirists viewed the
consistent exploitation by the mulatto elite over the black population to be a critical
issue in need of resolution, along with the integration of Voodoo into the greater
Haitian culture. The Griots argued that African politics were based on communitarianism,
whereby the government was responsible to secure the resources of
the people and redistribute them fairly. The current individualism “inherent in
Haitian politics was a consequence of the importation of French political systems
during colonization” (Smith 2009, 26). Along these lines, Duvalier and Denis asserted
that the Haitian government needed to be founded upon the psychological
and social realities of the Haitian population and move away from individualism
to a refocus around communitarianism and the incorporation of Voodoo into national
life. With much of the Haitian population being rural peasants, the Griots
argued that the development of Haitian culture should center on these people and
their traditions (Smith 2009). Furthermore, as Voodoo was the foundation of their
spiritual beliefs, it was something that all of Haiti—including its government—
should fully embrace and support.
While there are not yet indicators that Duvalier would become a brutal
dictator, during this time he further develops his political ideas and is seen to
promote the desire for Haiti to develop a national identity that is free from foreign
influence. Through his writings, it appears Duvalier is longing for a drastic
change in the culture of Haiti as a whole. This is something that is further reinforced
by his embrace and promotion of the Haitian Voodoo culture. However,
during the 1940s, Voodoo was about to be persecuted by the Catholic Church
which began instigating an “anti-superstition” campaign or purge against Voodoo.
Important ceremonial symbols such as drums and gourds were smashed and
burned by priests and their parishioners. In response to this religious cleansing,
the intellectual movement, including novelist Jacques Roumain, established the
Bureau of Ethnology in 1941, to preserve and learn about the religion and its history
(Johnson 2006). Duvalier also became active in the Bureau and published
The Gradual Evolution of Voodoo (Time 2011) in 1944. Duvalier used his position
within the Bureau to forward his noirist ideals. His activities in the Bureau allowed
him to further establish and rapidly grow his Voodoo network as he “built an arsenal
of friendships with vodou priests (houngans) and priestesses (manbos) and
reinforced his ideas about Vodou as the heart and soul of the Haitian peasantry”
(Johnson 2006, 9). Duvalier’s knowledge of and affinity for Haiti’s Voodoo culture
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