Showcase of Undergraduate Research and Creative Endeavors (SOURCE)

Papa Doc’s Race War: The Rise of François Duvalier

This essay explores the political rise of François “Papa Doc” Duvalier, a Haitian writer, physician, ethnologist, and president (1957-1971), and the ways in which he employed racial rhetoric to gain political prominence among Haiti’s aspiring black majority. An in-depth analysis of Duvalier’s writings and speeches during his time as a young noiriste thinker, the 1956-1957 campaign, and even his early presidency shows the leader’s use of racial language as a potent form of political appeasement and overt aggression. Although several scholarly works reinforce this notion, conventional historiography assigns historical supremacy to violence via the Tonton Macoute as an explanation for Duvalier’s political ascent and longevity. However, as this paper underscores, it is evident that Duvalier’s calculated use of color-infused language influenced his path to the presidency and later the Haitian’s dictator’s ability to retain legitimacy over the years. To truly understand Duvalier, one must consider the multifaceted figure as an intellectual, black nationalist, countryside doctor, fervent campaigner, and even a superficial politician. While Duvalier ultimately turned to violence when faced with the cold realities of unceasing color tension and economic hardship - especially as a Third World country plagued by the legacy of colonialism - one should not understate Papa Doc’s manipulation of Haiti’s racial wounds to galvanize the historically oppressed black majority in his political favor.