Haitian Slave Child To Middle-Class American By Jean-Robert Cadet: Summary

In the autobiography Restavec: From Haitian Slave Child to Middle-Class American by Jean-Robert Cadet, the importance of education and identity are apparent throughout. From the beginning of the book where his identity as a slave child born from a white man is made clear and how school filled his life from an early age because it was something he enjoyed. To the end of the book where his identity is still felt as a lower-class citizen because he is black but he is now the one providing the education as a teacher. Jean-Robert Cadet’s amazing story from slave to teacher, Haitian to American and from no family to father is inspiring and it can all be contributed to his focus and willingness to educate himself. Throughout his journey, Bobby never

But why was this the case? Why was it so important and why did it play a large role? “At school, teachers referred to me as Jean-Robert Cadet; and at home Florence called me Bob or Bobby” (Cadet 11). At home Bobby was a Restavec and was treated as such. At school Jean-Robert was treated as a student and no one knew that he was a Restavec. He felt safer and more equal at school than he ever did at home with Florence. Jean-Robert was also good at most of the subjects and felt accomplished. In Haiti school was not required so Jean-Robert attended only when he was permitted to. But for him, school was much more than just an education. Several times throughout his early life Florence would tell him that he was just a shoeshine boy: “You little shithead bedwetter, you little faggot, you shoeshine boy” (Cadet 9). Because of this Jean-Robert had something to pursue in life, something to

Florence and the rest of the “Family” did not like the idea of sending him to school because they thought of it as a waste of time. A neighbor informed Florence that “It’s against the law in this country not to send a minor to school” (Cadet 101). Without it being a requirement there would have been no question what would have happened to Jean-Robert. He would have probably only attended school during his free time and that would have been rare. He would not have received an education and again his future would have turned out much different. School was a struggle for him because of the language barrier from French to English and because he was behind most students in all the subjects except math. Math was a subject that he understood and did better at than other students. “This time I felt like my brain was working but my ears were not” (Cadet 102). He understood what was written on the board because math is universal across all languages but struggled with the terms that were used because of the English language. Although he struggled through the subjects, he learned quickly that he was equal to the rest of the students even if they were white. “It is not true. Blancs are not smarter than I am” (Cadet