Titanic passenger Joseph Laroche was born in Haiti

Titanic is celebrating its 100th anniversary on April 15th. The movie has also been launched in 3D. Titanic is done by renowned producer James Cameron. Did you know there was a black Haitian man in the titanic? He was neither rich nor famous. Joseph Laroche is that man.

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He was brought up in a wealthy family in Haiti. His uncle was the president of Haiti at that time. Being from a well to do family, Joseph Laroche travelled to France to do an engineering course when he was only 14. On arrival in France he pursued his engineering and graduated. He met Juliette, a young beautiful white girl and they fell in love. Juliette's father did not object to her daughter going out with a black man.

Joseph finally married Juliette and in 1909 had a daughter with her, whom they called Simonne. In 1910 she gave birth to a premature girl, Louise, who had a lot of complications. Joseph was so divested in living in France; he relied on money sent to him and on Juliette's father who owned a well doing winery in France. He was discriminated against, a scenario he was not used to back at home. Though he was able to find jobs, the pay was nickel and dime. Out of frustration he decided to leave France for his home country, Haiti. His mother sent first class tickets covering him and his family. Due to racial segregation, he could not fit in the first class and traded his tickets for second class tickets in the titanic.

The family boarded the humongous Titanic on the evening of April 10, 1912, at Cherbourg, France. According to the museum exhibit, the family spent most of their time enjoying the British luxury liner. But some crew members did make disparaging comments to Joseph Laroche and his daughters, believing they were Italian or Japanese because of their darker skin.

On the night of April 14, Joseph Laroche was in the smoking parlor with other men traveling in second class when he felt the ship hit the iceberg. He ran back to his room to check on his wife and daughter.

When the ship began to sink, Joseph Laroche placed the family's money and valuables in a coat and draped it around his wife's shoulders. The coat was later stolen. He then placed his family in a lifeboat and stayed on the ship to help other women and children to safety. He told his wife he would meet her in New York. Unfortunately, he did not make it alive, though his wife and children arrived safely, thanks to the crew of the ship Carpathia who rescued them from the life boat.

Many people were unhappy that the movie titanic does not include Joseph, the only passenger who was black and was not a worker or a slave.

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Nadege Jeune says...

Nade thank my bro keep up the nes luv u n I appreciate t

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