This is why the Museum of Immigration feels out of place and somewhat revolutionary, itself: after all, France has never been a country known for its celebration of immigrants' impact. One feature of the museum that stood out to me in particular was the exhibit covering the Haitian slave revolt, the revolt in Saint Domingue that led to independence from France. The event itself is covered, but it leaves out any mention of critical revolutionary figures during the period such as Toussaint Louverture who was the leader of the slave revolt. This I felt was a bit of a historical distortion—but what do you think? And could the brief (and flawed) retelling of Haitian independence be connected to the reparations scheme France placed the freed colony under that crippled its economy for years? I think the latter question may hold the key to Louverture’s omission from the exhibit. However, visiting the museum opened my eyes to a new side of French history that seems to maybe only be embraced within the walls of the Palais de la Porte Dorées.
