NEW YORK (AP) – With their homeland staggered by AIDS, poverty and political instability, many Haitian-Americans are struggling to find the right way to mark their country’s bicentennial Thursday, with emotions ranging from pride to sadness.

“I’m proud to celebrate the 200 years,” said Jean Jean-Pierre, musical director of the orchestra Kiskeya, which will be part of a celebration at Carnegie Hall. “The children of Haiti are contributing to societies all over the world. That’s enough for me to celebrate.”

But many others see little reason to be festive.

In Miami, in the middle of the nation’s biggest concentration of Haitians, organizers insist that events be labeled commemorations instead of festivals because of the strife, said Marc Paul, a bicentennial planner.

“We’re not going to dance. We’re not going to party. We’re going to commemorate,” Paul said. “We’re going to bring our Bibles and pray for Haiti.”

Haiti, the world’s first black republic, declared its independence on Jan. 1, 1804, after a slave revolt led by Toussaint Louverture against the French.

Community leaders differ on how – or even whether – to celebrate the anniversary.

“The bicentennial should have been a great moment, one of our highest points,” said Raymond Joseph, a refugee from the era of Francois “Papa Doc” Duvalier who now publishes the Brooklyn-based Haiti Observateur. “But considering what’s going on in the country right now, if we go to celebrate, it’s giving support to a repressive regime.”

Haitian-Americans “are excited about the event, and they are saddened by the present situation, but regardless, the occasion needs to be marked,” said Monsignor Guy Sansaricq, pastor of St. Jerome Roman Catholic Church in Brooklyn, a predominantly Haitian-American parish.

Over two centuries, political turmoil and economic despair have plagued Haiti. Most recently, Haitians have been divided between support and contempt for President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who was first elected in 1990 after decades of dictatorship, deposed in a military coup, and re-elected in 2000.

The 2000 census puts the number of New Yorkers of Haitian descent at 118,000, while Florida is home to more than 233,000. Advocacy groups say the numbers are higher.

Pierre Rosier, 38, of Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, was returning home Tuesday after visiting friends in Florida. Rosier, who works odd jobs in Haiti, said the bicentennial has brought mixed emotions among many of his countrymen.

“Some people are excited and some people are frustrated. Because no matter how good the party is, they just have the same problems when they wake up in the morning,” Rosier said at the Miami airport.

AP-ES-12-30-03 1454EST