12/01/2025
The Hidden Black Chemist Behind America’s “White Gold”
Most people know the name Étienne de Boré, the man credited with creating the first commercial granulated sugar in Louisiana in 1795.
But almost no one knows the name of the Black man who actually made the breakthrough possible:
🚨Antoine Morin: A free man of color and master sugar chemist from Saint-Domingue (Haiti).
While de Boré owned the plantation,
Morin had the science.
He understood boiling, clarifying, crystallizing, and drying sugar in ways nobody in Louisiana could. His knowledge came from generations of Black experts in Haiti. Those same people labor built the global sugar industry.
Morin’s skill is what turned cane juice into the “white gold” that fueled the Gulf Coast economy.
And here’s why this matters today:
➡️ Black innovation has always driven billion-dollar industries, even when Black names were erased.
➡️ Our contributions built the foundation of America’s wealth.
➡️ And even now, in 2025, the economy still profits from Black creativity, labor, and intellect more than it credits us for.
Knowing the real history doesn’t just honor our ancestors, it reminds us of the power we still carry, the ideas we create, and the value we bring to every industry we touch.
Antoine Morin deserves his name back in the story.
