Antihaitianismo
Antihaitianismo or anti-Haitianism, is a bias against individuals from Haiti living or being in the Dominican Republic. It is a unique ideology centered to Dominicans.[1] . Originally a racial policy instituted similar to that of apartheid in which racial segregation by the Spanish inhabitants of the colony of Santo Domingo (present day Dominican Republic).
Today it is a full fledged prejudice of those being dark skinned by those that are light skinned. Because of Haiti's much higher black-to-other ratio of ancestry as compared to the Dominican Republic, many of the biased Dominicans perceive all dark-skinned individuals on the island as Haitian or all Haitians as dark-skinned, a racist and nationalist misconception.[2]. Native Dominicans were taught that they were "white," and were to be proud to be descendants of the Spanish conquistadores,[3] while based on this policy Haitians were truly black, being the sons and daughters of African slaves. [4][1]
This policy is being challenged by many human rights organizations.[4] A whole generation of Dominican's share this racial ideology and prejudice that was more developed
under Rafael Leónidas Trujillo whom made this policy more structualized. Consequently a
number of citizens of the Dominican Republic share this view of racial policy and history. Examples include words such as
cocolo. However, because this ideology is confirmed as false due to the fact that the majority of
Dominicans are of African and European heritage, other groups outside of the Dominican Republic see many Dominicans as having a
self-identity crisis.[2]
This in conjunction with "Dominicanization" or Ethnic cleansing of the border region (which included the massacre of Haitians in 1937) Parsley Massacre between Haiti and Dominican Republic helped to instill this ideology.[2] Development of the border region with whites encouraged to settle there, helped to further instill these ideas.[2] Continued examples include Hate crimes which has manifested itself in the Dominican Republic.[4]
See also
References
- ^ a b Sagás, Ernesto. A Case of Mistaken Identity: Antihaitianismo in Dominican Culture. Webster University. Retrieved on 2007-08-19.
- ^ a b c d Sagás, Ernesto (1994-10-14). An apparent contradiction? Popular perceptions of Haiti and the foreign policy of the Dominican Republic. Sixth Annual Conference of the Haitian Studies Association. Retrieved on 2007-08-19.
- ^ Country profile: Dominican Republic. BBC News (2007-07-13). Retrieved on 2007-08-19.
- ^ a b c Illegal People. Human Rights Watch (2001). Retrieved on 2007-08-19.
External links
- Sonia Pierre’s struggle for justice — article in The Socialist Worker
- The Double-Edged Sword of Racism and Sexism — article about black women in the Dominican Republic
- Human Rights Watch report
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
