A statue of Christopher Columbus in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
Growing up in the U.S., I got used to talking about race or describing someone by their skin color in a careful manner, afraid to offend someone or say something wrong.
This inhibition has been eradicated after spending over two years in the Dominican Republic where a person’s skin color is used as a descriptive adjective as freely, if not more freely, than their shirt color. In both Spanish and Haitian Creole people are constantly referred to as black, brown, red, or white with, in Spanish, several words for varying shades of brown. This blog gives a quick look at the history of the island and as a result of the history, its current racial and cultural composition.
The Dominican Republic shares the island of Hispañola with Haiti in the Dominican Republic. It occupies the eastern two thirds of the country where Haiti occupies the western third. Christopher Columbus landed on the island during his first voyage in 1492 as all students here know. The land was inhabited by native Taino “Indians” who were quickly killed off as the Spanish settled. Later the French took over the western third which became Haiti. Both sides took part in the slave trade enslaving West Africans to work on sugar plantations, etc. Haiti’s slavery ended in a revolution and genocide of white people in the country, making it the first black republic and the first country overthrown and led by former slaves. On the Dominican side, slavery never was quite as dominant and brutal and apparently eventually phased out.
Therefore, Haitians often appear to be straight from West Africa whereas Dominicans seem to have an array of varying percentages of Spanish and African influence. Race and social class are definitely linked as the whiter citizens are normally members of the higher social class. However, times are changing and although racism still lingers, it seems to be less of an issue as it was earlier in history. Well before the recent earthquake that brought significant damage to Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince, Haitians were crossing the border in “search of life” in the Dominican Republic. Both countries are considered developing nations but the economy in the Dominican Republic is quite a bit more active than the slow economy in Haiti.
Caitlin McHale is currently living in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic as the co-founder and executive director of Project Esperanza.For more about her experiences, check out her blog.
Latest posts by camchale
- They Call Me La Morena: Race in the Dominican Republic - January 18th, 2012
- Doing Fair Trade in an Unfair Society and World - December 15th, 2011
- The Maestro Took the Money! - December 3rd, 2011
- ¿Qué es "el sereno"? - November 8th, 2011
- Our New Bundle of Joy! - October 4th, 2011
- The Case of the Missing Laptop: Part 2 - September 13th, 2011
- The Case of the Missing Laptop: Part 1 - September 6th, 2011
- Reproductive Freedom in a Different Light - August 27th, 2011
- Diabetes and High Blood Pressure: Deadly Diseases on the Island of Hispañola - August 23rd, 2011
- Machismo Madness: Strong to the Point of Weakness - August 16th, 2011
This is good blog message, I will keep this in mind. If you add more video and pictures because it helps understanding
Hi Ted,
It’s just a simple lesson of the history of the island which explains the current blend of races and cultures here. I am assuming that the average reader has not visited the island and is unaware of this information. When they first visit, many visitors (myself included) ask, “How can you tell the difference between Dominicans and Haitians?” and other such questions, so this just gives a little quick background there.
Thanks, Caitlin
So, what was the ‘lesson’ to be learned from this article?