What Are Dominican-Americans?

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The question of whether Dominican-Americans in the United States are of an African black or European white does not have a straightforward answer. Most Dominicans would be inclined to consider themselves as white (due to their lighter complexions compared to their Haitian counterparts). However, as mentioned in class discussions, Dominican-Americans in the United States would be categorized as black. This holds true despite the Dominican culture’s very diverse appearance. Dominicans are not just white, nor just black. The Dominican race is comprised of both dark skinned and lighter skinned people, and I think it is absurd that they are sometimes dismissed as simply black. There is nothing simple about having more than half a century’s worth…show more content…
From being a part of the Dominican culture and having had experience in aspects of the Dominican ethnicity, I agree with Torres-Saillant’s thesis. As a Dominican I am ashamed that the Dominican culture is not proud to embrace their background in its entirety. Dominican culture is not easy to comprehend and the fact that most Dominicans do not like to identify with parts of it only adds to the enigma of being Dominican. Furthermore, if Dominicans themselves cannot even comprehend their complex history and identity to acknowledge their partial “blackness”, how will non-Dominicans know who they really are? Denying the blackness that lies within the definition of being Dominican is the first step to solving the paradox that being Dominican can sometimes…show more content…
This, along with all forms of racism, is learned behavior through sociological influences. The ideology of black culture being alluded to negativity is really one that has been instilled into Dominican culture by two (main) sources: (1) Dominican history and (2) white supremacists. In “Race and Politics,” nationalism & white supremacy are discussed as influential reasons for the Dominican culture denying their blackness. There is also the overarching notion that history is to blame for our uneasiness towards the African race because the Dominican relations with Haiti have always consisted of clashing. When the Dominican Republic gained their independence from Haiti in 1844, Dominicans wanted to completely disassociate with this nation by looking for ways to gain the upper hand in the power struggle. Dominicans felt they were better than Haitians because they were more closely tied to Europe. This pride in Dominican whiteness stems from the discovery of the New World in the late 1400s. Since European whites have had the most power in the Caribbean since the Post-Columbian era, Dominicans have tried to emulate this social scenario since their independence from Haiti. The most powerful people in the Dominican are of lighter complexions and do not forget this extensive history of their country, and since they have the power, they push for their ideology (of Dominicans being a white race) to become integrated

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