Berkley Center

Although both the Dominican Republic and the Republic of Haiti share one island, Hispaniola, the political, social, and cultural tensions that exist between the two countries have been made visible nearly every day of my past nine weeks here in Santo Domingo. Antihaitianismo, or anti-Haitianism, is an incredibly powerful and unfortunately common ideology that permeates Dominican culture. Although one can say that these discriminatory sentiments have lessened in recent years due to movements for equal education, and rights of both Haitian immigrants and their descendants in the Dominican Republic, it still exists and manifests itself in laws and the dominating Dominican culture.

Historically speaking, the French colonization of the western portion of the island and the Spanish colonization of the eastern segment led to less than amicable relations and the current negative Dominican perceptions of the history of their neighboring country. The main method of production of the Spanish colony of Santo Domingo (what is now known as the Dominican Republic) for the greater part of the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth century was cattle farming. As a result, there was a smaller demand for enslaved men and women because cattle farming does not require as much labor as the cultivation of sugar and coffee, which were the main methods of production for the French colony of Saint Domingue.

In addition to the differences in enslaved populations, the differences in the “harshness” of French and Spanish slavery led to the idea that those who were enslaved on the eastern section of the island lived a less intense version of slavery. However, that does not negate the fact that slavery existed in the Spanish colony on the island. In textbooks and common Dominican thought, the negation of certain parts of this history led to the belief that there was no slavery in the Dominican Republic and that the French were evil slave owners and the Spanish were passive and kind.

The misinterpretation of history and the European depiction of Africans as uneducated and uncivilized led to the perceptions that still exist today of Haitians in this country. Many still believe that the citizens of the western third of Hispaniola are somehow less cultured that their eastern counterparts. Additionally, many misconstrue Vodou and consider it to be Satanic, which is in direct opposition to the Roman Catholicism that dominates the Dominican Republic. These common opinions on what it means to be “Haitian” have led to the superior thoughts that create antihaitianismo.

The most visible legal effect that this ideology has had is the negation of nationality and citizenship rights to the descendants of Haitian immigrants that were born in this country. As in the United States, if you were born on Dominican soil, you are to be considered a Dominican citizen. However, this does not apply to those children born to immigrants that were “in transit” at the time of birth. Essentially this means, that if immigrants are undocumented and have a child on Dominican soil, they are not to be given citizenship rights. Therefore, these children seem to be lost somewhere between the Dominican Republic and Haiti. They seem to be both Dominican and Haitian, yet at the same time neither.

Throughout this blog, I have continuously used the term “Haitian immigrants and their descendants” for two reasons. The first is that that is what those of Haitian descent are referred to here. Additionally, I choose to use this term because unlike other ethnic groups here, those of Haitian descent continue to be Haitian; they are never fully integrated into Dominican society. Most other groups have managed to become “Dominicanized” within one or two generations, but Haitian immigrants and their descendants, because of history, cultural perceptions, and discriminatory laws, have been excluded from this process.

The Dominican Republic is a beautiful country full of kind, beautiful, and welcoming people. However, as a result of the damages done by colonization and the perceptions of African societies and their enslaved descendants in the Western Hemisphere, the discrimination against Haitians has continued to be a problem in the Dominican Republic. Through the efforts of many organizations, discriminatory ideologies and laws have been questioned and hopefully through their continued efforts will change soon. Progress has been made, but there is still a long way to go.