The Whitening of the Dominican Republic and its relation to Haiti

  The Dominican Republic is one most diverse nations in the Caribbean. Its peoples are composed of numerous racial groups that include, European, Native Tainos and Black Africans. As a result of this mixture, the Dominican Republic has become a melting pot of racial identities resulting in a rainbow of peoples across the island. As some scholars have argued however, many Dominicans are proud to acknowledge their Spanish and Taino heritage while separating and ignoring the Black parts of their racial identities (Sagas,1993).

Historically, the Dominican Republic was part of colonial entity that it shared with its neighbor, Haiti.  Both nations fell under the name of Hispaniola as the entire Island came under the control of both France and Spain. Starting in the 1400’s, Hispaniola received large numbers of enslaved Black Africans whose decedents mixed with European and Native Taino peoples. Most of the mixing however, took place in the Eastern part of the Island becoming the Dominican Republic. The Western part  consequently had a smaller amount of racial mixing and was predominantly populated by enslaved Black Africans. This part of the Island later became known as Haiti (Sagas,1993).  

As a result of nationalistic differences, the Dominican Republic positioned itself as a Hispanic nation that was made up of people of European decent. This belief motivated many Dominicans to believe that, looking Black meant that an individual was Haitian while Whiteness became a Dominican trait.

This major difference has been highly enforced by the governments that have controlled the Dominican Republic throughout its political history. In “The Stigma of Blackness:Anti-Haitianism in the Dominican Republic, it states, “They created a national identity that defined Dominicans as white, Catholic, and culturally Hispanic, in stark contrast to Haitians whom they characterized as being black, voodoo practitioners, and culturally African.” These constructed differences ultimately forced many White Dominicans to view Black Dominicans as lesser peoples. One leader of the Dominican Republic who was notorious for his harsh racial policies was Rafael Trujillo. As the leader of the Dominican Republic, Trujillo insisted on whitening the Dominican people to look more European through the elimination of the Black population. Since he had a darker skin tone, Trujillo used whitening makeup to whiten his skin. The norm of Dominican identity thus became that if you looked Black, you were on the wrong part of the island. Ultimately, a large number of Black Dominicans were either killed off or forced to live in separate communities. Ernesto Sagas reflects this notion, by stating, “”The black and the mulatto masses had but two choices: to “lighten” themselves by assuming the indio identity and Hispanic culture, or to be ostracized and excluded from the national mainstream (Sagas, 1993).

"White" Rafael Trujillo

Real Image of Rafael Trujillo

Consequently, this belief has moved into modern day perceptions of race between the Dominican Republic and Haiti.  Black Dominicans still face many racial inequalities and are often treated as second class citizens compared to those of lighter skinned Dominicans.  On January 6, 2014, the supreme court of the Dominican republic ruled that,  “Any Dominicans who descend from undocumented Haitians going as far back as 1929 are to be stripped of their citizenship.” This law drew large amounts of criticism because Black Dominicans were racially targeted and stripped off of their citizenship when they had no connection to Haiti at all.  The stigma of looking Black is so heartfelt among the racial environment of the Dominican Republic that people often times take extreme measures to whiten themselves. For example, the Dominican baseball player Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs was criticized for bleaching his skin as many have blamed the constructed "Dominican resentment" of the Black Skin as a result. To conclude, the Dominican Republic has a long way to go in fully accepting its Black population as part of its peoples. The fact that Blackness is still seen as an “Non-Dominican” trait has moved the nation into a backwards past of Eurocentric racism.

Sammy Sosa before and After Picture

http://www.nathanielturner.com/kiiniiburasalaam2.htm

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/dominican_republic_makes_racism_the_law_20140106

http://sdonline.org/48/the-stigma-of-blackness-anti-haitianism-in-the-dominican-republic/

Sagás, Ernesto. (1993). “A Case of Mistaken Identity: Antihaitianismo in Dominican Culture. (www.webster.edu/~corbetre/haiti/misctopic/dominican/antihaiti.htm).