Social Conditioning of Dominicans through History?? What Do You Think??

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elbachatero6504

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Disclaimer: This thread is NOT about racial discrimination, nor is it intended to imply the superiority or inferiority of ANY Race over any other. Please keep your comments free of any racially charged expressions.

For those living in the Dominican Republic, native, expat, or anything in between, I would like to ask-
Do you think Dominicans (very generally speaking) are somewhat in denial about their Racial Heritage?? or
Do you think that there is a sincere, but perhaps misguided sense of self-identity??
If the latter is the case, do you think that there is possibility that a tampering and subsequent manipulating of History or 'Social conditioning' could be the cause of this??

For example, Trujillo undeniably attempted to 'whiten' or 'lighten' the Dominican populous during his reign. He allowed the migration of Jewish refugees, he allowed the entrance of Japanese in the 1930's (making them a virtual fence to further deter the entrance of Haitians) and even exiles from Spain's Civil War. Furthermore the Parsley Massacre of Haitian Immigrants could also be added to the list of things Trujillo did to send his message of "White is good, Black is bad".
Then there are the historical references to Enriquillo and how he was a champion of the Taino legacy, and NOT a partner of the Africans of that time period. (Race and Dominicanness in the Dominican Republic) I have also read other examples of even in textbooks where there are clear exaggerations made with the intent to 'brain wash' people into accepting and subsequently believing that, despite the Historical discrepancies Dominicans are not 'Black' but rather 'Indio'.

And even to this very day there is STILL a VERY apparent contention between Dominicans and Haitians. There is a constant 'back and forth' of violence where Haitians and Dominicans are in close quarters. From what I personally know, Haitians are generally viewed as 'the enemy', and at the very least an unwelcomed nuisance in the country. The Haitians that do live in the Dominican Republic are at the bottom of the the lower class, a large portion of them working (slaving would be more apt) in the Batey's in modern day slave plantations.

Looking back at history, it is understandable why this (the general rejecting of Black) may be the case. As it applies to the Social and Racial dynamics of the Dominican Republic, it does certainly seem that Black and African is generally more connected to something undesirable, inferior, ugly, threatening and imposing, whereas White and European is generally more connected to something acceptable, preferable, desirable, good, attractive etc.

Have you personally noticed this, and do you think that Social 'conditioning' or 'brain washing' has played a large part in this???
 

bob saunders

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Being married to a Dominican that isn't concerned about what her racial makeup is, and neither do any in her family or circle of friends to range from pure white to mightnight black, as well as haitian I would say in my experience your statements don't hold water. Haitians are at the lower end of the scale because most of them are illegal, uneducated, and willing to work for less than Dominicans.
As far as Bateys , have you been to one or are you just quoting or repeating off some webpage.
 

Mariot

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there is a very interesting article on the haitian massacre in 1937 by richard lee turits called "a world destroyed a nation imposed" Project MUSE - Hispanic American Historical Review - A World Destroyed, A Nation Imposed: The 1937 Haitian Massacre in the Dominican Republic.
he claims that the whole black and white thing was an ideology that was only spread among the "white" santo domingo elite. the rest of the population, especially the rural one, was rooted localy and did not realy identify with either a nation or skin color. frontiers were not exactly clear cut, and control of the central state did not reach very far beyond the major cities.
so in the border regions and rural communities there was no clear distinction between (black) hatians and (lighter skinned) dominicans. people were living in local communities composed of people that were born on either side of the border, and moving frequently between haiti and the dr for trade purposes.
trujillo than made use of the anti black ideology of thinkers like balaguer to further the influence of the central state and to finally settle the borders. before, it was very difficult to tax goods traded between haiti and the dr because there were no clear borders, no influence of the central state and therefore no control. dominicans living in the border region were also not interested in clear and controlled borders, let alone the central state having any influence over their lives, because that whould have meant they had to pay tariffs. trujillo slaughtered the haitians in order to justify closing the borders (claiming that haitians were a threat dominicans had to be protected from), not to whiten the dr. only after the massacre, the ideology of a "white" dominican culture which had to be protected from a "black" and barbaric afro haitian culture spread among the lower dominican classes, partly due to propaganda, and partly as aftermath of the shock of the massacre which had massively altered their daily lives from one day to another.
but there is of course also the heritage of the spanish colonial caste system, which was very detailed, and had a name for almost every shade of skin colour and ethnic mixture. the whiter you were, the higher your social standing, with being pure african ranking the lowest, closely followed by being pure indio. this actually adds to turits claim, since he also says that due to the neglect of the spanish crown, and therefore the very weak colonial central state, the influence of spanish colonial society never went beyond the major cities, with the rural population being made up mostly of very independ ancestors of runaway slaves.
it is not the major point of the book, but if you're interested in the topic you should read "foundations of despotisms: peasents, the trujillo regime and modernity in the dominican republic" by turits, since in my opinion, it really helps getting a understanding of dominican society.
 

elbachatero6504

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Deep Sea Creatures and Bateys

Being married to a Dominican that isn't concerned about what her racial makeup is, and neither do any in her family or circle of friends to range from pure white to mightnight black, as well as haitian I would say in my experience your statements don't hold water. Haitians are at the lower end of the scale because most of them are illegal, uneducated, and willing to work for less than Dominicans.
As far as Bateys , have you been to one or are you just quoting or repeating off some webpage.

Thanks for your input, all opinions and viewpoints are welcome. However, to say that my statements don't hold water based on your Dominican's wife circle of friends seems to me a stretch. Even if your wife was extremely popular and actually did have a VERY large circle of friends, that would still probably represent LESS than 1% of the Country, there are at least a Million Haitians alone. There are tons of articles, reports and studies on the matter, so although my statement may not hold water, they are at the very least damp with some verifiable substance.
Have I even been to a Batey?? No, admittedly I have not. But have you ever been in a Submarine on a deep-sea expedition to study new sea creatures??? I imagine you have not. So, how on Earth (no pun intended, but very much welcomed) would you actually be able to form an opinion on the matter?? I imagine you would probably read studies, articles, reports and then examine subsequent photos and videos on the subject and then form a base of understanding on that, right?? If you told me 'there are some really interesting creatures that live so deep light can't penetrate, so they use self-generated light sources to hunt', I could just as easily say to you 'have you ever been on a deep sea submarine expedition, or are you just quoting and repeating off some website?'. My point is, I am no more an expert on Bateys than you are on Deep Sea Exploration or (in the event that you ARE actually an expert on Deep Sea Exploration lol) any other thing that you probably have NOT done personally, but like most people have gained a relative amount of knowledge about the matter from various sources of information.
I have NEVER been to a Batey, but in a nutshell I know Haitians are drawn over the border with promises of better jobs, then put to work in the Batey's where they cut sugar cane. I know many of them are illegal (as you mentioned) because for most who work on the Bateys their identifications are taken. I know the majority of the Sugar cane crop comes right here to the States due to preferential trade agreements. I know that the top Sugar families have government officials 'bought' both there and here. I know the Bateys are generally ran like a plantation, where there workers receive little or no medical care, have no 'real' rights, can not come and go as they please and are not paid a decent salary (if paid at all since they usually are just given food vouchers), and live in dire poverty. Fortunately for me I did not have to go to a Batey to come to those conclusions, but I'm sure you can tell me just as much information about Deep Sea Creatures.
 

Miacol

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Well as a Dominican who has studied our culture extensively, there is a level of discrimination of Haitians but not others blacks, except Jamicians. You see part of the problem is your not seeing the whole picture, the roles have reversed. For many years when the Haitians were one of the most powerful nations in the caribbean, they were extremely abusive of Dominicans, the constant betrayal when they promised assistance, their manifest destiny to kill all the Dominicans and take control of the Island, etc. So as the world act like Haitians are just poor people who need help, they forget the horror caused by the Haitians, during their reign. Now are all Haitians bad, no, I have two that I work with and they and their families are very nice people, but the reality is we must always keep our guard. After the earthquake, no American news organization documented the Haitians that cross the border and killed a small town of 200 Dominicans (child, woman and man). All you see is what is shown to you without studying the entire picture. Similar to Obama constantly stating we should be one country. Just to show you how far the divide is the Island is called Santo Dominique (no not Hispanola) as recorded in history, but the Haitians refuse the name and want the island to be called Haiti because at one time for a period of less then 20 years they had control of the Island, because of the French. As for Jamicians it's only because of when they attempted to invade DR.
 
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Miacol

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Interesting theory by Richard Lee, I wonder who was his source. It's interesting how you enter the 20 century and everyone forgets the atrocities the Haitians did against the Dominicans of the 19 century. Unfortunately you can not take one moment in time and assume it is that reason and that reason alone. And it's interesting his statements, since my family is from El campo and my great grandmother born in the 19 century spoke of the atrocities caused by the Haitians. And mind you we are Indio and in our region we still hold much sway only second to the Mirabales and Fernandez.
 
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Mariot

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Well as a Dominican who has studied our culture extensively, there is a level of discrimination of Haitians but not others blacks, except Jamicians. You see part of the problem is your not seeing the whole picture, the roles have reversed. For many years when the Haitians were one of the most powerful nations in the caribbean, they were extremely abusive of Dominicans, the constant betrayal when they promised assistance, their manifest destiny to kill all the Dominicans and take control of the Island, etc. So as the world act like Haitians are just poor people who need help, they forget the horror caused by the Haitians, during their reign. Now are all Haitians bad, no, I have two that I work with and they and their families are very nice people, but the reality is we must always keep our guard. After the earthquake, no American news organization documented the Haitians that cross the border and killed a small town of 200 Dominicans (child, woman and man). All you see is what is shown to you without studying the entire picture. Similar to Obama constantly stating we should be one country. Just to show you how far the divide is the Island is called Santo Dominique (no not Hispanola) as recorded in history, but the Haitians refuse the name and want the island to be called Haiti because at one time for a period of less then 20 years they had control of the Island, because of the French. As for Jamicians it's only because of when they attempted to invade DR.

when did obama say haiti and the dr should be one country?
 

the gorgon

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first of all, Miacol, i will take the liberty to assume that by Jamicians you really intend to mean Jamaicans. secondly, kindly refer me to a link or text which documents this attempted invasion of the DR. i have never heard of this, and i am a man of advancing years. i am all ears, so, fire away.
 

Mariot

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Interesting theory by Richard Lee, I wonder who was his source. It's interesting how you enter the 20 century and everyone forgets the atrocities the Haitians did against the Dominicans of the 19 century. Unfortunately you can not take one moment in time and assume it is that reason and that reason alone. And it's interesting his statements, since my family is from El campo and my great grandmother born in the 19 century spoke of the atrocities caused by the Haitians. And mind you we are Indio and in our region we still hold much sway only second to the Mirabales and Fernandez.
his source were interviews he led with peasents (dominican and haitian) that lived at the time. they all stated that they were living peacefully with hatians, that there were marriages between hatians and dominicans, and that due to the constant crossing of very flexible borders, a clear distinction between hatians and dominicans could not be made. go read the book or article before you dismiss his theory (if you can't get ahold of a copy of the article pm me). he toured the country for many years to interview peasents to find out about their relation with trujillo. the main thesis of his book is that the peasents were the backbone of the trujillo regime.
but in order to prove his theory he also wrote some very interesting chapters on the time before trujillo and one on the massacre.
 

Chirimoya

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Miacol said:
After the earthquake, no American news organization documented the Haitians that cross the border and killed a small town of 200 Dominicans (child, woman and man).

After the 2010 earthquake???
 
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wuarhat

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Being married to a Dominican who knows she is black and has joked with her cousins about how one cousin (more like a brother) of equally dark dark complexion adamantly insists he is a blanco, I'd have to say there is some funny and very varied racial thinking going on. Although I haven't noticed anything as hateful and violent as what I used to see in the US and Europe forty years ago. As for the contention between between Haitians and Dominicans I have only witnessed it in the posts of DR1 (I'm sure we'll see more here soon). I have only witnessed in person, complete respect and compassion in the actions of Dominicans towards Haitians. Even to the point of harboring illegal street vendors, underground railroad style, during immigration crackdowns in Santo domingo.
 
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I agree with Wuarhat. I have witnessed a lot of hyper-awareness of differing shades of skin, but I have not seen any hatred or derision associated with that hyper-awareness.
 

bienamor

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I have NEVER been to a Batey, but in a nutshell I know Haitians are drawn over the border with promises of better jobs, then put to work in the Batey's where they cut sugar cane. I know many of them are illegal (as you mentioned) because for most who work on the Bateys their identifications are taken. I know the majority of the Sugar cane crop comes right here to the States due to preferential trade agreements. I know that the top Sugar families have government officials 'bought' both there and here. I know the Bateys are generally ran like a plantation, where there workers receive little or no medical care, have no 'real' rights, can not come and go as they please and are not paid a decent salary (if paid at all since they usually are just given food vouchers), and live in dire poverty. Fortunately for me I did not have to go to a Batey to come to those conclusions, but I'm sure you can tell me just as much information about Deep Sea Creatures.

first off I think you need to update your reading list, as your a few years out of date!. But I'm, sure Nals, or Pichardo or other Dominicans will enter in. Not saying that it did not or does not happen but is not as prevalent as the papers and books from 30 years ago portray

Most Haitians are not cutting sugar for the Vincini's anymore.
Sugar is not the main employement for Haitians anymore.
Most Haitians are working in either construction, or begging
There are currently about 2 million illegal haitians in the country

Maybe you should come down and get some first hand experience, it's not as expensive as a deep sea sub.

Sucre Ethique - Dominican Bateys :The Current Situation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batey_(sugar_workers'_town)
 
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No Dominican's aren't in denial about anything. You are! You don't think that when a Dominicano prieto bembon con cabello malo looks at himself in the mirror in the morning, say's to himself "yaaaawnnn hello there Brad Pitt". Heck no, he knows he's black! You also gotta stop this whole we consider Haitians the enemy garbage, your P!$$!n me off with that stuff. Haitians have gone far on this side of the island. President's, businessman, priests, doctors etc, etc. Haitians have been able to do it all on THIS side. On the other side you have reverse racial discrimination and apartheid against anybody lighter than Wesley Snipes.

So enough about how we victimize "them", the "OTHER". We ain't social conditioned we Dominican's call it like it is, if we want to say; indio, rubio prieto, javao, leave us be. Accept us, don't be bustin in here with your played out North American ULTRA leftist, progressive mumbo jumbo spewin cool aid PC, crap.
 

Africaida

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Looking back at history, it is understandable why this (the general rejecting of Black) may be the case. As it applies to the Social and Racial dynamics of the Dominican Republic, it does certainly seem that Black and African is generally more connected to something undesirable, inferior, ugly, threatening and imposing, whereas White and European is generally more connected to something acceptable, preferable, desirable, good, attractive etc.

No Dominican's aren't in denial about anything. You are! You don't think that when a Dominicano prieto bembon con cabello malo looks at himself in the mirror in the morning, say's to himself "yaaaawnnn hello there Brad Pitt". Heck no, he knows he's black!

Not sure why you are getting so ****ed off, he was asking a question (at least, that's what it seems to me)

Didn't just prove his point ?
 
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I agree with Africaida. Lando's over-the-top defensive reaction to a simple questions seems to show something more than just righteous indignation.
 

AlterEgo

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No Dominican's aren't in denial about anything. You are! You don't think that when a Dominicano prieto bembon con cabello malo looks at himself in the mirror in the morning, say's to himself "yaaaawnnn hello there Brad Pitt". Heck no, he knows he's black! You also gotta stop this whole we consider Haitians the enemy garbage, your P!$$!n me off with that stuff. Haitians have gone far on this side of the island. President's, businessman, priests, doctors etc, etc. Haitians have been able to do it all on THIS side. On the other side you have reverse racial discrimination and apartheid against anybody lighter than Wesley Snipes.

So enough about how we victimize "them", the "OTHER". We ain't social conditioned we Dominican's call it like it is, if we want to say; indio, rubio prieto, javao, leave us be. Accept us, don't be bustin in here with your played out North American ULTRA leftist, progressive mumbo jumbo spewin cool aid PC, crap.

Lando, my son just read this and said "I LIKE that guy, whoever he is, he is RIGHT".

Must be that Matahambre connection...:cheeky:

AE
 

wuarhat

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No Dominican's aren't in denial about anything. You are! You don't think that when a Dominicano prieto bembon con cabello malo looks at himself in the mirror in the morning, say's to himself "yaaaawnnn hello there Brad Pitt". Heck no, he knows he's black! You also gotta stop this whole we consider Haitians the enemy garbage, your P!$$!n me off with that stuff. Haitians have gone far on this side of the island. President's, businessman, priests, doctors etc, etc. Haitians have been able to do it all on THIS side. On the other side you have reverse racial discrimination and apartheid against anybody lighter than Wesley Snipes.

So enough about how we victimize "them", the "OTHER". We ain't social conditioned we Dominican's call it like it is, if we want to say; indio, rubio prieto, javao, leave us be. Accept us, don't be bustin in here with your played out North American ULTRA leftist, progressive mumbo jumbo spewin cool aid PC, crap.

It's not your fault! It's not your fault!
 

NALs

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Here we go again...

elbachatero6504 said:
He allowed the migration of Jewish refugees

That was a political move more than anything else, and the purpose was to boost his image abroad, which eventually it did. Otherwise, how can anyone explain the anti-Semitic laws that Trujillo put in place a few years afterwards, including limiting the Jewish presence to Sos?a with any Jew found outside of there to be swiftly deported back to that town.

elbachatero6504 said:
?he allowed the entrance of Japanese in the 1930's (making them a virtual fence to further deter the entrance of Haitians)

The Japanese were mostly settled in the up-until-then uninhabited Constanza Valley. The Japanese that arrived were experts in developing temperate climate crops, which thanks to the cool climate of the Constanza Valley, those crops flourish there to this very day and that is the only place in the entire Caribbean where that is made possible.

This notion that they were used to ?create a virtual fence to further deter the entrance of Haitians? is seriously challenged by the fact that the Constanza Valley is nowhere near the Haitian border and the valley is where most of the Japanese were sent.

Now, what Trujillo did do was move some DOMINICAN families to the border region, and this was done precisely to make it easier to spot an illegal Haitian immigrant, since Haitians look different from most Dominicans.

elbachatero6504 said:
?even exiles from Spain's Civil War.

That was an attempt of attracting whites of the Latin variety, however they had to be farmers and many were pressured to form families with Dominican women. One has to wonder they the regime didn?t encourage the immigration of white women or even pressured the Spaniards to form family with white Dominican women. Nothing would have worked better at whitening the population than creating more white people, and yet that was not the case.

Some, like the Hungarians, were mostly deported almost as soon as they were brought due to their mischievous ways. All the whites were free to leave the country if they desired to, the Dominican government was even willing to pay for their return trip. This was sort of oxymoronic when it comes to a whitening plan at a time in human history when notions of white supremacy and the notion that white people were essential to create a society with white-European standards of living and ways of doing things (ie. European lifestyles which to this day is what?s considered modern, decent and desirable vs. Native American/African/Asian ways of life which were seen as backwards, harsh, undesirable, etc). For example, living in a cement home with tile roofs, European furniture, etc. is seen as the way all people should live; that contrasts sharply with the opinion people have of living in a wooden hut with dirt floors, rattan home-made furniture, zinc or thatch roofs, etc.

In any case, the migration of whites during the Trujillo dictatorship was so negligible that the white segment of the population didn?t even rise by one percentage points. By the end of the Trujillo dictatorship, most of the white families where the same ones that existed before Trujillo was even born.

The acceptance of Spanish exiles was also a way of Trujillo showing loyalty of sorts to Spanish dictator Franco, who was a very close friend of Trujillo to the degree that Franco accepted to be the baptism godfather of A?da Trujillo.

One thing many people ignore is that the Dominican population of the time was overall much whiter than it is today. There were many towns that had white majorities, even some in the eastern region like Hig?ey according to the Spanish refugee Jos? Forn? Farreras in his 1943 memoirs (see page 38, second paragraph). This, however, was more prevalent in the Cibao, at that time it was where most of the population (urban and rural combined) lived. You can search other memoirs written by foreigners that settled and others that simply visited the country, and their description of the Dominican population in the different towns and regions slightly differs from today?s reality.

elbachatero6504 said:
Furthermore the Parsley Massacre of Haitian Immigrants could also be added to the list of things Trujillo did to send his message of "White is good, Black is bad".

People do try to add to ?that list?, but in reality the massacre was simply an anti-illegal immigration act (many were expelled, the others that decided to defend their stay were eliminated), and this becomes clear when the following is taken into account:

- Documented Haitian immigrants (in that time most were working in the sugarcane industry) were left alone.
- The descendants of the Libertos (African-Americans that were brought by the Haitians and settled mostly in Saman?, Puerto Plata, and the Santo Domingo area) were left alone.
- The descendants of Cocolos and the Cocolos themselves (black immigrants from the British West Indies ? Jamaica, Tortola, St Lucia, Barbados, etc) were left alone.
- Black Dominicans were left alone.

Who were eliminated?

- Basically, illegal Haitian immigrants in the border region.
- Unfortunate black Dominicans that had trouble properly saying perejil, and these were few and far between.

Have you ever wondered why the word perejil was used in this operation? If it was a black racial cleaning attempt, the military guards would had been ordered to eliminate any black person they see, and the massacre would not had been limited to the border region. And if this was not just an anti-illegal immigrant scheme and purely an anti-Haitian scheme, then the Haitians that had their documents that allowed them to work temporarily in the DR would had also been eliminated, and yet they were not.

In any case, massacres are a ?normal? part of the history of the island. Ironically, more massacres were created by the Haitian government than the Dominican government (the multiple massacres of mulattoes that took place through out Haiti (see here and here), the massacre of Dominicans on Dominican soil ordered by the Haitian government (see here), etc. vs. one massacre of undocumented Haitians under Trujillo ?a man that solved everything with the sword ?I say this was due to his training to live and think like a Marine, a Marine without control- and ended up killing over 30,000 Dominicans in total for pure political reasons).

elbachatero6504 said:
There is a constant 'back and forth' of violence where Haitians and Dominicans are in close quarters.

The opposite is true, the ?violence? tends to be isolated and more an exception than the rule, usually after a Haitian criminal does something brutal to a Dominican, such as murder, rape, etc. Other than this, the ?violence? you speak of is more part of your imagination than anything else.

Much more interesting was the Dominican response through out January, February, March, even in to April towards Haiti and Haitians after the earthquake. Do a quick search, you will find plenty to defy your logic of this ?violence? you speak of.

elbachatero6504 said:
The Haitians that do live in the Dominican Republic are at the bottom of the the lower class?

That?s what happens when people move illegally to another country and live outside the legal framework. Take a look at how things function among illegal immigrants in the US. Race has nothing to do with this, not following the rules does. Had race been an issue, the 200,000 or so legal Haitians in the DR would also be relegated to the bottom of the barrel, and yet their Dominican born kids are given Dominican nationality with no hesitation (not so for the illegals), they legally work in formal jobs with benefits such as health insurance, paid vacations, etc (not so for the illegals), etc. Do you see a pattern here between being legal vs illegal?

And to make matters even more interesting, getting a visa in the Dominican embassy in Port-au-Prince or at the consulate in Cap Haitien is a very easy and straight-forward process. Unless the person doesn?t suffer from a disease such as aids or malaria, and are able to finance the cost of the transactions; they will have their legal visa to enter the DR for touristic, residency, working, studying, etc. purposes in no time.

elbachatero6504 said:
?a large portion of them working (slaving would be more apt) in the Batey's in modern day slave plantations.

First of all, batey conditions are no worse than the standard of living of the typical rural Haitian family in Haiti and they earn more than the average Haitian makes in Haiti; so if batey conditions and labor is ?slaving?, then all of Haiti is a huge slavery camp, which it isn?t.

Second, the Haitian population in the DR is approaching 2 million. The population of all the bateys combined is less than 30,000. Please explain to everyone how 1.5% equals a large portion of the Haitian population.

For the record:

Regarding the guy that claimed that Jamaicans attempted to invade the DR, he?s partly correct, however it was not Jamaicans, but the British during colonial times (they also attempted to invade Haiti). Whenever the British attempted to capture any place in the Caribbean or Central America, they always departed from Jamaica which has been a British stronghold since the 1600s. Even today, descendants of immigrants from the British West Indies (ie. Cocolos) are sometimes referred to as Ingleses (the English) by many Dominicans.

Also, at no time in Dominican history has most Haitians in the country ever worked for the Vicini?s. The largest employer (even today) in the country has been the Central Romana, which up until the 1970s, was owned by an American family from New York. The other big employer of Haitian cane cutters was the Dominican government itself, but this is no longer true since a good deal of the sugar cane fields owned by the government are no longer in operation. Also keep in mind that when the sugar industry was being developed from the late 1880s until the 1930s, it was overwhelmingly owned and operated by foreigners who had no qualms about imported foreign labor, despite the native Dominican population?s desires first due to linguistically/cultural/religious differences and then due to historical animosities. At first the labor source was the British West Indies, most of who were English speakers, Protestants, and had an Anglo way of interpreting things which clashed with the Dominican way which has always been Spanish speaking, Catholic, and Latin. Then, during the American military invasion from 1916 to 1929, the Americans, who also had troops in Haiti, started to take a greater stake in Dominican sugar and began using Haiti as a source of labor. From the 1930s to the 1980s the Dominican state began to take a larger stake in the sugar industry, then in the 1990s it started to go downhill and has never fully recovered. This is why today the two biggest players in the sugar industry is the Central Romana (currently owned by a Cuban-American family that lives in South Florida, and also are the largest sugar producers over there. One brother is a democrat and donates large sums of money to that party while the other is a republican and also donates large sums of money to that party. They have done quite a deal in influencing the US government to give preferential treatment to American produced sugar -aka, their family business- AND give Dominican sugar preferential treatment -aka, their family business again!-. They did got in trouble in the US for importing Jamaican laborers to South Florida to work the fields, which is why their Florida plantations are completely mechanized and the US government deported all the Jamaicans back to Jamaica; their Dominican operation is still highly dependent on Haitian labor). Central Romana makes up roughly 60 to 70% of the Dominican sugar industry; much of the rest is Casa Vicini, who are mechanizing their operations up to 80%. There are a few other players, but they are rather small and unimportant.
 
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NALs

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