national anthem and bias

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asopao

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I used to sing this anthem every school day when I was a kid, but what is really talking about? Is it the Independence War against Haiti, or it also includes the Restoration War? Since it was written by Prud'homme in the 1880's. It seems to me that it only makes references in wars against Haiti, including the Soulouque invasions, as it can be seen in the part that says " Las Carreras".

If this is the case , it is ironic that the hymn says

1)" sus cadenas de esclavo rompio"
2)"ningun pueblo ser libre merece, si es esclavo indolente y servil"
3) "que si fuese mil veces esclava,otras tantas ser libre sabra"

It mentions the word " esclavo" ( slave) a couple of times. It kind of make some foreigners that doesn't know island history to believe that the hymn is talking about some slave rebellion against Spanish masters, " Toussaint L'ouverture " style.

Obvioulsly, it doesn't refer to " slave" literaly, but figuratively, as a " subdued" people. If this is the case, then I find it innapropiate,and even, disgusting,that this word is being used that many times when refering that Dominicans separate from Haiti, when it was Haitians that literalily , really FREED, broke the chains of slavery in 1822!

Since Nunez de Caceres didn't do it in 1821,and there are streets named after this guy in DR. :mad:

When this culture of brainwashing, bias and historical distortions ( a.k.a, the total villification of Haitians), is going to have an end in DR?
 
Hillbilly

Hillbilly

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this might get nasty, so play fair.

Regarding the words to the Himno Nacional, it seems to me that with both the independence movement and the restauración fairly close in time to Proud'homme, the national feeling WAs against Haiti. I can agree that the use of the word "esclava" probably means "sumisa" rather than chattel.

And that is a good point that Núñez de Cáceres didn't do much for slaves either...however, neither did Thomas Jefferson....it probably never entered his mind...(Núñez', NOT Jefferson's..we KNOW what entered his mind!!LOL!!)

However, you must remember that the Haitians "conquered" the eastern portion of the island, thereby "enslaving" the hispanic population, whether white, black or mulatto....and it is to that "enslavement" that Proud'homme was referring..

HB
 
bob saunders

bob saunders

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asopao said:
Obvioulsly, it doesn't refer to " slave" literaly, but figuratively, as a " subdued" people. If this is the case, then I find it innapropiate,and even, disgusting,that this word is being used that many times when refering that Dominicans separate from Haiti, when it was Haitians that literalily , really FREED, broke the chains of slavery in 1822!

Since Nunez de Caceres didn't do it in 1821,and there are streets named after this guy in DR. :mad:

When this culture of brainwashing, bias and historical distortions ( a.k.a, the total villification of Haitians), is going to have an end in DR?
Click to expand...

It's all about perception, yours and obviously the Dominican perception at the time. Did the Haitians free the Dominican from Spain, or did they conquer the island for their own, with little thought for the Dominicans. Interesting fact, It was common for both black and indians to capture people and make them their slaves. This was also common in most cultures in that time. The difference was the Europeans/Americans were much more organized about it, as they were and are with most other things.
 
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Chirimoya

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I think it's a touchy interpretation - many national anthems contain this theme, whether or not the country was directly affected by slavery. The Venezuelan NA has the line 'abajo cadenas' and although not the actual NA, Rule Britannia has the line 'Britons never never never shall be slaves'.

Chiri
(who never learned the words to the GB national anthem).
 
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something_of_the_night

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asopao said:
When this culture of brainwashing, bias and historical distortions ( a.k.a, the total villification of Haitians), is going to have an end in DR?
Click to expand...

I hear you.

Maybe when the DR can produce someone like E.B. Du Bois or Marcus Garvey.

-The Kid
 
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A

asopao

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Hillbilly said:
this might get nasty, so play fair.


However, you must remember that the Haitians "conquered" the eastern portion of the island, thereby "enslaving" the hispanic population, whether white, black or mulatto....and it is to that "enslavement" that Proud'homme was referring..
Click to expand...
HB
Click to expand...

This is where " historical distortion/villification" comes into play. Although, I agree with Dominicans making their own separate country. There isn't any mention of anything " good" that Boyer did when he occupied the whole island.

There wasn't any fighting against Boyer, because not only slaves were waiting for him, but also many free Blacks and dissatisfied Mulattoes, who saw in Boyer, another Mulatto, opportunities for them that the elist Caceres wouldn't provide.

Not only did Boyer freed the few remaining slaves, he also made equal jurisdiction for all the races in the island. The Haitian occupation had a big influence in that it was what really impulsed the rise of the Mulattoes to the highest echelons of power in DR.

Boyer didn't see it as being a " conquest", just a union. That's why he included many Easteners(later to be Dominicans) Mulattoes in his government, like Buenaventura Baez Mendez, son of former slave Juana Mendez. Boyer onced said that " All of us, Blacks, Mulattoes and whites, shall be true Haitians".

The word " slave" , IMO, is abused in the anthem. Puerto Rico freed slaves back in 1870's and Cuba in the 1880's !! :angry:

Just imagine how much longer this barbarity was going to last if DR had remain a colony like these two islands.
 
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something_of_the_night

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When The Kid was just a kid living in Higüey, he would hear folks talking about La Marseillaise and saying that the DR version was modeled after it. Years later, while in NYC, The Kid heard an Ecuadorian made the same claim about their anthem.

Any truth to that?

By the way, in conversation with folks from Africa and Mexico and Central America here in Texas, The Kid has never met anyone who did not claim their national anthem as top-notch, the best of the best. After reading several of them, The Kid thinks that almost all are outdated and some are even weird, and he has a hard time connecting current fervor to years-old passion. Familiarity is a powerful thing. Even scary.
 
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