Day Of The Races

Ken

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Jan 1, 2002
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From today's Sosua News:

[h=5]On 12 October this year again the 'day of the races' is celebrated. In fact on October 12, 1492 Columbus discovered America, but this day is not celebrated in honor of Columbus anymore. For the cruel actions of the Spaniards and the diseases they brought with them, the Indians in Hispaniola (Dominican Republic and Haiti) were completely eradicated in 100 years. For the slave labor on the sugar cane plantations then black slaves from Africa were brought over. The Spaniards mingled with the indigenous population and their black slaves. This mixing led to a new race in the Dominican Republic. They say here: 'We are not Spanish, not Indian or African, but we are Dominican (Soy Dominicano)!' On this day the students of all schools in Sos?a will do plays, music and dance performances to portray this history.[/h]
[h=5]Now October 12 is celebrated as the day that the Dominican people arose. The day of the races (D?a de la Raza).[/h]
 

CaptnGlenn

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Mar 29, 2010
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Hahaha... I liked this post, and didn't know that the day was celebrated in this way. The title of the thead had me fooled though. I assumed "races" was referring to horse racing, not "RACES" as in different peoples. LOLOLOL I half expected to see a link to a youtube clip from the Marx Brothers "A Day at the Races". LOL Groucho, Harpo, Chico, and even Zeppo and Gummo!!!
 

Criss Colon

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Jan 2, 2002
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yahoomail.com
There is nothing wrong with today's "Dominicanos" celebration of "Who They Are".
Except that all "Peoples" need to have respect for their cultural and racial heritage.
Dominicans don't like to do that!
Well, they DO like to claim their "Espanol", and "Indio" "ROOTS.
Their "African Blood", "Not So Much"!
I remind my kids here from time-to-time that although they may not see it in the mirror, it is still in their "Blood"!
More Dominicans should remember that!
If you don't respect your past, you can't respect yourself now!
Kinda shows, doesn't it?
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kimbjorkland

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Apr 6, 2011
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Well it won't be the first time in Dominican history where the school books spread a falsehood is it?

Dominican is not a race. Unless Nigerian is a race or Ghana'ian is a race.

Why white wash the African influence? Thank you Trujillo
 

NALs

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Jan 20, 2003
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BTW, I think this celebration is the most stupid thing that can be done. Most of the Indians died due to diseases and slavery in the DR was hardly practiced after the 1500s. That's the reason when slavery was made illegal in 1822, the emancipation affected a tiny minority of the population (and they themselves were a minority among the blacks) despite most of the population being of mixed race.

And the Dominican population became mostly mulatto due to the extreme poverty that affected the colony after the first century of colonization. That poverty which affected all social levels, caused racial differences to break down and made it very difficult for most institutions, including slavery itself, to be rigidly maintained.

This celebration seems to me a further importation of attitudes that are much more appropriate of countries like the US, to mention one, where slavery was maintained strong for centuries and afterwards, where mixed race individuals were made invisible through constant denial, and where after slavery, the ex-slave population and their descendants were subjected to one of the most cruel apartheid system ever created.

There's plenty of reasons for the racial resentments that have afflicted much of the US for years, not so much in the DR.

What happened in the DR is very much what happened in almost all colonies that were very poor (Venezuela is a good example.) And it also explains why its one of the few countries in the world where mulattoes are the majority of the population. Had slavery been an intense institution, it would had been more like in the US where the mixed race element is not the dominant group in numbers.
 
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