First time visiting DR...what to expect ?

[ashanboy]

I want to go visit DR for the first time, i live in Montreal, can someone tell me what to expect ? apparently there is a lot of discrimination if you're dark skin.

Is that really true ? cause i was hoping one day to get married there...or in Cuba.

Thanks


Ashanboy

[bob saunders]

Go and judge for yourself

[jrzyguy]

agree with bob...visit b4 you plan a wedding. I know a light skinned afro-american woman who has traveled to both places and she encountered racism in Cuba as well. Not out and about...but she was stopped every time she entered her pretty fancy hotel in Cuba...she didnt have this problem in DR.

DO a search here...there are numerous threads on this topic.

I think the hotel problem was more about trying to keep locals out (for security reasons) rather than overt racism.

Go and check both places out and make up your own mind! sounds like a great excuse for two vacations!

[bart6]

many say there is less rascism in DR. than in US. the phrase I heard was there was no black tax, which is why so many blacks vacation on the island, i have a sneaking suspicion that the real reason is the chicas.

[Lapurr]

I dont believe that to be true whatsoever, my daughter has very dark skin, and she got nothing but Love from the DR!

we stayed in a resort, and she was treated equally if not better from the resort staff!!

and like jrzguy said!! check it out!! 2 vacations!! woo hoo!!

[ashanboy]

Well, i'm gonna have to make up my mind soon...but apparently it's the dark people who live overthere that encounter racism, not black tourists, is it true ? ONe dominican girl told me so...

[Lapurr]

I'm not sure about that, perhaps you should ask a Haitian, while you are on vacation in the DR.

are you wondering if you will get action? or if the girls will shun you? i doubt it, i saw many beautiful Dominican girls, holding hands with their Haitian/Dom boyfriends.

And in Cuba it is much worse for the darker skin, they are the ones that actually work in the kitchens and behind the scenes,i remember one time, we were talking to a dark skin Cuban on the street, the police rushed him off, and we said we were just talking to him, the police said, "no allow to talk negro"

[montreal]

I'm not sure about that, perhaps you should ask a Haitian, while you are on vacation in the DR.

And in Cuba it is much worse for the darker skin, they are the ones that actually work in the kitchens and behind the scenes,i remember one time, we were talking to a dark skin Cuban on the street, the police rushed him off, and we said we were just talking to him, the police said, "no allow to talk negro"

Refering to a dark person as negro in Spanish is not insulting like when used in English. It is like refering to someone as blonde. In Cuba your are not allowed to socialize with the locals at all, moreno or rubio.

Dark-skinned people get stopped all the time in the capital by the police (who are looking for Haitians).

If I stay in a hotel with my husband we almost always get stopped before entering (since he is obviously a foreigner they assume I am his "chica")

You really shouldn't experience many problems as a dark-skinned visitor. It will most likely be onvious you are a foreigner and they will leave you alone. Otherwise once you spit out a few English words they will get it.

Have fun!

[Lapurr]

Refering to a dark person as negro in Spanish is not insulting like when used in English. It is like refering to someone as blonde. In Cuba your are not allowed to socialize with the locals at all, moreno or rubio.

Dark-skinned people get stopped all the time in the capital by the police (who are looking for Haitians).

If I stay in a hotel with my husband we almost always get stopped before entering (since he is obviously a foreigner they assume I am his "chica")

You really shouldn't experience many problems as a dark-skinned visitor. It will most likely be onvious you are a foreigner and they will leave you alone. Otherwise once you spit out a few English words they will get it.

Have fun!

Im fully aware of this, "Refering to a dark person as negro in Spanish is not insulting like when used in English"i dabble in learning the Spanish language.

however we met many cubans, and hung out with them in local-non tourista areas, including local discos, they would always mock the dark skin boys, jokingly calling them ugly.

it was very noticable and obvious they felt superior next to the dark skin. Again this was Cuba...Dominican was nothing like that!!

Another thing we experienced in DR was, my daughter being already dark, two weeks in the sun, she is black....the Dominicans would tell her "stay out of the sun, you are too dark, and mock her that she looks Haitian" just jokingly, but i did notice at the resorts the Dominicans hide from the sun, they do not want to get tanned or dark!

[tish]

I live in the DR and have a dark complexion. I'm constantly being asked if I'm from Haiti or Africa. Of course, black people originate from Africa, but have since migrated to other countries. My son has a light complexion, so he is mistaken for being Dominican. So I am questioned alot out of confusion.