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Black in Latin America Haiti & the Dominican Republic: An Island Divided
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True.
A big paradigm difference is that in the states there is an entire industry complete with paid lobbyists based on racial identity that goes back multiple generations. It simply doesn't exist here.
It makes no difference if one goes to the states...to AL or MS as was suggested...to see what some foreigners think of a Dominican, just as it makes no difference when an American white guy comes to the DR and is labeled a "gringo"...which many find somewhat insulting (I could care less what someone calls me.)
The fact that Dominicans don't fully identify with their African roots...if they have them...should be inconsequential to outsiders. Unless, of course, the outsider is promoting an agenda of some sort that relies on the acknowledgement.
Maybe I should get resentful when I'm accused of denying my British and German heritage and instead insist on calling myself an American.
And from MY experience in the DR, much like Chip's, Haitians are not particularly liked or accepted NOT because of their race, but because of a couple of centuries of bad blood between differing factions that culminated in shooting wars and bloodshed.
Hundreds of times? A hundred different, separate situations with a hunderd different families, or the same idiot a hundred times?
10 times worse? Really? What is the metric for judging this?
Shalena, no offense, but you don't need to resort to absurd exagerations to express your disagreement with aspects of normal life in the DR vs. the U.S.
Others live here and have rarely, if ever, experienced what you claim.
Past week in a friendly Dominican way of greeting someone I touch in his shoulder and said... What's up buddy to my African American coworker.
Do you know what was his response??? Hey man you punch me in front of my black people!!!
Sh**t why is this people here so concerned about race and color, in DR I did never experience this situation.
JJ
Do you know what was his response??? Hey man you punch me in front of my black people!!!
Sh**t why is this people here so concerned about race and color, in DR I did never experience this situation.
JJ
This is not just exclussive to DR, it is a latin america thing and the whole world, even among whites where for many the perfect baby would be a blonde, blue eyed baby.
In the US for example, the color black is so discriminated that not even black dogs are able to escape the brunt, in a report I read, black dogs are the highest number of dogs put to sleep because they are not the ones most adopted. Also black parents feel the need to keep telling their kids "Black is beautiful" in order to boost their kids' selfesteem. In Mexico as well as many other latin american countries the biggest fear for parents is that their kids come out too dark or looking too indigenous.
We are living in a white color obsessed world and the darker you are the hardest time you will have in the world nomatter what part of the planet you are in or come from, this is true even among African tribes.
Hasnt this thread been done already about 500 times?
I think anybody that says Dominicans arent race councious has got to be high. I'm from the south, actually had family in the Klan, and I can tell you that even rednecks down south pay less attention to race than Dominicans do. Way less. Dominican race identity permeates every aspect of everything. Ever heard of "mejorando la raza"? Or thought about how "blanco" and "bonito" are used pretty much synonomsly? Same with "pelo fino" and "pelo bueno". How there are about 50 ways to call somebody black without calling them black? I know this topic has already been beat to death in countless forums, but I still cant believe that some people will say Dominicans arent concerned with race. Race is a central theme in what it means to be Dominican.
I think anybody that says Dominicans arent race councious has got to be high. I'm from the south, actually had family in the Klan, and I can tell you that even rednecks down south pay less attention to race than Dominicans do. Way less. Dominican race identity permeates every aspect of everything. Ever heard of "mejorando la raza"? Or thought about how "blanco" and "bonito" are used pretty much synonomsly? Same with "pelo fino" and "pelo bueno". How there are about 50 ways to call somebody black without calling them black? I know this topic has already been beat to death in countless forums, but I still cant believe that some people will say Dominicans arent concerned with race. Race is a central theme in what it means to be Dominican.
You hit the nail right on the head Cobra, only smart people seem to understand this.
Yeah you have to be super smart to even think about that. I'll bet you got tons of smily faces on your schoolwork.
I Was "Fortunate" To Be Born In A Small Town With,No "Negroes"!!!!!
Now before you send me all those "PMs" calling me a "White Racist",a Bigot,and a lot worse,let me explain why!!!
It was,and is,a farm town with a population of 16,000.The number never changes,every time a girl gets pregnant,a boy leaves town!(That's A Joke!)
There were no "negroes" in the town.The only "negro" I ever heard about was,"Little Black Sambo"Yes,we read about him in school! No "PCness" back then.The only "negroes " I ever saw,was on Sunday evening at 8 pm.That was when we went down to the train Depot,after ice cream cones at the Dairy Queen,to watch the Santa Fe streamliners stop for passengers.As the train came to a stop,several men in nice uniforms stepped down from the cars,put down a stool,and helped the passengers get on board.I wanted that job! A uniform,and to ride the Santa Fe "Chief"!These guys were"cool"!
Later I found out that some of these "Cool Guys" lived next to the depot in the Santa Fe Hotel.One must have had a son,because one day at school,this "negro" boy came into my classroom,about 4th. grade I think,as a new student.I wanted to get to know him to see about the "Dream Job" I wanted.Turns out,we were both good baseball players,and became friends.One day after school,he came to my grandma's house to play.We were behind her garage,playing with matches,a very popular pass time in the 50s.
'He had to,"go to the bathroom".He "dropped Trou" behind some bushes,and to my complete AMAZEMENT I discovered thet he was "negro" all over!He asked my why I was looking at him,I told him,he must have called me a "Dumb A$$!! "Live And Learn"!
When I was 11,we moved to Valencia Venezuela. The plane stopped in Port-Au-Prince,Haiti on the way.I was shocked when we got off the plane.100s of the "Blackest",Roundest faces I had EVER seen! Again,I was AMAZED!
After living in Valencia for a few months I learned that there are lots of "shades" of People!
I think that "Chip" might be right on "This One"!
"So Called" Racism ,may be more do to economic advantage that one group has over another.
In Northern Ireland,the Catholics,hate the Protestants,in lebonan,the Muslems hate the Christians,The Jews hate the Arabs,and visa versaand so on and so forth!
In the immortal words of that great philosopher,Rodney King,"Why Can't We All Just Get Along???"
Point is,I think that if "Intolerance is "Learned",then "Tolerance" can also be learned.
Except when it comes to Dominicans!:classic:
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
Now before you send me all those "PMs" calling me a "White Racist",a Bigot,and a lot worse,let me explain why!!!
It was,and is,a farm town with a population of 16,000.The number never changes,every time a girl gets pregnant,a boy leaves town!(That's A Joke!)
There were no "negroes" in the town.The only "negro" I ever heard about was,"Little Black Sambo"Yes,we read about him in school! No "PCness" back then.The only "negroes " I ever saw,was on Sunday evening at 8 pm.That was when we went down to the train Depot,after ice cream cones at the Dairy Queen,to watch the Santa Fe streamliners stop for passengers.As the train came to a stop,several men in nice uniforms stepped down from the cars,put down a stool,and helped the passengers get on board.I wanted that job! A uniform,and to ride the Santa Fe "Chief"!These guys were"cool"!
Later I found out that some of these "Cool Guys" lived next to the depot in the Santa Fe Hotel.One must have had a son,because one day at school,this "negro" boy came into my classroom,about 4th. grade I think,as a new student.I wanted to get to know him to see about the "Dream Job" I wanted.Turns out,we were both good baseball players,and became friends.One day after school,he came to my grandma's house to play.We were behind her garage,playing with matches,a very popular pass time in the 50s.
'He had to,"go to the bathroom".He "dropped Trou" behind some bushes,and to my complete AMAZEMENT I discovered thet he was "negro" all over!He asked my why I was looking at him,I told him,he must have called me a "Dumb A$$!! "Live And Learn"!When I was 11,we moved to Valencia Venezuela. The plane stopped in Port-Au-Prince,Haiti on the way.I was shocked when we got off the plane.100s of the "Blackest",Roundest faces I had EVER seen! Again,I was AMAZED!
After living in Valencia for a few months I learned that there are lots of "shades" of People!
I think that "Chip" might be right on "This One"!
"So Called" Racism ,may be more do to economic advantage that one group has over another.
In Northern Ireland,the Catholics,hate the Protestants,in lebonan,the Muslems hate the Christians,The Jews hate the Arabs,and visa versaand so on and so forth!
In the immortal words of that great philosopher,Rodney King,"Why Can't We All Just Get Along???"
Point is,I think that if "Intolerance is "Learned",then "Tolerance" can also be learned.
Except when it comes to Dominicans!
:classic:CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
Specious reasoning. "I have never been struck by lightning so therefore NO ONE ever gets trucks by lightning."
My interpretation is the only one that matters because from the outisde looking I can tell who fosters and has been acclimated to to the dynamics of an inferiority/superiority complex.
Pelo malo pelo fino means bad hair(nappy hair), good hair, is easy to comb while nappy hair is hard to comb this has nothing to do dominicans race denial but if you think it does, blacks are just as guilty since one can say that blacks in the US are trying to deny being black by relaxing their hair too.
What does the word prieto, negro, moreno, indio obscuro mean to dominicans? last time I checked
all these words in general mean black.
Yes, you have a right to think however you want to think. BTW, I am not black either, I am Japanese. Anybody with any sense can see that I'm Japanese.
SHALENA
P.S.
One excellent thing that comes from Dominicans arriving fresh-faced and starry eyes in NYC or anywhere else in the US....their a$$es learn QUICK that they're black! Can't deny it in MY country baby, my white sisters and brothers will definitely let you KNOW
You cant deny it because your housing options have already been determined for you when you arrive.
Washington Heights is in Harlem. The people who live in Bushwick find themselves on the border of Bedford Stuyvesant. In the Bronx there are no demarcation zones. Then you have the NEW places like Allentown, Pa and Reading where housing segregation against Latinos is perverse.
And for anyone who saw Gates first prgram a few years ago, he did a DNA test on Dr. Mae Jamison and it turned out by genetic composition she is more Chinese than Black, even though her appearance shows something else.
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These people are just as Dominican as the Brugal Rum or Larimar, they would feel sorry for Sking and laugh at her if she was to walk up to some of them and imply that they don't look Dominican because there is no pure spanish blood there according to her.
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Bachata,
I hope you did not take what that idiot said seriously. Believe it or not, he was just trying to measure his johnson in front of his "boys". As a Black person from the caribbean, I have came up on idiots like your coworker many times here in America. He is just an idiot who has never left the town he was born in.
Ummm...yeah they do all mean black. It would be insulting to call anybody one of those names, except moreno, to their face, except maybe as a term of endearment. If I as a white man called any person I dont know one of those names they would be fighting words.
Beleive it or not, this "pelo malo" and "pelo bueno" thing is very prevalent in the entire Caribbean, it's not just a Dominican thing. Except for what I saw on television I never knew racism existed in such a harsh manner until I came to the USA where they try to pigeon-hole everyone into racial categories. If a Dominican or any other nationality for that matter, believes he/she is blue, gray, white, black, or green who are we to tell them no? We are what we are.
I started this thread with a sincere desire to know more about my adopted homeland, I have followed it if not every day then nearly so. I get the impression that the Dominicans genuinely are not colour prejudiced only far too many of us blancos/gringos. The important thing , it appears to me, is that they should not be confused with Haitians, for known historical reasons. What normal person could care less what colour somebody is, eg. a pretty girl is a pretty girl! Genealogy comes into it, my only surprise is that so many Dominicans seem to know so little about their forebears and don't seem interested in finding out. In my 5 or so years here the only typical Dominican trait that causes me difficulty and irritation is that I do wish they would speak clearly. For me as a septuagenarian Brit I find genealogy fascinating and educational, I now know why the family crest is "winged spurs" and I'm not ashamed but happy they worked because I'm here! Of course we have a problem on this thread and also on the whole forum and that is that only well educated Dominicans contribute and sadly they are are a minority in this country.i don't know if I've stired up a bit more mud or whatever, it will be interesting to find out.
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