Dominicans in the U.S. Can you identify?

[pedrochemical]

as long as you keep trying to cram a square peg into an octagonal hole, things will seem like they dont fit.

I like your analogy because a square peg will fit into an octagonal hole in several ways.

 

[POPNYChic]

thats pretty easy: first, the upper classes which are a very small minority, are the "dominating class" because they have nearly all the money. their standards trickle down to the rest of the populace like anywhere else in the world. example: in china and korea people want to be lighter because light people are generally of the ruling, rich class. to them, to be dark is to have been out toiling in the sun like a pauper so its undesirable. a similar dynamic occurs here.

the upper classes in the DR do not really listen to popular music and they are generally not that "colored". well, not in comparison with the mulatto majority that DOES consume all the popular music, anyway.

while the majority has no qualms about mixing dark and light, the upper classes tend to be a bit more white-focused (though not totally either as there are plenty of mulattos in that group these days too). while the upper classes many times prefer anglo music, the rest of the regular folks like their local stuff.

en fin, popular music reflects the majority of the populaces interests and looks. the majority is some shade of brown and thus thats whats celebrated in popular merengue, reggaetton, etc.

we are a multi-faceted society in more ways than one.

 

[pkaide1]

I have read what many of you all do not agree on. As for those who say you don?t care about America?s view, that?s perfectly fine. Probably shouldn?t read on. You don?t need me to tell you that. I care about other countries and I try to learn. The only way people can learn is to challenge and be open. Okay. What is agreed on?

-Do the majority of Dominicans have Spanish, African, and Indian blood?
-Do the majority of AA?s have European (English, British, French, and Spanish), African (W.African), and Indian blood (South East Native American)?
-Did the Spanish from Spain institute or determine how Dominicans and other Latin American countries categorize themselves according to race?
-What was the influence?
-Which race is predominant in elementary history books in your schools?
-Did the Spaniards leave the DR? Did they return?
-Where do the last names of DR citizens derive?
Were there wars in the DR where the mulattoes, Africans and other color races specifically fought against imperialists (Spaniards and French) for freedom and control over the land?

This is what I think has become the greatest insult or a sign of intolerance and ignorance to many in the DR or other Latin American countries.
Many of you feel when someone (I guesss an American, AA or WA) of America says ?black? they mean AA. Due to this you feel your entire culture, history, and everything that makes you relevant is being attached to AA?s who (with the exception of sharing an ancestor over hundreds of years ago) you have absolutely nothing in common with. It is also very demeaning when someone might see the African in you and disregard the Spanish or Indian, or the fact that you might not have one or the other.
The culture or classification of being Dominican carries with it enough to stand alone as a people united in your category. When categorized by another standard, not yours, it is an insult.
If I went to Dominican and I was categorized (without using a derogatory term) by what they would call me according to what they call people that look like me, it would not be an insult. I would however know, very well the differences. I would teach to my family and those that know me the differences because perhaps what makes me different is more than the one thing people are looking at that makes me similar.
This is different and I would think anyone decent has to respect it.
The main point I go back to though, is the difference between AA, black and colored. Three that were used interchangeably are now in America different; and have been for a while. When others come here this is the view Americans whose families have been here for hundreds of years have and when we go to other places we conform or learn their ways.

To those who say AA?s don?t own black. Yes. Correct. That is my entire point. AA?s and White Americans consider AA?s black along with many other people of color from different nations. Maybe it?s terminology.
Through reading and expressing my views on here I am able to see that many bloggers on here do not view the category of ?black? the same as AA?s. For those that critique or give a damn about what ?Black? is in it?s history in America, black was always a very very broad term to classify a race. It simply meant colored people. I never meant to compliment or offend anyone when I said America had a large part of its history (after Bacon?s Rebellion) which didn?t care about which country people were coming from as much as it did about race. The reason for this was because there were so many people from different countries. Well, the race factor was even confusing, so the government by law and its citizens (which excluded Asians and people of colors? voice or input ) made it simple: White or colored. This was the census. Later or along the same time the word ?black? was synonymous with another word and ?negro.? These terms were applied to colored people and AA?s as well. No one asked if this colored person was from?you fill in the blank. Asians in early America were the only ones who always got a different kind of term but the same discrimination. Because of the fact that the majority of colored people in the U.S. were AA or looked AA these words became attached. The mulattoes all were immediately classified as colored b/c the father?s could not and would not take them into their families as rightful members for obvious reasons. So there was only one place for mulatto children to go. All mulattoes, which were many and later would become almost all AA?s or colored had only one race to turn to for procreation. There is no need to teach what most already know.
The point is simple and important. AA?s and yes most Americans have a very broad and narrow view when it came to the word coloreds or White. They could see someone come from all regions of the earth and immediately classify one way or the other (with exception to most Asians and Indians). They could narrowly and conveniently ignore (I say ignore loosely) the difference in countries, culture, and accent.
With all the rules, laws, wars, colonizing, and privileges set strictly for only those White it became obvious in fine print and in institutions what was evident. What was evident until 1970 and written and pronounced before America and Europe? America had a strong system of White versus Colored. The colored people took hundreds of years before uniting as a people (for countless reasons: among some were seeing themselves as different from the guy in the same position b/c of tribe, language, region, history). For those that know tons about America?s history I?m speaking after Bacon?s Rebellion. After this rebellion White as a race in America became pronounced as the standard for the first time, and you can guess what the pecking order was.

You should start reading some serious books about Dominican History and culture, socialized more with Dominicans and maybe you will understand.

 

[DominiRican]

This is probably a dead thread, but I have to say this was a fantastic read. I read the first 10 or so pages and bounced around a bit, and thoroughly enjoyed the link from Lambada, http://www.u.arizona.edu/~jag/POL596A/torres-sailblackdom.pdf. I ran a search on "race" in this forum to learn more about race in the DR. I keep putting off a visit, but it looks like I will be visiting in the Fall, FINALLY. I've never been to the DR nor have I ever been to Puerto Rico, where my father originates.

Whenever I am asked where my family is from I usually start off with the Dominican Republic, mostly because I find it more interesting, and my father's side of the family is more European looking than I am, at least the ones that I've encountered.

I was going to add to this thread about my experiences, but I decided not to prolong a topic that ended last year. I just wanted to post that this was a great thread and compliment everyone that contributed to it.