I wasn't sure where to post this but here goes. I was on a flight to Santo Domingo and I struck up a conversation with the attractive speaker (the Spanish speaking flight attendant). My friend who is a native Spanish speaker couldn't place her accent (her Spanish was impeccable) so I used that as in to talk to her. It turned out she was from San Pedro de Mariscos. During our conversation she said there are Dominicans who live in New York City and there are Dominicans that lived elsewhere in the U.S. and that they tend to be very different. I dated a girl from New York City who said she normally wouldn't date guys from Caribbean and that I was different from the Jamaican guys in New York City. My question is, has anyone experience a difference in the general behavior of Dominicans who live in New York as oppose to the Dominicans that live elsewhere in the States? For disclosure sake, the only Dominicans I know here in Atlanta is a CDC researcher, a rich kid that was a soccer goalkeeper in the Italian third division and a school teacher from La Romana.
- Thread starter xamaicano
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There are Dominicans from New York and there are Dominicans from other states
Let's say perceptions of Dominicans general behavior is relative to where they live. I was speaking to a Dominican friend from San Pedro the other day. He has lived in Massachusetts for many years now. He was talking about how he was looking for more good Dominican resturants. I asked him why doesn't he go to Lawrence Ma. There are tons of Dominicans there and a few resturants. His reply was. "Those Domincans are different." He does not want to be associated with "them". Generally speaking the Dominicans in Lawrence are perceived as thugs just as the Dominicans from NYC are seen.
I know Domincans from both Lawrence and NYC. The ones I know are not thugs. They do have to work harder to convince the general public otherwise.
Like any ethnic group, there are Dominicans and there are Dominicans.
Somewhat similar analogy: Italian Americans from Bensonhurst and Bay Ridge in Brooklyn are very different from Italian Americans from Long Island and upstate NY. They dress, talk and act differently.
Likewise, I think Dominicans from 'ghettos' like Washington Heights/Inwood, Passaic, Perth Amboy, etc., will be different than Dominicans who grow up in middle-class mixed America.
Last February we spent a week at Lifestyles in POP, and the Dominican sales staff did their best to coerce us into joining their "vacation club". Our sales pitch was all in Spanish. About the 3rd day he asked my husband where he was from. He answered New Jersey. Sales guy says 'No, I mean, you speak Spanish, where are you from? Colombia?' He answered that he was born in Santo Domingo, and the guy blinked a time or two before answering. Like your stewardess, Mr AE's Spanish didn't give away anything.
PS I think you mean San Pedro de Macoris [Mariscos is seafood]
Somewhat similar analogy: Italian Americans from Bensonhurst and Bay Ridge in Brooklyn are very different from Italian Americans from Long Island and upstate NY. They dress, talk and act differently.
Likewise, I think Dominicans from 'ghettos' like Washington Heights/Inwood, Passaic, Perth Amboy, etc., will be different than Dominicans who grow up in middle-class mixed America.
Last February we spent a week at Lifestyles in POP, and the Dominican sales staff did their best to coerce us into joining their "vacation club". Our sales pitch was all in Spanish. About the 3rd day he asked my husband where he was from. He answered New Jersey. Sales guy says 'No, I mean, you speak Spanish, where are you from? Colombia?' He answered that he was born in Santo Domingo, and the guy blinked a time or two before answering. Like your stewardess, Mr AE's Spanish didn't give away anything.
PS I think you mean San Pedro de Macoris [Mariscos is seafood]
Yes, there are ghetto Dominicans and non ghetto Dominicans. Unfortunately the ghetto chopos from the Heights and Lawrence have hogged the spot light with their thuggish behavior and style of dress. The result? A ruined reputation/image for all the good hard working ones.
Yeah, me too. For the longest time we thought he was South American. He drove a Alfa Romeo with an European girlfriend. Awesome goalie though.
I'm just shocked to hear there's a Dominican who was a soccer goalkeeper...:surprised
That is a well known fact amongst "the other Dominicans". The ones that are focused, involved in helping their communities thrive, actual contributing members of society and active in raising a well balanced family.
The few I've met in LA & here in ATL were truly in search of a better way of life not in bleeding the govt dry or raising thugs.
We've been asked where our so-called accent is from also.
The few I've met in LA & here in ATL were truly in search of a better way of life not in bleeding the govt dry or raising thugs.
We've been asked where our so-called accent is from also.
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I see the point on the difference with Dominican from different states, I have lived NY, MD, GA, TX, WA, CA, CO and if there is one thing in common that I have found in the few DR that I have met was the happy smile of seeing one of there own. I am in Brasil now and will comment later if I meet any one from DR here to see if there is a difference.
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For the most part who you are as a person is a combination of your upbringing, character/ environment. That being said the largest Dominican population in NYC hails from Washington Heights which is known for its drug environment. It being a highly populated rat race environment tends to breed chaos; add to that the fact that most of the dominican population living there are people who came here to escape their impoverished lifestyles from DR most of the times illegally by crossing to PR. So, they are moving from one poor environment to another without speaking the language an dhaving misconceptions of what really is the US of A.
Kind of like when people from New Jersey move to "Bed Sty to have a better standard of living????????????
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I agree with your beginning statement but respectfully disagree with some of your other statements. Washington Heights and Inwood are mostly bedroom communities besides the areas around the Hospital, 181st St. and Dykeman. There have been quite a few changes in the level of rents and types of businesses which do populate the area. More wine bars, restaurants that do not only specialize in rice and beans, spas and others. There is actually a vibrant young middle class which live in Washington Heights who are both born in the DR and from DR or mixed ethnicity.
Now there is a ghetto mentality among some of the Dominican youth in the neighborhood, but many avoid that lifestyle and are hardworking successful students. Many of the not so successful students are still sweet innocent (hijos de mami) types who barely read and write. (I teach high school in NYC) This is usually directly connected to the family situation which came from the DR to the US. I would guess that maybe half the people we know came from land or business owning families in the DR before they immigrated to the US. The other half came from the employee group. Not everyone was escaping poverty but was looking forward to more opportunities through immigration. Mostly for their children. Many middle and upper middle class Dominicans moved here and worked 20-30 years in a factory or at a parking garage when they could make money doing this. Their children are professionals in the US and some retire to the family farm for at least part of the year (the cold part). These families were never poor and had to give up having house keepers when they came here.
I would argue that a small percentage of Dominicans have come to the US, came without documents, false documents or overstayed a tourist visa. Within the maybe 1000 or so within my wife's family circle and from my interactions in the school system, 5% would be a very high guess and probably closer to 2-3% if we actually did a study.
The children of Dominican families who have settled in other parts of NYC and the US have mixed and blended into their environments. We are seeing more and more Dominicans marrying outside their own culture within our circle. I constantly meet 14-18 year old students at the schools I visit who are of mixed ethnicity and many from middle to upper class while in the DR.
I just want to point out the different strata of Dominican society which have come to the US. We happen to live 15 minutes from the George Washington bridge on the Jersey side. Dominicans have been moving to these neighborhoods for the last 20 years. Half the baseball players of many of the local communities are made up of ethnic Dominican players. They all have a few. I will stop here.