Reporters located in New York City have continued to gather more fallout after the inclusion of Haitians in the Dominican Day Parade last Sunday, 12 August 2018. One reporter said that the parade is part of all the conversations in Upper Manhattan where there is a huge concentration of Dominicans. The majority of the persons interviewed agreed and a general rejection of the Haitian participation in the parade. They demanded the resignation of Maria Khury as the president of the committee that holds the parade. Some 143 Dominicans were interviewed randomly and were asked the question: “What opinion do you have about the participation of Haitians during the Dominican Parade last Sunday, and why?” Some 67% of the responders agreed to reject the Haitian participation push for by Mayor DeBlasio. The persons polled noted that by accepting the participation of Haitians in the Dominican Parade, Khury showed an even greater lack of knowledge of what it is to be a Dominican. The observer says that Khury apparently ignores the fact that the parade isn’t an event for Dominicans to celebrate in order to show the world their music (merengue and bachata, not gaga), and their folklore (how they dance, not going into trances) and representing our beaches, not tigers, or lions or elephants. Likewise, the reporters compiled opinions that the Dominican Parade is about Dominican history (Duarte, Sanchez and Mella, and not Toussaint L’Ouverture), and traditions (that include going to churches,’s not practicing voodoo).
The people surveyed noted that the politicization of the event is due to the fact that the current leadership was not elected by the community nor does it represent the interests of the community because it was imposed by local politicians and the groups that participate have to respond to their interests. 20% of those interviewed were in favor of the Haitian participation saying “we are all Dominicans.” A small percentage (12.6%) did not wish to give an opinion.
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El Nacional
Dominican Parade
20 August 2018
