Part 1

Even before reading the article, I already knew that historically, the Dominican Republic

has been characterized by hastened racial discrimination. When the Dominican Republic became

a republic, the move aimed at separating the country from Haiti as a way of separation from what

people in this country regarded as the black community. Initially, the Haitians were opposed to

the idea of separation of the Dominican Republic from Haiti which resulted in a war that ended

in 1855. As I understood, the end of the war was marked by increased hatred, centered on

racism. In this country, the residents were mixed race and this meant that they were neither black

nor white. Consequently, calling them black was visualized by them as an insult and this as I

understood was the reason why black people in the Dominican Republic started to correct their

skin color through bleaching. Reading the article has made me realize that I underestimated the

extent and degree of racism in the Dominican Republic which dominates even in top leadership.

Pena Gomez was elected by the majority of Dominican citizens to become the next president.

However, people took to the street, protesting that it unpatriotic for the citizens to elect a black

president (1088). Deep down, they understood that they were blacks but they did not want to

admit.

Response

I agree that, even before reading the article, one already understands that the Dominican

Republic has suffered much from racism to a point that it seems insulting when you call a person

black. It, therefore, reaches a point where they go on to correct their outlook so that they look

whiter. I also agree that after reading the article, one’s perception cannot change. In fact, one

sees clearly how the blacks are treated unfairly in the Dominican Republic, even when the

perpetrators understand well that they are also not whites.

Part 2

 Racism predominantly lies among the elites- As I have learned from the article, the elites

are the source of racism as depicted in the 1994 election where Jose Francisco Pena

Gomez, a black candidate was elected as the country’s president. Although Gomes had an

overwhelmingly huge victory, he was denied his rightful position by the incumbent

president. Resources of the state were even used to declare those that voted Gomez as

unpatriotic (1088).

 Traditionally, Afro-Dominicans fail to admit that they are blacks as a collective banner-

the article highlights that, since Dominicans are neither White nor Black, they use this

chance to deny their blackness because they want to assert themselves to the Western

culture. In this way, it becomes more realistic for them to claim political, social,

economic and cultural causes of the Western world (1086).

 Former plantation economy was the source of racism- Racism that was instigated many

years ago was caused by white supremacist ideas of the plantation economy. Since the

blacks worked as slaves during this period, even after the collapse of the plantation

economy, Dominicans demeaned the blacks, viewing them as their inferiors (1096).

 The War of Restoration had a balancing effect- as I have learned, though the Dominicans

associated themselves with the Spanish, the war that they fought against Spanish white

soldiers made them realize that they were not whites themselves; now visualizing

themselves as neither whiter nor blacks (1092).

 Racism was the cause of separation of Hispaniola into two countries- Initially; Hispaniola

was one nation before it was split into Haiti and the Dominican Republic. As I have

learned from the article, the cause of partition was because the Dominicans who regarded
themselves as whites were adamant that they could not be ruled by the black Haitian,

because to them, it was an insulting phenomenon (1087).

 References

Torres-Saillant, S. (2000). The Tribulations of Blackness: Stages in Dominican Racial

Identity. Callaloo, 23(3), 1086-1111. doi: 10.1353/cal.2000.0173