The Construction of Racial Identity in the Dominican Republic
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Authors
Meissner, Christine
Issue Date
2001
Type
Thesis
Language
en_US
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
Although a racial democracy may appear to have always existed in the
Dominican Republic, the social and political history of the country contradicts
this mirage. Often time a positive image of many Latin American countries is
illustrated by a comparative analysis with the United States. By relating these
two regions of the Americas, it appears as though Latin America has relatively
low levels of racism in contrast to the blatant racist practices in North America.
Ethnic comparisons also accentuate Latin America as a racial democracy.
Given the pervasive racial mixing, many theorists argue this to be reflective of
harmonious race relations. While these are strong characteristics of many
Latin American societies, they hardly constitute them as a racial paradise.
Mestizaje or race mixture has served as the basis of Latin American and
Caribbean national identity, and has been celebrated as the basis of racial
democracy in the region. However, mestizaje in fact privileges whiteness and
maintains a racial hierarchy similar to, yet subtler than that in the United
States. Racial hierarchies are embedded features of national identity, derived
from a system of slavery shared by all countries in the Americas.
A hierarchical color continuum evident in Dominican society is typical of
many Latin American and Caribbean countries given their similar colonial
histories. Political and economic relations often time reflect socio-racial
relations. It is the latter component that is the focus of this research paper. In
what ways have racist perceptions of blacks permeated Dominican society and
how does it account for the creation of anti-haitianismo? The relationship
between the Dominican Republic and Haiti is fundamentally based on a violent
history generated by inherently racist views of Haitians. This project seeks to
understand the extent to which anti-Haitian views are evident in Dominican
society, and further how they are reflective of Dominican racial self-perceptions.
Description
iii, 44 p.
Citation
Publisher
Kalamazoo, Mich. : Kalamazoo College.
License
U.S. copyright laws protect this material. Commercial use or distribution of this material is not permitted without prior written permission of the copyright holder. All rights reserved.