46 thoughts on “Dominicans Are Racist (?)”

1. Comment from who appears to be an AA living in the DR: I found it interesting and it’s consistent with what I’ve been reading over the last couple of days regarding the history of the conflict between the DR and Haiti, including the “race” issue. There’s much I, and we, don’t know, so let’s not be quick to level accusations and potentially mislabel events.

   “African-Americans and US citizens in general need to do some research on the history of the island of Quisqeya before it became Haiti and the Dominican Republic. After Christopher Columbus and his brothers got lost and landed on the island and named it Hispanola, he and his comrades carried out a campaign of torture, rape, and murder that all but wiped out the indigenous Taino population. Those who weren’t slaughtered died as a result of diseases that Europeans brought along with them. Their propensity for sex with the animals they traveled with and poor hygiene habits unleashed viruses and pathogens that decimated the local people and weakened those who survived long enough to fight the guests that had long outworn their welcome. Africans were brought to the island to work as slaves after the Taino were wiped out. The agricultural-based slavery on the side of the island colonized by the French was harsh and quite brutal. The French were notoriously abusive because they regarded the African as subhuman. Haitians have retained more of the African phenotypic features because French men didn’t rape or cohabit with African women that he regarded as a subhuman species. On the other side of the river, slavery under the Spaniards was less harsh. It was a cattle ranching slavery. The slave rode a horse next to his master. They slave swung a machete while riding alongside his master. There was much more sexual activity between Spanish master and African slave. Consequently there were many more mulattoes on this side of the island. To minimize chances of a slave revolt, the Spanish master raised the living standard of the mulatto slave and even married them and brought them into his family. When the Haitians crossed the river after defeating their French masters, they were easily identified by the different language and the distinct African phenotype. The Haitians easily overpowered the fleeing Spaniards and the mulatto loyalists who preferred to remain subjects to Spain than part of the new Republic of Haiti, whose leaders had declared slavery abolished and the entire island as the Republic of Haiti. This mulatto class would ultimately form the wealthy and powerful oligarchy class that dominate every sector of Dominican society today. After a series of bloddy battles with rape and murder of innocent people on both sides, the Dominican Republic won independence from Haiti. The harsh treatment imposed on the Dominicans, forced learning of Creole and French, outlawing of Spanish, the rape, and murder of Dominicans by the occupying Haitian forces were so unjust that some Hatian military leaders joined the Dominican resistance. After independence the purging of anything that was Haitian unfortunately devolved to a disdain for the African phenotype. By the time the ruthless dictator Trujillo rises to power, anti-Haitian sentiments could be easily exploited to distract Dominicans while the oligarchs enriched themselves off the backs of cheap, bought and smuggled in Haitian migrant workers. What African-Americans need to understand is that Trujillo and his people taught Dominicans to hate what Marcus Garvey, Martin King, and Malcolm X taught us to love. They did a serious job on the psyche of the Dominican people. Now this historical rejection of blackness is being used as cover for an issue today that has very little to do with color but has more to do with politics and economics. The gold and precious metal mining interests want access to rural land occupied primarily by Haitian migrant workers and their descendants. Pushing this population into cities that are themselves struggling to accommodate legal Dominicans would lead to civil unrest and violence as competition for meager resources grows to unmanageable levels. The schools, medical facilities and housing can’t absorb this influx of people most of which arrived across the border in the wake of the tragic earthquake in Haiti. I lived in Houston, working as a science teacher when our city welcomed 180,000 evacuees from Hurricane Katrina. The strain on Houston’s resources was lessened by millions of dollars that came from FEMA. Dominican Republic is a poor country that absorbed Haitian refugees with no relief funds from the billions that were collected by groups who were supposed to be helping rebuild Haiti and resettle families. The economic situation in Dominican Republic has reached a point where it could no longer afford to have such a large sector of its population undocumented and not paying taxes, yet utilizing public services.”

2. I’m only attracted to black guys so I could care less about them being racist. Hell most of these non-blacks that want black men are total bottoms anyway (in my experience) so that would be no fun

   And that video was a mess

3. This post and the comments are extremely prejudice towards the Latino community. I am sick at everything I have read and would urge everyone to not look at their POV from a place of ignorance. Thank you from a proud Dominican woman.

4. Jamari… I’ve read your blogs for YEARS and have never attempted to pipe in. But this one topic is one that always ruffles my feathers! I read through all of the comments (as usual) and I can see how little people are informed about the Caribbean and it’s various cultures. I will say this though, for the person who stated that Trinis, Jamaicans etc. are “West Caribbeans” WRONG. Everything West of the Virgin Islands would be just that… WEST. Any island country South of the Virgin Islands would be EAST. For those that are saying that DR is in some ways, displaying behavior that stems from a long history of attempted takeovers by Haiti; need to reconcile with the true history of Hispaniola ..

   I cringed after watching a short documentary on this situation going on in DR. The blatant disrespect and disregard of people of Haitian descent shows how little social growth they have beyond Haiti itself. DR is a poor country, and Haiti is poorer. But DR never had to pay for it’s freedom from it’s oppressors the way Haiti has had to. Millions wasted in payment for perceived losses to it’s former colonial master France has helped to create a state of incredible degradation. This has driven those people across the borders of Hispaniola to find work and build a better livelihood.

   It’s SO incredibly sad that these lighter skinned blacks, who celebrate being lighter, celebrate having a more mixed bloodline, would seek to act so racist towards technically, their cousins. It’ saddens me that these bastard children of the African diaspora, who dance, sing, eat even worship (re: Santeria) from a core that is distinctly African, would not seek to build WITH their neighbor. Our colonial masters did one hell of a job f*****g up the minds of our ancestors.

5. The deteriorating relations between Haiti & DR has less to do with race than the average person thinks it does. Hell, most Dominicans are black. Haiti has pulled several stunts throughout history trying to forcefully take over DR, that’s why Haitians are disliked & distrusted there. People want to jump to their own conclusions that barely scratch the surface of what they think the issue is, and don’t really know the history of those countries and even what was going on with the indigenous peoples before the Spanish & the blacks turned up on their island uninvited.

   1. Why do you put “the blacks” in the same sentence as “the Spanish” turning up uninvited. You act as if “the blacks” weren’t forced there against their will.

6. I know know where you’re from, but here in Orlando, there are a lot of Hispanic–mostly Puerto Ricans, a lot of them from every Spanish speaking countries in South America and the Carribean. Plus, I work with several, and I’ve notice they are, indeed, racist; they’re racist not only to other races, but also to their own darker kind.
   Yet, the one’s who are really nice are really cool. They’re ride or die friends, though these they are hard to find, but they’re out there. And the men–oh the men–mess around, even the married ones. For instance, one wolf I met at a temp job was married, and we use to fuck like crazy in his office.
   As far as the video (the second one), the young lady must have some reservation about being Afro. No one is asking her to deny her Latin heritage. I think people find it absurd that these people–especially Afro-Dominican–reject their Afro heritage, yet wanna appear as the African American girl in the video or movie.

   1. Yall are obsessed with pr talk about the topic yall stay trying to make us seem racist when its dominicans hating themselves not our faults

7. I can only speak on my observations with Mexicans/Hispanics, which are a completely different beasts. There is an underlying prejudice some Mexicans have towards black people but they have no problem emulating our culture and selling us weed. They always make sure to talk shit in Spanish too.

   I’ve heard tons of stories about Puerto Ricans and Dominicans, but even when I was in NYC I had no interactions with them. A Dominican barbershop is on my bucket list though.

   What they fail to realize is white people make no distinction between minorities so no need in feeling superior because your hair is straighter or your complexion is lighter. People from Spain would consider themselves superior to all the Latinos here.

   1. Last paragraph nailed it. We are so busy doing the work for them that they don’t need to be the ones to subjugate us, we’re doing it all ourselves, (Blacks, latins etc)

      What these races and ethnicities fail to realize is that these distinctions are trivial at best and really have no meaning other than the meanings created by white ancestors in order to suppress us so they can maintain their position of power. Good and bad hair don’t exist, those distinctions were created so that we would ultimately destroy what makes us unique. Light skin vs. Dark skin is the basic history we all know, and yet we’re still (collectively) falling for it like flies to a flame.

      Am I the only one who sees that anyone who tries to reproduce this bullshit ideology is literally a slave themselves? They are only trying to make themselves feel better in a system where we are all classified the same anyway regardless. It’s pointless and weak. and instead of attacking each othe we need to be smart enough to see beyond that and tackle these perceptions of minorities, but people are just too stupid to realize so it will never happen lol. Oh well. *shrugs*

      1. ^love this.

         im glad I was raised to see past color.
         i was raised to see people for who they are.
         i wish more people adopted that rather than if someone is better because of if they “pass”.
         like who says someone who is lighter has a good heart?

         it seems this whole dominican thing is stemming from what the outside world thinks about how they are treating haitians.
         im pleased this entry brought about discussion.

8. Racism anywhere between anyone even amongst one’s own shouldn’t be surprising at all. It’s everywhere and not unique at all. As black people, we know this. Blanketed statements like “Dominicans are racist” or ______ are racist is just plain ignorance. Racism is everywhere and there are people in every crowd that aren’t racist and have an open heart, and there are always those in the crowd that are racist.

   This situation between the Dominican and Haiti obviously extends beyond racism, I’m sure it may play some part to it, but it seems like its more of a political/economical strife as opposed to racism. Haiti is known for being a poor country but the D.R isn’t flowing with money either so its kind of easy to see that there’s a host of other issues that is resulting in this. Of course, things like this tend to spur and promote racism that’s already there, now its just risen to the surface. This above all else, is a money issue IMO. Everything ties back to money and politics.

   Racism amongst one’s own (black on black racism etc.) is not anything new to any race as futile and stupid it is. There is always some sort of standard that perhaps 1% of the population can meet and the farther you are from that standard the more racism you will receive. It’s just a way for people with inferior minds to feel important, despite the fact they they know they aren’t and in fact by diminishing someone else’s self-esteem they just make themselves even more irrelevant, resulting in more compensatory racism to fill in the gaps. It’s a vicious self-esteem cycle that we as humans fall into the trap of.

   Racism is really for the stupid.

9. Dominicans look black. Their hair is different than a Puerto Rican. We have straight hair that curls while theirs lays flat! Dominicans are mixed with black blood so they will always have more African American features than Ricans, Brazillians, and Cubans.

   1. No offense, but are you really Puerto Rican? Everything you said didn’t make any kind of sense. Let me tell you something not all Puerto Ricans have straight hair, okay. Puerto Ricans have hair that goes from kinky to straight, why? Because in Puerto Rico there are Puerto Ricans of African, Taino, Mixed, Asian, Arab and European descent. And what the hell is African American features? Listen pendejo, you do know Brazil is the second-largest country beside Nigeria o w/e to have the largest black population. And there are Afro-Cubans that are black as coal.

      You’re not a Puerto Rican, you’re a white boy cause only a white person will say African American features which makes no sense.

10. From many experiences i’ve seen and experienced Dominicans, as well as other minority groups, can be racist but the funny thing is dominicans have direct ancestral roots to Mother Africa which makes it ironic…i always say if people knew history and from which they derive they would be quiet because then the truth would be out.

    1. ^a majority get offended when you say they are black.
       like it’s not taking away from them.
       they just have black ancestry.

       i wonder if that’s the reason ricans feel superior to them?

       1. I think what should be understood is the understanding racial identities in Latin America. In U.S. you’re either white or black, but in Latin America is way more than simply being white or black. We have a long list of racial classifications, especially in Brasil. And the thing is black to us Puerto Ricans and Dominicans means African Americans, so that why some of us would get offended. Now I will admit the Spaniards did a good job on manipulating our minds into thinking that white is right and black is wrong. Pelo malo (bad hair) is still used a lot. Racism in Latin America is very alive and well.

          But I think it’s important to know that many Afro-Latinxs in Latin America are proud to be black. There is a difference between Latinxs in Latin America and in the U.S.

       2. I was disturbed on all levels how many of the natives on the Island identify as Indo. Oh so sad!!! Watch the docu on youtube “Black in Latin America Haiti and Dominican Republic” hosted by Lewis Gates. President Rafael Trujillo deigns his Haitian roots and killed many Haitians in the republic. Sadly his and many of those statues in the DR are portrayed with white features were deviated from their black features. The hate is real over there and I’m boycotting my dollars to that 2015 “DR Takeover”.Where would DR be without the Haitian sugarcane workers.

       3. Your listening to dr say that but never hear a actual pr speak down on them always lying and assuming shit 🙄

    2. ^A lot of latinos (Dominican/Puerto Rican/Cuban/Mexican) who have a black parent and a Hispanic parent will identify more with their Hispanic side than their black side. I know quite a few like that, even with the father an active participant in their life. It’s wild.

       1. Why are Americans trying to tell other countries how to live? I travel to DR often and I’m well aware of the relationship between Dominicans and Haitians. I do care but instead of boycotting I will continue to educate.

11. Ugh I am so sick of hearing this. But first of all, most important, Spaniards aren’t Latinos. They are just plain white Europeans. Now I wouldn’t generalize every Dominicans as racists because that is a stereotype and not 100% true at all because dark skin Dominicans wouldn’t exist anymore and there wouldn’t be any half Haitian, Jamaican, African American, African Dominican children, especially in the BX….. I have to admit I don’t know why African Americans are putting themselves in the situation between Haitians and Dominicans cause it has nothing to do with y’all plus none of y’all know the history between them beside Haitians freed the Dominicans from slavery, but Haiti government only freed Dominican Republic from Spain to take control of the country because financially it was going down and they wanted to take Dominican Republic’s resources for their own gain. And the Dominicans wanted to be an independent country and that’s how the rivalry started. Shit, Dominican Republic has three independence days from Spain, Haiti and U.S. because they wanted to be their own independent country.

    Now I know some Dominicans can be racist, but it no different from African Americans who think white is right. But I think it funny how everyone are attacking Dominicans about the Haitian situation because I know a handful of west Caribbeans such as Trini, Bajan, Bahamian and Jamaican who are very prejudice/racist against Haitians, plus in Bahamas they are doing the same “cleanse” of getting rid of Haitians, but why nobody is talking about that? Hmm, I think I know.

    Bahamians are literally putting Haitians in cages like animals btw.

    Listen Haitians are being deported everywhere from Brazil, Turk & Caicos, Bahamas, Canada, D.R. etc because the president of Haiti is very corrupted and Haitians are leaving their home, but the problem is too many Haitians are leaving their home and these countries don’t have enough resources to take care of them. Don’t get me wrong I feel bad for Haitians and I know racism does play into it, but not as a major big role.

    For you non-Latin@s, Argentines and white Cubans are known as the most racist group in my community. Read the genocide of black Argentines, there used to be Afro-Argentines until the president of Argentina wanted to whiten the country by killing black Argentines. And that why there’s only 1% of black in Argentina.

    1. ^okay lin!
       educating us!

       so this is really haitians vs dr?
       why does it seem haitians are the most hated of all the carribean islands?

       1. I spoke to this photographer, LeeStudio, he’s AA and he’s living in D.R. w/out any documents like the rest of AAs that are living in D.R. without paper and they are doing fine. So yea it is a Haitian vs Dominican. I can’t speak for all Caribbeans, but in the P.R. community, they usually warn us about Haitians because they practice voodoo o vodou. Now that I think about it, I don’t think Puerto Ricans are racist against Haitians, it more like they fear Haitians because of the voodoo thing.

    2. Yeah no different than what Donald Trump is saying.

       What if the U.S. deported everyone that wasn’t born here because we needed to “free up resources”?

       Same thing to me, but everyone acts appalled when the Republicans say it.

       You wouldn’t believe the benefits people get here without ever paying taxes or becoming a citizen.

    3. Lindo, nobody cares what you’re sick of hearing the shit needs to be said. I feel your comment ” I have to admit I don’t know why African Americans are putting themselves in the situation between Haitians and Dominicans cause it has nothing to do with y’all”, is completely ignorant and moronic. A injustice anywhere is a injustice everywhere. Just because something doesn’t affect me personally, doesn’t mean that I don’t have the right to be outraged, especially about the mistreatment and abuse of African people in any diaspora.

       I honestly think the word has gotten out on a global level about how fucked up, racist, and wannabe superior the Latino community can be. What baffles me is that you’ll have contributed nothing to pop culture, but turn your noses up at the same African people, who alot of you’ll emulate. I used to live in NYC and I didn’t play that “we are the world shit” with Latino’s in general.

       I have had latino friends who didn’t disrespect me because I was African American but I’ve shut more than a few down and continue to do so. Now what I will say, is that I’m working on not generalizing the whole latino community, I find myself being stand offish and cold when first interacting with Latino’s, treating them like I believe most of you’ll treat blacks.

       I feel that Latino’s try to use there association with black people only when it’s convenient like when Laz Alonso and Zoe Saldana need to “pretend” to stay employed and book work. But once the white people accept them, it’s let me completely deny my African heritage.

       Now one thing I would, like to clear up is the idea that Latino people think that African Americans are upset with them because most deny their African heritage. I’m here to tell anybody reading this, that none of us care. We couldn’t care less what you choose to identify with, but the blatant disrespect? and then wanting all the very few privilege’s that come with being black in this country.

       Let’s not get into how you’ll bitch asses was crying because there wasn’t a Latino on Empire. A show created from a black director, about a black family, dealing with black created and cultivated culture. For some reason you’ll felt snubbed and felt like you’ll deserve to be on the show. Had it been about a Latino series we wouldn’t cry about not being on it.

       Hip-hop is a culture created by blacks, Latino’s just happen to be there thats why they’re scarce in the conversation. Hip hop is something Latino’s always wanted to claim but known they can’t. Hell I can sit in your kitchen and watch you do all the work and make a cake by yourself. But when it taste good and everybody wants some doesn’t give me the right to say “me too”.

       Sorry for the rant but my main point is Latino’s are fucked up and now the whole world knows what black already knew, and people are taking you’ll to task for being sexist racist bigots.

       And Jamari how dare you, I usually find you to be very perceptive to bullshit. Don’t let your lust to fuck a spanish wolf, have you turning a blind eye or trying to sympathize with they non-sense.

       1. ^wait tho…

          im not gonna sympathize with foolishness.
          im also not going to throw all of them under the bus either.
          that’s like saying ALL whites are bad because of slavery.

       2. Yes, to all of this. Finally some truth. They cant hide behind our fuck ups no more. Im glad you are saying this we as a community have to start calling out other races for their bullshit. Lets keep it real. Whites and blacks are not the only ones causing us trouble.

       3. Mad or nah?? What latino wolf hurt you?

       4. YES YES YES!!! Finally somebody with some PRIDE & self-respect in these comments!! Everything you said was 100% !!

       5. You came for blood lol u put it all into perspective and your right about everything but I’ve learned to just understand how fucked up colonialism was and how different nations choose to deal with it today so I don’t hate them for it (because I’m sure all r not like that) even if I like the wolves I know to keep them at arms length

    4. Agreed 100% ! It is more of Haitians vs Dominicans. For the most part I don’t think Dominicans are racist..maybe some but not all.

       Yes they have issues (not all) accepting the fact that they have black ancestry. I don’t know why because most of their cultural practices comes from Africa. They embrace the culture but try to deny their African bloodline…confusing but hey.

       People talk about the Dominicans a lot but as you said they are not the only culprits. Jamaica with 70% of the population being black is one the most prejudice Caribbean Island. I can speak because my Mom is Jamaican and Dad Dominican Panamanian. I’ve been fortunate to live in all three countries.

       The issue of color in Jamaica is sooo huge! Light and brown skin Jamaicans see themselves as superior and like the Dominicans they don’t like to be called black… to them it’s an insult.

       Light and brown skin Jamaicans will more closely associate themselves with Irish, German, Cuban or British bloodline. Ask the question why is it in beauty pageants 98% of the girls from Jamaica are light skin or white?

       In recent history.. like 60 years ago your chances of getting job in some industries in Jamaica was slim if you were dark skin. Now in 2015 dark skin Jamaicans are some of the biggest culprits of skin bleaching. check out this short documentary https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9T9SNi-u6M

       Like the Dominicans they can’t stand the Haitians and deport them back to Haiti as soon as they pull up on Jamaican shores.

       I brought all this up because when people hear of racism or “colorism” they think it’s an American or European thing, but the Caribbean and south America struggle with these issues as well… to a less extent.

    5. These comments are so full of crap trying to say the reason why dominicans are self haters and hate haitians are Puerto Ricans faults yall obsessed with us see how this has nothing to do with us yet im seeing comments saying we racist dominicans always talking about us but never see a forum from puerto ricand to shit talk dominicans its usually haitians talking about theyre experience or dominicans talking about it

12. I don’t know about this, I really don’t have much experience with Dominicans lol. A lot of them aren’t my type tho.

13. I have been wondering this from years, my Latin classmates would tell me rumors about this but I never knew for sure if it was true. I know one thing if I find out maravilla or borrell jr are racist or homophobic they are cut from my bae list lol. Hopefully they aren’t since they dance at a big gay bar but shit sometimes those are the ones with biggest issues.

    1. ^Sadly, it’s real. It’s been going on for years, however the mass exodus after the earthquake in Haiti REALLY caused the situation to explode. I did a research paper on the discriminatory behavior of Dominicans towards Haitians after watching a documentary on PBS. What was shocking at the time was/is the level of discrimination exhibited by Dominicans towards their own, especially the darker skinned residents. Often mistaken for Haitians, they were abused and refused services.

       As for Maravilla & Borrelljr…the almighty dollar brings them out of the clouds! They’re fooling themselves by saying they’re straight, when they dance, shake their asses, and let dudes feel on them. All someone has to do is Google their pics and I’m sure pics of them dancing in those clubs/bars will come up! If you’re going to proclaim something like that, you’d better make sure that the evidence to prove otherwise isn’t out there somewhere! Heat should take note! LOL

       1. ^from observation,
          dominincans tend to harder on their own.
          if you are dark skin dominican then forget it.
          those ones be the sexiest tho.

          i know many of them chase white acceptance.
          the lighter they are,
          the more they think they are “white”.

    2. ^i think they just see green.
       LOL
       i could be wrong tho.

       heat was caught out there dancing in gay clubs before.
       i allegedly posted that story.
       lol

       1. ^Yeah, the darker skinned ones seem to get it harshest…but they are some sexy dudes!! There’s one in a barber shop near me who’s thick and muscular. LOVES to wear the tight shirts that accentuate his muscles. His coworkers are easy on the eyes too! LOL
          Use to mess with a dude who had one of the biggest dicks I’ve seen in a long time. Never got to play with it though. LOL

          Heat can protest all he wants. NO straight guy is dancing for dudes and letting them stick dollars in their undies or feel on their ass/dick! Save that BS for someone who doesn’t know better.
          When the ladies dry up…he’ll go back to the boys. IF he don’t already have some dudes hiring him in private.

14. I don’t think Dominicans are the most racist. I tend to think Puerto Ricans have that distinction. I’ve had more interaction with Puerto Ricans than Dominicans over the years, and I’ve heard and seen their animosity towards other Latinos/Latinas. If they are from “upper-class” families, it’s even worse.
    But that type of mentality extends to other races/cultures as well. I live in a neighborhood that has a high number of Caribbean families (Jamaican/Haitian/Trinidad), and the rudeness and animosity they display towards one another is off the chain! It trumps what I’ve seen exhibited by Dominicans and Puerto Ricans.
    But I do believe Ricans hold that distinction.

    1. ^yeah i think this issue maybe “dominican vs haitian” then blatant racism.
       I also know don’t call a dominican a “rican” because they will flip HEAVY.

       1. ^LOL. That’s what I’m talking about! I asked a guy if he was Rican once, and he was Dominican. He went ballistic on me. I was like it was an honest mistake. And I’ve made the same mistake, asking a Rican if he was Dominican. You would’ve thought I said something about his momma!

          1. And? Nobody wants to be called something they not yall always talking puerto ricans always

    2. ^older carribean folks can be rude as hell.
       you are right about that.

       1. ^Rude is an understatement! They can be downright nasty and mean. I see it often.

    3. Ooooofc bring up puerto ricans to make us look bad for everything when yall are racist against ypir own kind if theyre darker

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