30097: Schweissing: (op-ed) Reflections on Dominican Independence Day (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Daniel Schweissing <dan_schweissing@hotmail.com>

http://haitianministries.blogspot.com/2007/02/dominican-independence-day.html

Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Independence Day Reflections

On this date in 1844, the Dominican Republic obtained its independence from 
Haiti. So today our neighbors in the D.R. are celebrating their 163rd 
anniversary.

Because antihaitianismo in Dominican culture traces its roots back to the 
Haitian occupation of the D.R. (1821-1844), this holiday is a mixed legacy for 
the estimated 630,000 Dominicans of Haitian descent.

In his book, Race and Politics in the Dominican Republic, political scientist 
Ernesto Sagás defines antihaitianismo as:

"a set of racist and xenophobic attitudes prevalent today in the Dominican 
Republic that broadly portray Dominican people as white Catholics, while 
Haitians are viewed as spirit-worshipping black Africans. More than just a ploy 
to generate patriotism and rally against a neighboring country, the ideology 
also is used by Dominican leaders to divide their own lower classes."

Of course, antihaitianismo is not limited to the Dominican Republic. Haitians 
living in the United States and the Bahamas also face similar racist and 
xenophobic attitudes that are expressed both as individual prejudices as well 
as public policy. While the particular details of these expressions may differ 
from place to place, the underlying issues of racism and ethnocentrism are the 
same.

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