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Thousands of Immigrants Face Racism on the Island Hispaniola Shared by two Nations: Haiti and the Dominican Republic
Whenever the word “Racism” is brought up, a lot of different emotions come up. Maybe sorrow, hope, or guilt. The reality is — it isn’t over, and there is still much work to be done.
This is exactly the case on the island of Hispaniola, where two countries, Haiti and the Dominican Republic, are split by a border and discrimination. Here many Haitians face racism and often are considered less than because of their darker skin. To understand why, looking back at the history is helpful. According to Vox, Haiti was colonized by the French, and the Dominican Republic was colonized by the Spanish. After the Haitian Revolution in the late 1700s - early 1800s, Haiti declared itself the first black, former-slave republic in the world. Sadly, after they declared independence, the French claimed that the Haitians owed them 15 Million francs for “stealing all of their assets,” which destroyed the Haitian economy. The Dominican Republic, which was better set up for the future by the Spanish, because of the fewer slaves brought over, absence of debt and diverse population, is a much richer nation today than Haiti.
Knowing the history, it becomes clear how discrimination is still happening today. In 2010, the Dominican Republic implemented racist immigration laws, by repealing birthright citizenship. According to CNN, “the country's highest court ruled in 2013 that all residents born to immigrant parents dating back more than 80 years were not entitled to citizenship.” This caused 210,000 Dominicans of Haitian descent to become stateless. This is what caused Benard Teillon, a Haitian immigrant, to want to leave the Dominican Republic because “so many of [his] countrymen [were] fighting so hard to get a simple identification card, and they still face so much discrimination in [the Dominican Republic].”
Eventually, the Dominican Republic created a path of citizenship for Dominicans of Haitian descent to follow, but only 64,000 people benefitted from the law. This law was a ticking time bomb—Haitians had a time limit for redeeming their citizenship. The lines at the offices for the path to citizenship were long every day, and some had to wait for hours on end to reclaim their citizenship.
Although this happened in 2013, effects are still seen today. For instance, 95% of the collectors of current bean planting are Haitians in the Dominican Republic, so the deportation of Haitians could seriously impact the Dominican Republic’s labor industries. Back in January 2020, Dominican Today reports farmers asking for the deportation of Haitians to stop. Not only do they deport Haitians, but the military also “penetrates the farms in the early morning, breaks the doors, seizes the Haitians, who, they say, strip money, cell phones and other belongings they own, an action they describe as violating human rights.” However, Haitians representing 95% of the workforce isn’t necessarily a good thing—the workforce is very labor-intensive and doesn’t pay well. It goes to show how Haitians are put down by Dominicans. The farmers are asking for deportations to stop for the wrong reasons, but as long as the deportation stops, that’s still one problem solved.
Knowing the history of the two nations, it becomes clear why, according to Vox in 2017, a Haitian baby is two times more likely to die than a Dominican baby. Dominicans are expected to live 15 years longer, and there are about two times more people in Haiti living with AIDS/HIV. Also, the unemployment rate is 13.8% in the Dominican Republic while in Haiti the unemployment rate is 40.6%. Because of the way the two nations were developed, many impacts can still be seen today. Haitians also deal with racism every-day, and it begins to make sense why many of these prejudices are embedded even in Dominican immigrants in the United States.
Haitian Boston 15-year old teenager Ann Richeme, a rising Sophomore, describes the racism like this, “Most Dominicans look down on Haitians because of their living habits and all the stereotypes surrounding them.” Richeme’s Mother, Rose-Line, personally experienced this, stating that she experienced vendors changing the prices of products depending on whether she spoke Spanish or not. She said that Haitians would receive dirty looks and that Dominican children weren’t allowed to play with Haitian children.
According to the WBUR in 2015, there were protests in Boston by Haitians and Dominicans to stop the tourism in the Dominican Republic as a way of “fighting” the deportation issues. Rising 15-year-old sophomore Jeffrey Vittini is a Dominican teenager living in Boston and he says that he “disagrees with stopping the tourism in the Dominican Republic because it wouldn’t help the Haitians.” He later goes on to describe the racism as “pointless” and that the Dominican Republic should just be kinder to the nation with whom they share an island.
Overall, the deportation law that the Dominican Republic implemented in 2013 stands today. Although there have been many changes, such as the path to citizenship, many more steps must be taken. In only the first year of these laws being enforced, 210,000 Dominicans of Haitian descent were stripped of their citizenship, and that number only continues to rise. Being a Dominican myself, it shames me to hear the racist actions my own country has taken, but as long as the United Nations and Haitians and Dominicans continue to protest, I’m sure that eventually, this deportation will stop.
According to PBS, Givena Reyes, a Haitian living in the Dominican Republic, sees it like this: “[t]here are Dominicans with black skin. And there are Haitians with white skin. I don't understand why they don't hold everyone to the same standard.”
According to PBS, Givena Reyes, a Haitian living in the Dominican Republic, sees it like this: “[t]here are Dominicans with black skin. And there are Haitians with white skin. I don't understand why they don't hold everyone to the same standard.”