The Tribulations of Blackness- Stages in Dominican Racial Identity

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The Tribulations of Blackness: Stages in Dominican Racial IdentityAuthor(s): Silvio Torres-SaillantSource: Latin American Perspectives, Vol. 25, No. 3, Race and National Identity in theAmericas (May, 1998), pp. 126-146Published by: Sage Publications, Inc.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2634170 .

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The Tribulations fBlackness

Stages n Dominican acial dentity

by

Silvio

Torres-Saillant

Los blancos, morenos,/Cobrizos,ruzados/Marchandoerenos,/Unidos

osados,

La Patria alvemos/De iles tiranos/Yl mundomostremos/Queomos

hermanos.

-Juan Pablo Duarte

Dominicanocietys the radle fblackness

n

theAmericas. he sland

of

Hispaniola

r Santo

Domingo,

which

Dominicans

harewith

Haitians,

served sport f ntryothe

irst

fricanlaves

o

etfoot nSpain's

newly

conquered

erritories

ollowing hristopher

olumbus's

ventfulransatlan-

ticvoyage n 1492. Nineyears nto heconquest f what henceforward

became

known s

the New

World,King

Ferdinand

nd

Queen

Isabella

appointed rayNicolas

de Ovando

governorf

Santo

Domingo,

uthorizing

him

o bring black laves"

o their

olony Saco, 1974: 164). Marking he

start f

the black

experience

n

the western

emisphere,

he arrival f

Ovando's

fleet

n

July

502

ushered

n

a social

nd

demographicistory

hat

would ead

n

the ourse ffive enturies

o

the

verwhelmingresence

f

people

of African escent

n

the

Dominican

Republic oday.'

Blacks and

mulattos

ake

up nearly 0 percent fthe ontemporaryominican opu-

lation. et,

oother

ountry

n

he

emisphere

xhibits

reater

ndeterminacy

regardinghepopulation'senseofracial dentity.o thebewildermentf

outside

bservers,

fro-Dominicansave

traditionally

ailed o

flaunt

heir

blackness s a collective anner o

advance

conomic, ultural,

r

political

causes. omecommentators

ould

ontend,

n

effect,

hat ominicans

ave,

for

he

most

art,

enied heir lackness.

aced

with he

population's

oler-

SilvioTorres-Saillanteaches

n

he

nglish epartment

t

Hostos

ommunityollege

ndheads

the

CUNY

Dominican

tudies

nstitutet

CityCollege.

He

is the

uthor f

Caribbean

oetics

andcoauthor

f

TheDominican mericansWestport:reenwood,

n

press).

LATIN AMERICAN

PERSPECTIVES,

ssue

100,

Vol.25 No.

3, May

1998 126-146

C

1998 LatinAmerican

erspectives

126







Torres-Saillant

DOMINICAN

RACIAL DENTITY 127

ance

of official laims ssertinghe

moral nd intellectual

uperiorityf

Caucasiansby

white

upremacist

deologues, nalysts

f

racial dentity

n

Dominican

ociety ave ftenmputed

oDominicans eavy oses

of back-

wardness,"

ignorance,"

r

"confusion"

egarding

heir ace andethnicity

(Fennema

nd

Loewenthal,

989: 209; Saga's, 993).

would iketo nvite

reflection

n

the omplexity

f

racial

hinkingnd

racialdiscoursemong

Dominicans

with hepurpose f urging

he doption

f discretearadigms

in

attempts

o explicate

he

place

of black consciousness

n Dominican

societyndculture.

BLACKNESS

AND THE

DOMINICAN STATE

A

large

part f

the

problem

f racial

dentity

mongDominicanstems

from

he act hat romts

nception

heir ountry

adto negotiatehe acial

paradigms

f

heir orth

mericannd

European

verseers.

he

Dominican

Republic

ame nto eing

s a

sovereign

tate n February7, 1844,

when

the olitical

eaders

feastern

ispaniola

roclaimed

heiruridical epara-

tion romheRepublic fHaiti, uttingnend o22years funificationnder

a black-controlled

overnment

ith ts

seat

n

Port-au-Prince.he Haitian

leadershipriginally

esisted he dea

of

relinquishing

uthorityverthe

whole

sland nd made successive ttempts

o

regain

he astern

erritory,

which

esulted

n

sporadic

rmed lashesbetween

aitian nd Dominican

forces

ntil 855.

As the

newly

reated aribbean

epublic

ought

o nsert

itself

nto n

economic

rder ominatedy

Western owers,mong

which

"the

racial

magination"

ad

long

since taken

firm

old,

the

race

of

Dominicans uickly

ecame an

issue

of concern

Torres-Saillant,

993:

33-37).

n

December 844,

near he

ndofPresident ohn

yler's

dminis-

tration,.S. SecretaryfStateJohn . Calhoun pokeof theneedfor he

fledgling

ominican

tate o

receive

ormal

ecognition

rom

he United

States,

rance,

nd

Spain

o

prevent

the urther

pread

f

negro

nfluence

n

theWest

ndies"

Welles,

966[1928]:

6).

As would

many

ther merican

statesmen

nd

ournalistshroughout

henineteenth

entury,

alhoun

on-

ceived

fDominicans

s other

han lack.

When

n

1845

American

gent

John

ogan

arrived

n

Santo

Domingo

with hemandate fassessing

he

ountry

or

n

eventual

ecognition

f ts

independence,

e

sidedwith ominicans

n

their onflicts

ith aitians

nd

thereforeoonbecame oncernedver

he

redominance

f

people

f

African

descent

n the

country. irecting

imself o

the Dominican

Minister

f

Foreign

elations oma's

obadilla,

ogan

wondered

hether

the

resence

in

the

Republic

f o

large proportion

f he

oloured

ace"

would

weaken







128 LATIN AMERICAN PERSPECTIVES

thegovernment'sffortso fend

ff

Haitian ggression. obadilla ssuaged

hisfears yreplyingthat mong heDominicans

reoccupationsegarding

colorhavenever eldmuch way" nd hat ven

formerslaveshavefought

and

would

gain ightgainst he

Haitians" n account f he ppressiveness

of the atter's ormer

egime Welles,1966[1928]:

77-78). In a dispatch

addressed o

U.S.

Secretaryf StateJohn

M. Clayton, atedOctober 4,

1849,American ommissioner

n

Santo

DomingoJonathan

.

Green e-

ported hat aitian iolence adgiven force

nduniversalityo the eeling

in favor fthewhitesntheDominican epublic" o thepoint hat black

"when aunted ithhiscolor" ouldconceivablyemark,I am black,but

white lack" cited

n

Welles, 966[1928]: 03-104).

Nineteenth-centuryoreign

bserversftheDominican cenehadample

occasion

o

note

he

eluctance

f

Dominicans

o

flauntheir lack dentity,

but hey

hemselvesemainedmbivalent

bout

he

acial

nd

thnic

harac-

teristics

f thenew

republic's opulation.

ne

thinks,

or

nstance,

f the

genealogy fDominican oliticaleaders ublishedy heNewYork vening

PostonSeptember, 1854,

with he ntentionf

rustratingecretary

f

tate

William

Marcy'splan

to secure

he

granting

f official .S.

recognition

o

theDominicanRepublic.TheEvening osthighlightedhe blackness f

Dominicans

o

spark ntipathygainst

hem

n

public pinion

ectors fthe

United

tates,

ut book

published

ix

years

ater

y

a

writer

eeking

he

opposite

esult ndertook

o

underestimate

he

lack lement

f

he

Domini-

can

population-representing

he ominican

eople

s "made

p

of

paniards,

Spanish

Creoles and some Africans nd

people

of color"

(Courtney,

1860:

132).

Two strains

ppear

o stand

ut n

theobservations

f Americans om-

menting

n

racialmatters

n

the

Dominican epublic tthe ime. ne s the

sense hat noaustererejudicegainstolor revails"nthe ountry,s one

author

ut t, r,

n thewords

f

another,

hat distinction

f

color,

n

social

life,

s

entirely

nknown"

SantoDomingo,

863:

10; Keim,

870:

168).

The

other train s

the

nsistence

n

magnifying

he white

omponent

f the

Dominican

opulation. hus,

heU.S.

Senate

Commission f

nquiry

ho

went otheDominican

epublic

n

early

871

o assesswhetherhe

ountry

was

ripe

for annexation o

the

U.S.

territory

ound

people

there o be

''generally

f

mixed

lood,"

with he

reatmajorityeing

neither

ure

lack

nor

pure

white" ut

howing

reas nhabited

y

"considerable umbers

f

pure

white"

eople

and

noting

hat

generally

n themixed

ace

the

white

bloodpredominates"Report, 871: 13). Even in the twentiethentury,

during

he dministration

f

Theodore

oosevelt,

necould

find

.S. voices

attesting

o

the

resumed

hitenessfDominicans. ne contendednambi-







Torres-SaillantDOMINICAN RACIAL DENTITY 129

guously hat he nhabitantsfthe mallCaribbean epublic

with ery ew

exceptions"

ere

white,iting acial ostility,hats, the efusalf hewhite

Dominican obe governedy he lackHaitian," s the auseof

he artition

ofHispaniola

nto wo

ountriesHancock, 905: 50). Inthe amevein, n

anonymous

riter

ssertedhat white lood reponderates"ntheDominican

Republicby

contrast o

neighboring aiti,where the black race is in

complete scendancy"Romance," 995 1906]: 18-19).

Given

he

oregoing

eries f

fluctuatingronouncements

n Dominicans

andrace, hemixed estimonynthe ate1920sofyet nother merican

commentator,nvoyExtraordinary

nd Minister

lenipotentiary

umner

Welles,

hould ome s no

urprise.

hile

sserting

hat race iscrimination

in the DominicanRepublic s unknown,"e deemed t "one of themost

noteworthyeculiarities

f theDominican

eople

that mong ll shades,

there s

a universal esire hat heblackbe obliterated

y

the

white.

he

stimulation

f white

mmigration

as become

general emand,"

nd an

interest

n

curtailing

r

regulating

lack

mmigration

arried similar orce"

(Welles, 966[1928]: 09).

Wellesdescribed hat

roponents

f structural

causes

for ttitudesbout acewould haracterize

s

a

contradiction,

ince

his scenario nsinuates hatnegrophobiaan

exist

ndependent

f racial

oppression.

would ike

o take his

afflingossibility

s

startingoint or

an

inquiry

nto

the

concept

f

race as

it has

developed

historically

n

Dominican ociety.

It is no accident

hat his

nquiry

hould

pring

rom he tatements

f

Welles

ndthe ther orth

mericans,

orDominican

dentity

onsists ot

only

fhowDominicansee themselvesut lso

ofhow

hey

re een

by

he

powerful

ationswithwhich heDominican

epublic

as been inked

n a

relationship

f

political

nd

economic

ependence.

t s not

nconceivable,

for nstance,hat he texture fnegrophobicnd anti-Haitian ationalist

discourse

ponsored y

official

pokespersons

n

theDominican tate rew

significantly

n North mericanources

ating

ack

othe irst

ears

f he

republic.

s we

proceed

with his

nquiry,propose

o avoidthe

pitfalls

f

investigating

ominican ttitudesbout ace

exclusively

hroughheutter-

ancesof he

uling

lass

bymaking

n efforto assemble nstances f ctive

participation

f Afro-Dominicans

n

building

nd

defining

heir

istory.

These

nstances,ompiled

rom

he ield f

ocial

ction,

ffern nvaluable

living ext,

n

indispensable

ocumenthat

ould

carcely

e

produced y

archival esearchlone.







130

LATIN AMERICANPERSPECTIVES

BLACKNESS

AND

NINETEENTH-CENTURY

POLITICS

Consistent

ith heirarge resence,

ominicansf

Africanescent

ave

played

n active nd decisivepolitical

ole

n their ountry.

he black

or

mulatto

rancisco

el RosarioSainchez

1817-1861),

ne ofthefounding

fathers

f

the

Dominican

ation,

ndtheblack

general oseJoaquin

uello

(1808-1847)

were mportant

n

bringing

he dream

f

Dominican

nde-

pendence o fruition. eyondthis,blacksand mulattos, y defyinghe

original eparatist

movement,

nsured herepublic's

ormallyspousing

democratic

deals.

Blacks had valid

reasons orhesitatingo support

he

separation

rom

aiti

spoused

y

a liberal

lite rom

antoDomingo; hey

owedtheir reedom

o their rethren

rom

he

westernerritory.

lavery ad

been

restricted

n

1801,

under

oussaint,

nd abolishedn 1822,with

he

arrival

f Boyer Alfau

Duran,

994:370).

Moreover,

he eadership

f

the

separatist

ovement

ad

proposed

national

nthem ritteny

the

poet

Felix

MariaDel Monte 1819-1899)

hat

mboldenedhepatriots

ith

he

exhortation

Rise

up

n

arms, hSpaniards "

Franco,

984:

160-161).

Since an associationfthenascent epublic ith mperialpain,which

still nslaved

lacks

n

Cuba

and

PuertoRico,

would

have

mperiled

he

freedom

f

many

ominicans,

ithin ours

f

the ndependenceroclama-

tion,

n uprising

fpeople

ofAfrican escent

ed

by

Santiago asora

n

the

Santo

Domingo

ection

f

Monte

Grande

hallenged

he

new

government.

The

rebellion orced

he eaders

of the

ncipient

ation o

reaffirm

he

abolition

f

slavery

nd to

integrate

he

black

Basora

intothe

country's

governing

tructure

Franco,

984:

161-162).

he

very

irst ecree

romul-

gated

y

heJunta

entral hat

irst

overned

he

ountry,

n March

, 1844,

wasthe

bolitionf laveryAlfau

uran, 994:13).

Among

arious

estures

to llay he oncernsfblacks ndmulattos,he ominicanovernmentent

on toreaffirmts ommitment

o bolition

n

several

ecreeshat, part

rom

stressing

he inality

f

bolition,

ade lave rafficking

f

ny

kind

capital

crime

ndruled

hat

laves

fromnyprovenance

ould

nstantlyain

heir

freedom n

setting

oot

n

the

erritory

f theDominican epublic

Enci-

clopedia

Dominicana,

Esclavitud").

When,

ess

than

0

years

fter

ndependence,

n

unpatriotic

litenegoti-

ated he nnexation

f he

Dominican

epublic

o Spain,

n armed

ebellion

to

recover

ts

lost

sovereigntyromptly

nsued,

nd

the black General

Gregoriouperon utshonell otherss theguardianfnationaliberation.

The

participation

f

people

fAfrican

escent

n

that

hapter

f

Dominican

history,

nown s the

Warof

Restoration,

as

significant

oth

n

the

high

command

nd

n the ank ndfile.The

nationalistesistance

eaders,

ware







Torres-Saillant

DOMINICAN RACIAL IDENTITY 131

of the

decisive

mportancefblacks and mulattos,aunched

campaign

calling ttentiono Spain'splans orestorelavery ith document

nown

as the t.

ThomasManifesto

f

March 0, 1861.Pressuredy his ampaign,

Brigadier ntonio elaez, ommanderfthe ccupation orces, astened

o

issue a decreeof April8, 1861,

whereby pain assuredDominicans

hat

slavery

ouldnever eturn

othe

and Alfau uran, 994: 12). Even

so, the

colorofthe nvadersontrastedharply ith hat f the reoles,

iving he

warracial

vertones. ith he massive ntegration"fthepeasant opula-

tion, which onsistedmainly f blacks nd mulattos,"he rmed truggle

soonbecame

"racialwar"

gainst

white

upremacistower

hat

reserved

slavery

nd "a

truly opular

war, s

itdirectedll the

nergies

fthe

nation

toward

chievingndependence

nd

restoringovereignty"Franco,

992:

277; Moya Pons, 1995: 213).

General osede la Gaindara,he astmilitary

commanderf he

panish

orces,uggestedhat

he ttitudesfhis oldiers,

who were usedto viewingheblackraceandpeopleof mixed ncestry

s

inferioreople," eepened

he

pposition

f Dominicans o

the

nnexation

andmayhavebrought

ts

downfallDe la Gandara, 975:

237-238).

Dominicans

ommemorate

heWar

f Restoration,oughtgainst

white

Spaniards, ith s much atrioticervors they otheWar f ndependence,

foughtgainst

lack

Haitians;

nd he lack

general uperon,

ho

helped

o

restore

he

nation's overeignty,nspires

s much

espect

nd

admiration

s

thewhite reole

Juan ablo

Duarte,

he

deological

ounderfthe

Republic.

Another alient

igure

f theRestoration ar,

heblack Ulises

Heureux,

whoseheroic

xploits gainst

he

panish rmy

arned imnational

restige,

twodecades

ater ame o dominatehe ountryolitically

ormore

han 5

years.

After

chieving

istinctionnvarious

igh ositions

n

theDominican

governmentollowing

hewar

ffort,

e ran

or

resident

f he

ountry

nd

was elected

or he irstime

n

1882,

became

headof tate

hrough

lectoral

channels wootherimes,nd ubsequentlyxtended is rulebydictatorial

impositionntil

e was

assassinated

n

1899.

BLACKS AND DOMINICAN

FOLK CULTURE

The African

resence

n

Dominican ulture f course

transcendshe

outstanding olitical

acts of individuals. lements

f

African ultural

survival

n Dominican

ociety

ppear

n the

anguage

ominicans

peak-

theethnolinguisticodalitieshat haracterizehepeople'shandling f

Spanish,

which how

peculiarities

n

lexical structurend

in

phonetics,

morphosyntax,

nd

ntonationhat

uggest

etentionsrom he

anguages

f

African laves

in

colonial

times

Megenney, 990: 233).

There s also







132 LATIN AMERICANPERSPECTIVES

evidence

f a

significant

resence f HaitianCreole n Afro-Dominican

Spanish s

a result

f

he nterculturalontacts

hat

were firmlyemented"

duringhe nificationeriod

rom 822 hrough884 Lipski, 994: 13).The

original

ulturef he laveshas

probablyoundtsway

nto he ral radition

of

the

Dominican eople,

nd the

contributions

f blacks to Dominican

cuisine

ake he

form

f both ultural

ransmissions

rom frica nd creole

innovationsraceable o

the

plantationegimeDeive,1990: 133-135).But

in no other ealm re

African ultural ormsmore videntn Dominican

societyhannspiritualxpressions.

Carlos steban eivehas onvincinglyosited

he

xistence

f Dominican

voodoo

with n

indigenousantheon

nd other haracteristicshat istin-

guish

t

from aitian oodoo

Deive,

1992:

171-174,

82-183).People

of

various

lass

backgrounds

ormally

ave ecourseothe ervices ndrituals

of

this olk

eligion,

hich as as

much

urrency

n

urban

reas

s

in

rural

ones

(1992: 17).

In

fact,

he

majority

f voodoo

practitioners

onsider

themselves

fficiallyatholic, aving

eceived

aptism

nd

emaining

ctive

in theworship f

that aith

1992: 211).

Further esearch

as

notonly

supported

he existence

f

voodoo

as

"part

f

Dominican

olk

religious

expression"ut lso dentifiedtas a crucial esource or opularmedicine

(Davis, 1987: 423,

221-223).

Davis has

highlighted

ertain inds f folk

spiritualxpressions

ith

strong

fricannfluences"hat

rovide

id

to

the

Dominican

eople

n

many

fthe

ocialfunctionsf heir

aily

ives

1987:

194-195).Following

hese

nsights,

team

ombining

mental ealth

nd

social science

pecialists

as stressed he

mportance

f

voodoo and

other

folk

piritual

anifestations

or

nderstanding

he

Dominican

eople

from

the

perspective

f

psychiatry

nd

psychologyTejeda, ainchez,

nd

Mella,

1993:54).

Naturally,

he

state-funded

uardians

f the official

ulture,

ntent

n

stressinghepredominancef theHispanicheritagemongDominicans,

have

vigorously ejected

he traceof

any "pagan"

forms

f

worship

n

Dominicanociety.

nable o

deny

hat ominicans o engage

n

African-

descended

pirituality,hey

have ascribed

hat

redilection

o

unwelcome

foreign

nfluence-a

ogic

that ften as

ustified

he

persecution

f folk

religious ractices

s a threat

o

morality

nd

Christian

alues.

In

the

nineteenthentury,

he poet

Del

Monte construed oodoo

as a

savage,

anthropophagicitual,

nd an

1862

ordinance

roscribed

series f dances

andfestivities

hat

nvolved

xpressions

fAfrican

rigins

Del Monte,

979:

246; Deive,1992:163).Duringhe rujillo ictatorship,henhe ominican

state ecame

most

mphatically

ommitted

o

promoting

urocentricnd

white

upremacist

iews

f

Dominicanness,

he fficial

aily

l List

n

Diario

on

August 6, 1939, eported

he rrest

f

two

men

or

ommemorating

he







Torres-SaillantDOMINICAN

RACIAL

DENTITY

133

Warof

Restorationy engaging

n voodoo

practices

longwith

thermen

and

women

who

had managed o

escape

cited nDeive,

1992: 164). The

Trujillo

egime

utlawed articipation

n voodoo

ceremonies

ith

aw 391

ofSeptember

0,

1943,

which

mposed

penaltyf

up tooneyear

n prison

plus

a fine f 500 pesos

on

anyone

onvictedf the

rime

ither y direct

commission

r

ndirect

ollusion Deive,

1992: 186).

The relentlessness

f

the

government's

ampaign o eradicate

Africanpiritual

xpressions

n

Dominican

ociety

s clearfrom n article ublished

n

thenewspaper

a

NaciononOctober, 1945, nwhich milioRodriguezemorizi,n deolo-

gist f

theTrujillo egime

nd a consummate

egrophobe,

enounced

cu-

caya

dance,

annibalism,

oodoo,

witchcraft,nd ther

vil rts nd

ustoms"

as rituals oming

rom

the

and

of

Louverture

ndChristophe"

hat

had

occasionally

arnished

the

imple

abits f

Dominicans,"

lthough

e reas-

sured

is

readers

hat

he

dark oots"

f

hose

nfluenceseft

o

perceptible

vestiges

n

the

eople.

But

despite

he berrant

egrophobia

f

he

cribes

f he

uling

lassfrom

colonial

times

o

the

present,

ith

population

hat

s

predominantly

f

Africanescent,

t s nevitablehat

lack ontributions

oDominican ulture

are

omnipresent.

hat ontributionegan n1502and ince hen,s Vetilio

AlfauDuran 1994:

342)

has

put t,

ithas

remainedonstantnddecisive."

In

addition

o the reas

ofendeavor

urveyed

bove,

ne

could

peak

f

the

celebrity

njoyed y

Dominicans

f

African

escent

n thefields

f

sports

and

popular

music.

Clearly, lso,

blacks

have

by

no means acked

repre-

sentation

n

the

ublic phere

r n the

egard

ftheDominican

eople.

The

overwhelmingopular

ictory

nthe

1994

lections

f

he lack

presidential

candidate ose

rancisco

efia

Gomez

f he

artido

evolucionario

omini-

cano

Dominican

evolutionaryarty-PRD)

against

he wowhite lders

Juan osch, f he artido e aLiberaci6nominicanaDominican ibera-

tion

party-PLD),

and

Joaquin

alaguer,

f

thePartido

eformista

ocial

Cristiano

Social

Christian

eform

arty-PRSC),

s

eloquent

estimony

o

this.

hat hemaneuvers

f

he

alaguer overnment

revented

eina

omez

from ecoming resident

attersess

to the

resent

iscussion

han

hat

he

majority

f

he

Dominican

opulation

ent

othe

olls

nd ast

heir allots

in favor

fa

black

man

who,

n

addition,

s

reputedly

fHaitian escent.

n

voting

or im

massively,

he

ominican

eople

isregarded

nelaborate

nd

virulent

ampaign

rchestrated

y

he

overnment

nd

he

onservative

lite

that

imed ocast

doubt n

his

Dominicanness

ndmake vote

or

im

eem

unpatriotic.ominicanshowedhroughheirctions hathey adminds f

their

wn.







134 LATINAMERICAN

PERSPECTIVES

DERACIALIZED CONSCIOUSNESS

AND

THE RISE OF THE MULATTO

Dominicans fAfrican

escent ossesswhat nemightall a deracialized

socialconsciousness

hose rigins ateback othe

ecline f he lantation

economy

n olonial imes. fter

eneratingwidespreadndmassive nflux

ofblackslaves

in

the early 16th entury,he

Hispaniola ugar ndustry

declined ramatically.heevanescence

f

he ndustry,

oncomitantith he

constantxodus fwhiteettlers, arked he exturefracerelationsnthe

context

f

he olony'snsuingmpoverishment.

hroughouthe eventeenth

century,overty

fflictedhe nhabitantsf

HispaniolaPefia erez,1985:

10).

A "mirrorfutter ackwardness,"eventeenth-centuryantoDomingo

"wallowed

n

almost otalwretchedness"Bosch,1986:

117). na 1691plea

addressed

o the

Crown,

on

Francisco ranco e

Torquemadargued

or

the need

to

provide

he colonists

with

black slaves "on credit" o

help

stimulate

griculturalroductionFranco

e

Torquemada,

942:

84-85).

Worsened

y

the ffects

f

Governor ntonio e

Osorio's

depopulation

of the astern

erritories

n

1605,

occasional

oreign

nvasions, irate aids,

andvariousnatural isasters,heSantoDomingo conomy eterioratedo

the

oint

hat

lavery

ecame ntenable

nd

he

igid

acial odes

ngendered

by

he

lantationirtually

roke own. henumberffree lacks, segment

that ad

begun

o surface oward he ndofthe ixteenth

entury,rew

o a

majority

s

the

ocialdistance etween lacks nd

whites

hrankignificantly

(Cassa',

992:

76,107-108).

he

estimony

n 1763

byArchbishop

ernaindez

de Navarretebout

he

carcity

f

purewhites,ffirming

hat he

majority

f

the ree

opulationincludingandholders,

as ofmixed

lood,"highlights

the

ervasiveness

fracial ntermixture

n

Santo

omingoCassa',

992:

109).

The

decay

f he

lantation

nd he irtual

estitutionfwhites

elped

o

breakdownthe social barriersetween heraces, timulatingnterracial

maritalelationsnd

giving

ise o

n

ethnicallyybridopulation.

heracial

integration

nd

thnic

ybridity

hat

haracterizedeventeenth-century

anto

Domingo xplain

he

mergence

f

themulattos the

predominantype

n

the thnic

omposition

f

theDominican

opulation.

Interestingly,espite

he

argepresence f people

of African escent

t

the

ime,many

f

he

yewitness

ccounts

f he

recarious

tate f

he

olony

bewailed

he

carcity

fblacks

s

a

primary

ause of he

decay.

We

begin

o

recognize

ere

tendency

o limit

he

term lack

to

people

still

iving

n

slaveryr ngagedn ubversivectiongainsthe olonial ystem. eknow

that

ince he ixteenth

entury,

laves

had often esortedo

marooning

nd

open

rebellion

ndthe olonial

government

adto nvest

good portion

f

its esources

n

counterinsurgency

fforts

Cassa',

992:

85).

The

activitiesf







Torres-Saillant

DOMINICANRACIAL

DENTITY 135

maroons alarmed

the ruling

tructure

ontinuously

ast and west

of

Hispaniola.

y the

1777 Aranjuez reaty,

hen he panish

ndthe

rench

agreed

n

a

formal

artition

fthe sland, hemaroons

ere till

concern,

and

the

mperial

uthoritiesrote nto he ccord

strategy

or ddressing

theproblem

n both Santo

Domingo

and Saint Domingue Moreau

de

Saint-Mery,994:

424).

Peaceful r cooperative

mulattosndblacks,

n contrast,eem

to have

become

ecolorized

nthe

yes

of

the uling

lass,which robably

xplains

Francode Torquemada'somplaintbout he bsenceofblacks t a time

whenfree

blacksabounded. imilarly,

n

the ate-eighteenth

entury,he

mulatto

riest

Antonio anchez

Valverde ttributedhe

povertyf Santo

Domingo

o the ack

of

blacks,

n

contrast

o thewealth

f the ontiguous

French olony,

hich

eemed ith hem

Sanchez

Valverde, 988:

248).He,

of

course,

meant

laves nd

groaned

hat

ven he

omparatively

ew laves

who

xisted

n

Santo

Domingo

work

or

hemselveslmost

ne-third

f

he

year,"

bjecting

urthero hosemasters

ho et heirlacks

o

about

n

their

own

n

exchange

or fee nstead

f

mploying

hem

n

efficientgricultural

production

Sanchez

Valverde,

988: 249-250).Gradually,

hesphere

f

blackness ecame ssociated xclusively ith laveryndsubversion,os-

tering conceptual

pace

that

ermitted

ree

lacks nd mulattos

n

Santo

Domingo

o

step

outside

he racial

circumscription

ftheir lackness

n

configuring

heirdentities

r

aligning

hemselves

olitically.

The disruption

fthe lantation

conomynd

tsdemographic

mpact

n

the

population

acilitated split

between iological

blackness nd

social

blackness.

As the

racial

oligarchy

riginallyenerated

y

the

plantocracy

crumbled,igmentation

eased o

hape

olitical

ction.

Moya

Pons, eflect-

ing

nthe

se n

arly

ineteenth-century

anto

omingo

f

he

erm

lancos

de la

tierra

whites

f the

and)by

colored

eople

o

describehemselves,

notes thatparadoxicallywhile their kingradually ecamedarker,he

mentality

f Dominicans urnedncreasingly

hiter"

1986:

239).

But

the

context

f this

paradox

s

an

earlierhistorical

rocess,

whereby

ocial

position

ad come

to

supersede

kin olor

n the

rticulation

f

dentity

or

people

ofAfrican

escent. lacks

nd

mulattos

ho

pproximated

he

evel

of

their ormer asters hrough

ither heir wn social

ascent

r

the

white

colonists'

escent

were, ndeed,

he

equivalent

f

former

lancos.

They

lacked

material

ramef eference

nwhich o onstruct

concept

f

dentity

based nracial elf-differentiation,

hat

s,

on

affirmation

f

heir lackness.

While hedeath fthe lantationconomy

nd ndiscriminate

overty

n

seventeenth-century

anto

Domingo

ontributed

o

he

ecline

f

lavery

nd

the

ise f

people

fAfrican escent s

a

preponderant

ocial

force, hey

lso

eroded

he

ases

for sense

of

olidarity

ith

lacks

n

general.

s a

result,








we find, or nstance,hemulatto uan

aron

-1805) collaborating

ith he

invading rench orces gainst heblack roops f Toussaintouverturen

1802,despite hefact hat heyear efore heHaitian eader

had abolished

slavery

nd

encouraged

acial

equality

n

Santo Domingo.

imilarly,he

blackDominican

warrior uan

uero 1808-1864), opularly

nown s the

BlackCid,foughtigorouslygainst lackHaitians uringhe ndependence

war n1844 nddidnothesitateo idewith pain's nvading hite oldiers

when Dominicanswerestrugglingo recover heirnational overeignty

during he annexation. ne couldargue hat orDominicans fAfrican

descent, istory

ad

conspired gainst heir evelopmentf a racialcon-

sciousness

hat

would

nformheir

uilding

f alliances

long thnic ines.

At the

ame

time,

heir

eracialized onsciousness recluded

hedevelop-

ment fa discourse fblack ffirmationhatwould erve o counterbalance

intellectualegrophobia.

THE LIMITS OF DERACIALIZATION:

PITFALLS

AND

LEVERAGE

Should Dominican lacks

and

mulattos

ully ecognize

hemselves

s

targets

fthe

ystematicisparagementeployed gainst

hem

y

the uro-

centric iscourse

f

the

country's

ntellectual

lite,

hey

would

probably

suffer

cute

self-loathing

nd

chronic lienation.

heirderacialized on-

sciousness, y nducing

ndifference

o

tate

egrophobia,

as

protected

hem

from hemental

trophy

hatwould omefrom

uch

ffliction.

heir

bility

to

step

outside he

sphere

f

their lackness

as enabled hem o remain

whole.

We

have traced o

the

eventeenth

entury

he

process

whereby

he

concept

frace

ost

ts

heavy mphasis

n

biologically

nheritedeaturesnd

traits.When hemulattohinkeroseRamon opez 1866-1922)published

his 1894essay n nutrition

nd

race,

he

erm

ace

hadbecome ynonymous

withnation.

opez

feared hat

nappropriate

ietwould ead

to

physical

degeneracynd, onsequently,

oss

of

autonomy,

ince

a

race hat

egener-

ates loses

its

ndependence" Lopez,

1975:

32, 36,62).

He

spoke

of a

concept

of

race, hen,

hat welt n

social, emporary,

nd

ontingent

ariables ather

than n genetic, ermanent,

nd

immanent

nes.

He meant,

n

short,

he

Dominican

eople.

The Dominicanoncept

f

racefound tself ythe ndof the entury

n

harmoniousorrespondenceith heconstructionf themultiple thnic

groups

f LatinAmerica s

forming single

ace.

Many

writers rom he

Spanish-speaking

ountriesf he

hemisphereosited

certain

piritual

ink

that omehow nifiedhe

eoples

f

the

egion.

he

essay

La

raza

cosmica







Torres-SaillantDOMINICAN RACIALIDENTITY 137

(1925) bytheMexican hinker

ose

e Vasconcelos1822-1959)

uccinctly

synthesized

he

prevailing iews. Pedro HenriquezUrenia,

ware of the

anthropological

wkwardness

f

umping

the

multicolored ultitudesf

peoples hatpeakour anguage" nto ne racialgroup,

xplained hat heir

onenessdid not

depend

on

biological onsiderations:Whatunites nd

unifies

his

ace,

n dealratherhan real

one,

s the

ommunity

f

culture,

determinedrimarilyy

the

community

f

language" Henriquez

Urenia,

1978: 12-13).

One should ooktothevigorousmperialxpansionftheUnited tates

in

thewakeof

the

panish-American

ar f

1898

for he

historicalontext

in which he

notion f

single

bero-Americanace

gained urrency.

s the

young mpire

et ts

Monroe

Doctrinen

motion

s a

foreign

olicy

reed

with egard o LatinAmerica, ften akingmilitaryction gainst ational

governments

r

nstallingarticular

ocial sectors

n

power

hroughout

he

region, tendencymerged

ithin

sector f the ontinent's

ntelligentsia

to

express

ts

opposition

o

U.S.

imperialismy singing

he

praises

of

Latin-relatedultural alues

n

opposition o the

Nordic

radition

hat

he

United tates

resumablyepresented.

hesecritics id not

ppose mperi-

alism er e,as one angatherromheir ostalgicvocation f he reatness

of

the

Spanish

nd

Portuguesempires; hey bjectedmainly

o its

North

American

ariant.

heunrestrainedelebration

yEugenio

Maria

de

Hostos

(1839-1903)

of the olonialdominationaunched

y

Columbus

s

"one of

themost ruitfulervices enderedo

humanity

ince

he

eginning

f

time"

would

ypify

he

prevailingensibilityHostos, 969: 169).

They ppear

o

haveoverlooked

he act hat he

inguisticnity

f berian

merica

hat

hey

so

zealously

efended ad ts root n a bitter rama f

genocidalmperial

aggression.

he

Uruguayanssayist ose nriqueRodo

1872-1917)

n

his

influentialriel

1900)

envisioned ith errorhe ikelihood f

delatinized

Spanish mericahat ould uccumb onordomania,hats, nunreasonable

admiration

orNorth merican

alues

Rodo,1971[1900]:102-103).

The dispositionfLatinAmericanntellectuals

o

ee dichotomousalue

systems

n

the United tates nd the

Spanish-speaking

ountries f the

hemisphere

osteredhe

ractice

f

defining

heir

egion

s

one

arge

nit n

contradistinctiono heNorthern

radition,

nd

his

egional

efinition

ppar-

ently

ecessitated

he

ompaniononcept

f

Hispanic

ace hat ranscended

phenotypical

nd

biological

haracteristics.

n

the Dominican

Republic,

many hinkers,

ost

notably

merico

ugo 1870-1952),

choed he enets

of he

ontinental

ntelligentsia

bout

bero-American

nity.

or

Dominicans,

of

ourse,

he

ffinity

as

natural,

ince

hey

ad

lready

rrivedntheir wn

at

nonbiologicalnderstanding

f ace.Blacks

ndmulattosad hemselves

undergone process

f

deracialization

f

consciousnessnd

had

become








decolorized

n the

eyes of the Eurocentricntellectuallite. Dominican

society ad nheritedromtspeculiar istoryconcept frace haracterized

by openness nd flexibility,husfacilitatingts blendingwith he racial

concept hat ubsequentlyevelopednLatinAmerica.

The Dominican oncept frace, hen, ad thedisadvantagehat t could

easily play intothe ogic of a negrophobicntelligentsiaationally nd

continentwide.he deracialized onsciousnessf theblackand mulatto

populationeftDominicans npreparedo fendoff xpressions f crude

racism.We must ememberhat urn-of-the-centuryominicanntellectuals

pursued

heirducation

referably

n

Europe

t timewhen

Westernhinkers

were dvancing latantlyacist heories

f culture

nd

human

ociety. a-

tional chool urriculalosely ollowed uropeanmodels,whichmeans hat

the

voices

hat

ought

o

explain

ominicanife ended o embrace

oncep-

tual

paradigms revalent

n

theWest.

or

nstance,

he evered

ostos,

he

Puerto ican ducator

o

whom

ominicans

we mportant

dvances n the

school system,

ould not

relinquish

he notion hat

Caucasians

were the

owners

f

the

wisdom nd

bility ecessary

or ivilizationnd

progress.

n

the 1880s,

he lavished nthusiastic

raise

n theDominican

overnment's

efforto stimulatehemigrationo the ountryf"thepersecutedribesn

Russia

nd

Germany"

or he

ikely ontributionf

hose

mmigrants

o what

theDominican

erritory

ouldbecome"

Hostos, 969:370).

Hostos rusted

that, part rom measurableenefits,"hemigrants

ould

ring

incalcula-

ble

ones,namely

hat

we can

call

civilizingalues,"

most

necessary

sset

givenhis view

of

the

Dominican

eople

as

"lazy" and "beggarly"1969:

371-372,388).

He

placed great

ealof

faithn he ole

hat hite

mmigrants

would

play

both s

"agents

f

production"

nd s

"agents

f

ducation"

ho

would ontributeheirgoodwork abits,echnique,oresight,conomy,

nd

practicalnowledge

f

ndustry"

o he

evelopment

f he

ountry1969:390).

Concomitant ith heunquestioneduperiorityfCaucasianswas the

notion

f

acialmixture

s an

oddity

hat esulted

n

mental

egeneracy.hus,

in

about 916, he therwisestimable ovelistnd ssayist edericoGarcia

Godoy, ecognizing

hat nterracial

arital elations

n

theDominican

ast

had "led to a specific nd differentiateduman ypeduringhecolony,"

convinced imself

hat

recisely

n

that

hybridity

f

our thnic

rigin

ie the

corrosive

erms

hat" ave

mpeded

the

development

f

an effectivend

prolific

ivilization"n the

ountryGarciaGodoy, 975:55).

The results f

a deracialized onsciousnesshat

recluded

thnic

elf-affirmationnd

ex-

posure

o an education hat

roclaimed

he

uperiority

f whites

ntrapped

the

minds

fnotable frican-descended

ominican

ntellectuals.

hus,

writ-

ing

n the

1930s,

rancisco

ugenio

Moscoso

Puello

1885-1959)

ffirmed

hismixed

ncestry

s

"representative"

f heDominican

ype

as

far

s race







Torres-Saillant

DOMINICANRACIAL

IDENTITY

139

is concerned,"

oncedinghat

we are mostly

mulattos,"nd credited

is

ability o

operate

ine echnologyo theportion

f white lood n his

veins

(Moscoso

Puello,1976: 85).

Just s the

Dominican oncept f race

merged

withthe ideological

subterfuge

f

elite ntellectuals

n

continentalatinAmerica, t posed

no

barrier o

the benevolent

acism

utteredy

individuals f demonstrable

commitment

oDominicanocietyikeHostos

ndGarciaGodoy.Worse

till,

the penness

f he

oncept

ent tself o themalevolent anipulation

f

the

Trujillo egime, hosepropagandistsxploitedtsflexibilityor heirwn

ends.They ecognized

he

historicaldentificationf heDominican opula-

tion

with he

ndigenous

aino nhabitants

f

Hispaniola,

whohadendured

oppression

nd xtermination

t he ands f panishonquerors

t he utset

of the

colonial

xperience.

thnically,

he ndians

epresented

category

typified

y

nonwhiteness

s well s

nonblackness,

hich ould

asily

ccom-

modate he acial

n-betweennessf he ominican

mulatto.

hus, he egime

gave

urrency

othe

erm

ndio

Indian)

odescribe

he

omplexion

f

people

of mixed ncestry.

he term

ssumed fficial tatus

n that he national

identification

ardgave

t as a skin-coloresignation

or he hree ecades

of he ictatorshipndbeyond.While,ntheminds fmost ominicans ho

use

it,

he

erm

merely

escribes color

gradation

omewhere etween he

polar

xtremes

f whitenessnd blackness

much

n

the ame

way

that he

term

mulatto

oes,

the

ulturalommissars

f the

Trujillo

egime referred

it primarily

ecause t

was devoid f

any

emantic

llusion o the

African

heritage

nd wouldthereforeccord

with heir egrophobic

efinition

f

Dominicanness.

Dominicans

ave

managed

o urvive he

lienating

egrophobia

nduced

by

their

malignant

ducation nder

rujillo. espite

longhistory

f tate-

funded

onspiracygainst

heirmental

ealth, hey

xhibit reasonable

degree f elf-esteem.rrespectivef he acial anguagehey se, heyhow

considerable

elf-affirmation

n

the

sphere

f action.A national

urvey

conducted

n

1995

howed,

or

nstance,

hat

while he

espondents

esitated

to

classify

hemselvess

"negro"

r

"negra,"

he

majority xpressed

o

particular

acial

preference

n

picking

marital

artner

rom he hoices f

"negra,"india,"

r blanca" iven

n

the uestionnaire

Dore Cabral,

995:

9, 12).

Dominicans ave notsuccumbed,

ince thedeath

of Trujillo, o

state-sponsored

nducements

gainst

Haitian

mmigrants

n

the

country.

However, hey

avenot

scaped

hemental

cars nflicted

ygenerations

f

official ilification

f Haitians.

Anti-Haitianism,

ueled

y

the

urrent

ul-

nerability

f

mpoverished

aitian

mmigrants

ntheDominican

epublic,

persists

s a viable

political

nstrument

or onservatives.

he

survey

ited

above ndicates

hat 1

percent

fthe

espondents

oulddeem

t

objection-







140 LATINAMERICANPERSPECTIVES

able tomarry

Haitian

Dore Cabral, 995: 12). But would onjecturehat

on the whole,

Dominicans

ave escaped serious trophy ecause of the

dealienatingesilience

f their

penconcept f race.Norcan we overlook

the

ocial

utility

f uch

onceptual penness.

RECENTERING THE PEOPLE

No matterowmuchngenuityfro-Dominicansay xhibitnnegoti-

ating

nimical ntellectual

egacies,

hefact

emains hatnegrophobia as

endured

n

the ountry

nd

an

till

manifesttself

n

ways hatnterfereith

thewell-being

f dark-skinned

eople.By

the

beginning

f

May 1996,for

instance,

he

government

nd ts ssociates

were argetinglackpeopleon

suspicion

ftheir

eing oreigni.e.,Haitian)

esidents ho

mightllegally

have

registered

ovotewith he

urpose

f

lecting

he

lack

andidate efia

Gomez.Blackness, hen,

ontinuesobe

relegated

othe ealm f he

oreign

in

the

and that

riginated

lackness

n

theAmericas.

he

need to launch

efforts

imed t

dismantling

acism annot e

denied,

ut hese ffortshould

go beyondmere enunciation.lackDominicans eed oacquire he ccou-

trementshat

will enable

them

o

resist

ts

spell.

would

argue

hat

he

African-descendedajority

fDominicans illbenefit

reatly

rom model

that llows

them o

perceive

heir ncestorss thereal

protagonists

f

the

epic

of

he

Dominican

xperience.eeing

heir

rogenitors

s

having haped

the ourse

f

the

ountry'sistory

ill

nduce

n

Afro-Dominicans

degree

ofhistorical

elf-recognition

hat

will

ause

hem, espite

heir

pen oncept

of

race,

to seek

an

end

to notions f Dominicannesshat

depreciate

he

physiognomy

f he

verwhelmingajority

f he

opulation.

We are sking ominican istorians,neffect,oembrace narrativehat

privilegeshemany

atherhan he

few.

n

his evocation f theDecember

1522 lave

rebellion,

he

ery

irstuch

prising

n

the

history

fNew

World

slavery,

ir

1984: 199)

hadoccasion

o

voice

his

nsight:

History

ould

not

get

his

name.The

black

hadno time

o

pose

for he ensof

history,

hich

s

a dialectical orm f

photography....

e

is, hus, nonymous.

To be

anonymous

s

to be unanimous. ot to

have a

name

s

to contain

ll

names....

Anonymity

s

a kind

f

um

otal, ollectivity,nanimity.

o be no

one

s,

at

the ame

ime,

obe

everyone. nonymity

s

plural.Mir, 984:199)

Inkeepingwith his oet'shistorical isdom,wewould skchroniclers

of theDominican

ast

to

find t in themselves

o train heir

yes

on the

anonymous

asses.







Torres-Saillant

DOMINICAN RACIAL

DENTITY 141

BLACKNESS

IN THE DOMINICAN

DIASPORA

At thispoint,we

have no way ofknowing he extent

o which uture

Dominican

overnments

ill be willing o embrace

ducationalndsocial

agendas imed t repairing

he ulturalamage erpetrated

y the

ultural

theorists

fthe onservative

ower

tructure.orwould

tbe advisable, s

Arcadio iaz Quifiones

arns s,to placethenation's

ultural uturen the

hands fthe

tate 1993:

174). Butwecan be certain

f he ivotal ole hat

theDominican iasporantheUnited tateswill play,with r withouthe

assistance

f

anygovernment,

n

the onfigurationf

a humanelynclusive

conceptualizationf

racial

dentity

n Dominican ociety.his s so

because

Dominicans annot elp

but

realize

hat n theUnited

tates acematters

tremendously.n this

ountry,ominicansoin the

ast of an inescapable

socialdrama,wherein

hites

et the

normativetandard

nd "blackpeople

areviewed

s a 'them,' to borrow he

anguage f

CornelWest 1993:3).

Thus,

acehas mplications

or ne'ssurvival.

It

soon becomes

bvious

o Dominican

mmigrants

hat he

arger

.S.

society

does

not

care

to

distinguish

etween hem

nd Haitians s

the

offspring

f

the

wo

nations f

Quisqueya,

long

with

ther thnic

ommu-

nities

f

mmigrants

romhe hirdWorld,

s

they rapple

or ccessto obs,

education, ousing,

nd

health ervices

n an

atmosphere

f

ever-scarcer

resources

nd ver-increasingnti-immigranteeling.

n the

iaspora,

eces-

sity

lliesDominicans

ith

aitians;

nti-Haitianism

s rendered

mpractical.

Nor can Dominicans

n

the

United

tates

afford

he

embarrassment

f

seeming

o

depreciate

acially community

ith

which,

n

the

yes

f

others,

they

isiblyhare acialkinship.

Whateverheir articular

anner fracial

self-representation,

ominicans

ome nto

society

hat,

n

thewords

f

Frank onilla, knows nlyblack ndwhite"1980:464). Ata NewYork

college

where

taught,

was

approached

y

n

African

merican

olleague

whowas

working

ith groupn

he stablishmentf

black

aculty

aucus.

Infact,

ome

members

f

the

group

ad

proposedmy

nclusion n account

of

my

dark

kin

while

thers ad

had

econd

houghts

n

ight

f

my

oming

from

Spanish-speaking

ation.

iving

me

he

enefit

f he

oubt,

members

had

agreed

o

et

me decidewhether

belonged

n

the

aucus.

My

African

American

olleague ut

he

uestion

hus: Do

you

consider

ourself

ore

black thanHispanic

r more

Hispanic

hanblack?"Finding

he

question

disarming,

proved

nable o

quantify

he mmaterial.

was too fearful

f

sayinghewrong hingndmerelypententencesaloren imless ircum-

locution.

My

ndecisionmademe

suspect

n

the

yes

of

my

olleague,

with

the

predictable

esult

hat

never eard

bout he lack

aucus

gain.







142 LATINAMERICAN

PERSPECTIVES

In the United tates,

ountless

ominicans,

articularly

ark-skinned

ones,

find hemselvesaving

o choose mong

ptionshat

heir istorical

experience

as notprepared

hem orecognize.

uch

s the redicament,

or

instance,

f heDominican

haracters

nDavid

Lamb'sDo Platanos

Go Wit'

Collard

Greens?

1994).

The

novel

featureshe romance

f twoHunter

College

tudents,

nAfrican merican alenamed

reemannd

hisDominican

sweetheart,

ngelita,gainst

background

f acial ension

nd ocal

politics

in

NewYorkCity

tthetime f Mayor

DavidN.

Dinkins.

n hisgallant

dedicationoenabling ngelitandherfamily o accept nd cherishheir

African eritage,amb's

Freeman

mbodies hemindset

fmany

African

Americanswho construe

he reluctance

f

Dominicans nd

other ark-

skinned

atinos to

make blackness heir rimarydentity

s a form

f

alienation

hat

equiresrgent

orrective

reatment.

ManyDominicans

ave already

ssumed discourse

f identityhat

emanates

rom

he

particular

truggles

f

the

black iberation ovement

n

the

United

tates.

A

small ontingent

nNew

York

s

madeup of

ndividuals

of

varioushues

who claim

to

see

themselves

ot

s

"Dominicans" ut

s

"Africans

orn

n

the

Dominican

epublic."

imilarly,

ominican

oung-

sters

who

re

brought

p

nthis

ountry,

here

ipolar

acial

ategorieseign

supreme,

re

ikely

o

adopt

he acial

lassifications

dministered

y

their

environment.

hus

Ramona

Hernaindez

f he atino tudies

rogram

t

the

University

f Massachusetts,

oston,

as

looked

t

the1990U.S. Census

with

n

eye

to

howDominicans

dentify

hemselves

thnically

nd

detected

a

pattern

howing

hat he

onger

ominican

oungsters

averesided

n

the

United

tates,

he

reater

he ikelihood

hat

hey

ill

lassify

hemselves

s black.

Despite

he

nherentalueof overcoming

hevestiges

f a

negrophobic

education,

he

uestion

emains hether aintaining

sense f acial

dentity

imposed yone'senvironmentan n the ndbe considerediberating.or

Dominicans

o submit

o the

ogic

of North

American

acial

polarities,

o

internalize

xtraneous aradigms

f

identity,

ould

be to

disregard

he

complexity

f

their

wnnational

xperience

s

regards

nterracialelations.

But

perhaps

e cannot

ffordhe

uxury

f

uch

ubtleties. hat

onilla

has

said

ofPuerto icans

pplies qually

well oDominicans:

ur

complacency

and

quivocation

ith

espect

orace nd

ven

urmore

enuine

ccommo-

dation

f

racial

differenceave ittle

lace

here.

.

.

We

cannot

ontinue

o

pretend

o

be an

sland

f

ivility

nd

racial

harmony

ntouched

y

he torm

of racial

conflict hat

urroundss"

(Bonilla,

1980:

464).

Along

with

he

Puerto icans nd ll other eoplesdominatedy heWest,wecomefrom

background

hat

as

"taught

s to

experience

lackness

s

misfortune,"

nd

to

pass

the

test

of our

moral

trength,

t

behoovesus

individually

nd







Torres-Saillant

DOMINICANRACIAL

IDENTITY 143

collectively

o stand

p forwhat s black

nus as proudly

s we do

for ur

Dominicanness

Bonilla, 980:

464).

We

can

already oint

o

nstances

fproud ssertion

fblackness

within

Dominicanness

n thediaspora,

s many

membersf the

ommunityave

come

to terms ith

he

unsung ortion

ftheir thnicnd

cultural

eritage.

The U.S.-educated

ominican

oetChiquiVicioso's

often-quoted

Until

came

oNewYork,

didn't

now

was black"describes

he tate f

mind f

many

ominicans

n this

ountryShorris,

992:

146).Moya Pons

argued

some years gothat ominicans ad discoveredheirblackroots"n the

United

tates nd

hat hey

ave nfluenced

heir ative

and

bybringing

heir

discovery

ome.

He viewed hereturn igrants

s "new social agents

f

modernity,

apitalism,

ndracial mancipation"hat

ad contributedo the

overall

ransformation

f

Dominican

ociety

nd the

Dominicanmind-a

claim

hat e llustratedy pointing

o

thevogue

njoyed

n

the

Dominican

Republic y

hairstyles,ress, opular

music,

ndother xpressions

ssoci-

ated

with

African mericans

s well

as to the

popularity

f dark-skinned

artists

nd

politicians

1981:

32-33).

Judgedrom he

vantage oint

f

the

present,

hen

we witness virtual

consensus

n

he

Dominican

epublic egarding

he

mage

freturn

igrants

as

a

menace o thehealth

fDominicanociety,

hedistinguished

istorian

may

have overstated

is case.

A

point

n his

favor, hough, ay

be that

he

antipathy

nd

rejection

onfronted

y

Dominican

eturn

migrants

n

the

homeland

may conceal

a timorouscknowledgment

f

their

nfluence n

mainstream

ominicanociety.ut

he

pirit

f

Moya's

claims

ontinues

o

find

orroboration,

or

xample,

n

Duany's 1998

[this ssue])

analysis

n

this

volume f the ransformation

hat ominicans ndergo

s

they xperi-

ence

nternational

igration.

No people sksto become diaspora; nfortunateircumstancesender

it

o.

Whatever

uffering

ominicans

ave ndured n

the

oreign

hores

o

which espair

asdrivenhem,hey

ave lso earned o

ee themselves

ore

fully

nd more

airly,articularly

n mattersfrace.

The

ong truggles

or

equality

nd

ocial

ustice ypeople

f olor

n

he

United

tates

ave

yielded

invaluableessons rom

hich ominican eople

n

the

diaspora

nd

n the

native

and have

drawn nd

may

continue

o

drawempowerment.

he

diaspora

willrendern nestimableervice

otheDominican

eople

f

t

can

help

to rid

the country

f white upremacist

hought

nd negrophobic

discourse

n

the

xtent o

which

hose berrations

urvive here. ltimately,

this elebratoryetrospectiveaybring urblack onsciousnessnto ocus

in the

national

rena

n a

way

hat

efies

acial

xtremism.

hiswill

be,

n a

word,

he

evelopment

f

black

wareness

ith

Dominican

ifference.







144 LATINAMERICANPERSPECTIVES

NOTE

1.Theclaim hat lack ervants

ayhave rrived ith olumbus

imselfn his econd rip

to

the

colony,

choed

by Mellafe 1964:

18),

seems to

have

lost

currency,ut there s a

scholarship,nspired y

Leo

Weiner's frica nd the

Discovery fAmerica1920), that osits

a

pre-Columbian

frican

resence

n

heAmericas

Van ertima,

976:

14).

Without

onfronting

that

iew,

his rticle dheres

o

the

cholarly

onsensus

rawn

rom

irect

eferencesoblacks

in the

writtenocuments

rom

he

irst

ecade

fthe

olonial

ransaction.

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