by
Black Girl With Long Hair
***Update 7/13/2009… Two individuals quoted in this article have written letters of protest about the way their comments were construed. Instead of posting the letters here, I am going to provide a link. I read through the letters and did not feel that they took anything away from the main point of the article; that there exists in the Dominican Republic a resistance to being termed African or black. However I do think they are worth reading. Here is the link to the letters.***
This is an article from the Miami Herald that was originally published in June 2007:
Black Denial
By Frances Robles
fr*****@*********ld.com
SANTO DOMINGO — Yara Matos sat still while long, shiny locks from China were fastened, bit by bit, to her coarse hair.
Not that Matos has anything against her natural curls, even though Dominicans call that pelo malo — bad hair.
But a professional Dominican woman just should not have bad hair, she said. “If you’re working in a bank, you don’t want some barrio-looking hair. Straight hair looks elegant,” the bank teller said. “It’s not that as a person of color I want to look white. I want to look pretty.”
And to many in the Dominican Republic, to look pretty is to look less black.
Dominican hairdressers are internationally known for the best hair-straightening techniques. Store shelves are lined with rows of skin whiteners, hair relaxers and extensions.
Racial identification here is thorny and complex, defined not so much by skin color but by the texture of your hair, the width of your nose and even the depth of your pocket. The richer, the “whiter.” And, experts say, it is fueled by a rejection of anything black.
“I always associated black with ugly. I was too dark and didn’t have nice hair,” said Catherine de la Rosa, a dark-skinned Dominican-American college student spending a semester here. “With time passing, I see I’m not black. I’m Latina.
“At home in New York everyone speaks of color of skin. Here, it’s not about skin color. It’s culture.”
The only country in the Americas to be freed from black colonial rule — neighboring Haiti — the Dominican Republic still shows signs of racial wounds more than 200 years later. Presidents historically encouraged Dominicans to embrace Spanish Catholic roots rather than African ancestry.
Here, as in much of Latin America — the “one drop rule” works in reverse: One drop of white blood allows even very dark-skinned people to be considered white.
As black intellectuals here try to muster a movement to embrace the nation’s African roots, they acknowledge that it has been a mostly fruitless cause. Black pride organizations such as Black Woman’s Identity fizzled for lack of widespread interest. There was outcry in the media when the Brotherhood of the Congos of the Holy Spirit — a community with roots in Africa — was declared an oral patrimony of humanity by UNESCO. “There are many times that I think of just leaving this country because it’s too hard,” said Juan RodrÃguez Acosta, curator of the Museum of the Dominican Man. Acosta, who is black, has pushed for the museum to include controversial exhibits that reflect many Dominicans’ African background. “But then I think: Well if I don’t stay here to change things, how will things ever change?”
A walk down city streets shows a country where blacks and dark-skinned people vastly outnumber whites, and most estimates say that 90 percent of Dominicans are black or of mixed race. Yet census figures say only 11 percent of the country’s nine million people are black.
To many Dominicans, to be black is to be Haitian. So dark-skinned Dominicans tend to describe themselves as any of the dozen or so racial categories that date back hundreds of years — Indian, burned Indian, dirty Indian, washed Indian, dark Indian, cinnamon, moreno or mulatto, but rarely negro.
The Dominican Republic is not the only nation with so many words to describe skin color. Asked in a 1976 census survey to describe their own complexions, Brazilians came up with 136 different terms, including café au lait, sunburned, morena, Malaysian woman, singed and “toasted.”
“The Cuban black was told he was black. The Dominican black was told he was Indian,” said Dominican historian Celsa Albert, who is black. “I am not Indian. That color does not exist. People used to tell me, ‘You are not black.’ If I am not black, then I guess there are no blacks anywhere, because I have curly hair and dark skin.”
Using the word Indian to describe dark-skinned people is an attempt to distance Dominicans from any African roots, Albert and other experts said. She noted that it’s not even historically accurate: The country’s Taino Indians were virtually annihilated in the 1500s, shortly after Spanish colonizers arrived.
Researchers say the de-emphasizing of race in the Dominican Republic dates to the 1700s, when the sugar plantation economy collapsed and many slaves were freed and rose up in society.
Later came the rocky history with Haiti, which shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic. Haiti’s slaves revolted against the French and in 1804 established their own nation. In 1822, Haitians took over the entire island, ruling the predominantly Hispanic Dominican Republic for 22 years.
To this day, the Dominican Republic celebrates its independence not from centuries-long colonizer Spain, but from Haiti.
“The problem is Haitians developed a policy of black-centrism and . . . Dominicans don’t respond to that,” said scholar Manuel Núñez, who is black. “Dominican is not a color of skin, like the Haitian.”
Dictator Rafael Trujillo, who ruled from 1930 to 1961, strongly promoted anti-Haitian sentiments, and is blamed for creating the many racial categories that avoided the use of the word “black.”
The practice continued under President JoaquÃn Balaguer, who often complained that Haitians were “darkening” the country. In the 1990s, he was blamed for thwarting the presidential aspirations of leading black candidate José Francisco Peña Gómez by spreading rumors that he was actually Haitian.
“Under Trujillo, being black was the worst thing you could be,” said Afro-Dominican poet Blas Jiménez. “Now we are Dominican, because we are not Haitian. We are something, because we are not that.”
Jiménez remembers when he got his first passport, the clerk labeled him “Indian.” He protested to the director of the agency.
“I remember the man saying, ‘If he wants to be black, let him be black!’ ” Jiménez said.
Resentment toward anything Haitian continues, as an estimated one million Haitians live in the Dominican Republic, most working in the sugar and construction industries. Mass deportations often mistakenly include black Dominicans, and Haitians have been periodically lynched in mob violence. The government has been trying to deny citizenship and public education to the Dominican-born children of illegal Haitian migrants.
When migrant-rights activist Sonia Pierre won the prestigious Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award in 2006, the government responded by trying to revoke her citizenship, saying she is actually Haitian.
“There’s tremendous resistance to blackness — black is something bad,” said black feminist Sergia Galván. ‘‘Black is associated with dark, illegal, ugly, clandestine things. There is a prototype of beauty here and a lot of social pressure. There are schools where braids and natural hair are prohibited.”
Galván and a loosely knit group of women have protested European canons of beauty, once going so far as to rally outside a beauty pageant. She and other experts say it is now more common to see darker-skinned women in the contests — but they never win.
Several women said the cultural rejection of African looking hair is so strong that people often shout insults at
women with natural curls.
“I cannot take the bus because people pull my hair and stick combs in it,” said wavy haired performance artist Xiomara Fortuna. “They ask me if I just got out of prison. People just don’t want that image to be seen.”
The hours spent on hair extensions and painful chemical straightening treatments are actually an expression of nationalism, said Ginetta Candelario, who studies the complexities of Dominican race and beauty at Smith College in Massachusetts. And to some of the women who relax their hair, it’s simply a way to have soft manageable hair in the Dominican Republic’s stifling humidity.
“It’s not self-hate,” Candelario said. “Going through that is to love yourself a lot. That’s someone saying, ‘I am going to take care of me.’ It’s nationalist, it’s affirmative and celebrating self.”
Money, education, class — and of course straight hair — can make dark-skinned Dominicans be perceived as more “white,” she said. Many black Dominicans here say they never knew they were black — until they visited the United States.
“During the Trujillo regime, people who were dark skinned were rejected, so they created their own mechanism to fight it,” said Ramona Hernández, Director of the Dominican Studies Institute at City College in New York. “When you ask, ‘What are you?’ they don’t give you the answer you want . . . saying we don’t want to deal with our blackness is simply what you want to hear.”
Hernández, who has olive-toned skin and a long mane of hair she blows out straight, acknowledges she would “never, never, never” go to a university meeting with her natural curls.
“That’s a woman trying to look cute; I’m a sociologist,” she said.
Asked if a black Dominican woman can be considered beautiful in her country, Hernández leapt to her feet.
“You should see how they come in here with their big asses!” she said, shuffling across her office with her arms extended behind her back, simulating an enormous rear-end. “They come in here thinking they are all that, and I think, ‘doesn’t she know she’s not really pretty?’ “
Maria Elena Polanca is a black woman with the striking good looks. She said most Dominicans look at her with curiosity, as if a black woman being beautiful were something strange.
She spends her days promoting a hair straightener at La Sirena, a Santo Domingo department store that features an astonishing array of hair straightening products.
“Look, we have bad hair, bad. Nobody says ‘curly.’ It’s bad,” she said. “You can’t go out like that. People will say, ‘Look at that nest! Someone light a match!’ ”
Purdue University professor Dawn Stinchcomb, who is African American, said that when she came here in 1999 to study African influences in literature, people insulted her in the street.
Waiters refused to serve her. People wouldn’t help Stinchcomb with her research, saying if she wanted to study Africans, she’d have to go to Haiti.
“I had people on the streets . . . yell at me to get out of the sun because I was already black enough,” she said. “It was hurtful. . . . I was raised in the South and thought I could handle any racial comment. I never before experienced anything like I did in the Dominican Republic.
“I don’t have a problem when people who don’t look like me say hurtful things. But when it’s people who look just like me?”
~Miami Herald
139 Responses
I have family members from the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico and I honestly do not identify as 100 % black. Reason being, my great granddad (mom’s side) was white Purtuguese and My granddad (dad’s side) was East Indian (not native american or taino) and so my hair is jet black and shiny with loose curls, i have a straight nose that most people label as a “white-ppl nose” and I am accepted into the Dominican community. However I am not prejudiced against true black ppl.
Most ppl in the Caribbean tend to stay far away from Haitians, not because they are black but because they are very “dark” people and I don’t mean in complexion. They still are very deeply rooted in practices of dark magic such as voodoo and o’bea. And these things are more prevalent and openly practiced in Haiti. This can be a huge turn-off for other Caribbean countries which are predominantly Christian states.
btw, there is stil a fairly decent amount of Caribs left in the Caribbean, there is even a Carib reserve in Dominica.
Javon, you don’t think Christianity with all its pilfering, genocide, rape and destruction of entire societies is a form of dark magic?? Specifically, the kind that was done on your ancestors who were conquered???
They’d don’t wanna be black then fuck them. They wont be accepted in no other race
It’s really heartbreaking to read stuff like this.
Not surprising, given that the Dominican Republic is made up of many self-hating people who think they have more in common with White Spaniards than Mother Africa!! It’s their shame and disgrace!!!
Wow. I thank God that I put my time into studying his word and learning about his begotten son. Thank you Jesus that I do not spend my time with these vain babblings and genealogy about ancestory, hair texture and skin color. That’s a sad place to be
Maybe they should. Maybe the United States should start deporting them also. I won’t miss them.
as a person of color to use miami herald artiles with an agenda is dead wrong.. you just hate dr women say that instead of lying.. we arent racist.. and you have issues here with colorism and how everyone is a cherokee or creole or white grandma etc.. you choose to single out DR like its a trend yet puerto rico cuba Brazil are even more virulently racist and get no negative press… amerians have lght vs dark issues and i have dealt with black ppl who harbor seriously vile putrid comments about darker skin, about africans and about 4 texture hair, yet i am not running arund trying to degrade and bash you and call you racist or self hating when I see it all the time…black men arent trying to hear about natural anything .. i have had my friend be insulted and asked wheres your weave at and better perm that sht..those words exactly on 125th by the 2 train never for get it… I can find derogatory nasty articles on black people every day and can use it to make a hateful point but dont.. and that is exactly what you did.. that article is so full of it..i can find a plethora of american black videos and blog excerpts and comments from the public that can be used as negative anti black propaganda.. this article gotta go… i actually been following since 2008 and unsubed when i saw this and now im back to give another chance but seriously the anti Domincan rhetoric has to stop already… try talking to one of us, the many of us who follow yur page.. vs pushing some agenda.. haiti has worse issues why not post on that… they are in abject poverty but have money for a relaxer and weave and wigs
Black people in different parts of the world go through all forms of prejudice. Willie Lynch, did an intetesting job at brainwashing African slaves. As an African-American woman from the south, I was teased for being light skinned with curly hair by other blacks in the 90’s. It is hurtful to see such seperation between those that look like you and those that share the same history. We come from strong people that survived the middle passage, and slavey. We got to love who we are, and respect our history, that so many people would rather it be forgotten. Hotep!
From my personal family history, I know the complex relationship between black Haitians and Dominicans in the Caribbean. My great grandmother (dad’s mom) was a Dominican woman who was almost beaten to death for marrying a Haitian man. She fled to Haiti for her safety. Learning this true story as I grew up made me resent the “Dominican” within me for practically my entire life. I would scowl and roll my eyes as my mother told me “you look like a morena”. I went so far as refusing to learn Spanish after French, a custom in my dad’s side of the family.
My country has a venerated, idealist reputation as the country that freed themselves from white oppression. What people fail to realize is some of the dark and heinous acts they took to get there. Now I will never justify the Dominican reaction towards Haitians, but for those who are historically inclined, I could have some understanding of it.
However, the hypocrisy of the Dominican population astounds me. They punish a nation, assisting them in their disenfranchisement, actively encouraging their demise as a sick twisted sort of revenge for past grievances. And yet, they come here and choose to seek respect and equality when they cannot even provide this in their own home country. They also ignore their hatred of blackness once money comes into play. My uncle is a Haitian senator with faint Dominican roots. Walking down the street, he would be insulted and disrespected as a black Dominican. Yet, all roof that changes when he rolls with the political caravan. Then he is Senator because of his money. Hypocrisy.
What Haiti and DR need is a political treaty and peace accords between their two nations. It is sad that DR can co exist with countries on the other side of the planet but cannot peaceably exist with their next door neighbor. Although these treaties can’t change personal action, it will be that first step needed to change centuries of hate. I hope they realize the necessity….
I’m in agreement with what most ppl have to say about the Dominican Republic. My father is Haitian so I am fully aware of the ethnic cleansing and GENOCIDE that is taking place against Haitians in DR presently.
Now my focus is I think it’s time for Blacks to STOP wasting time worrying about what white or ppl who want to be white think of us. We know it and have always know it. We need to focus on changing the narrative where we fill ourselves with LOVE for SELF in the images of our ancestors. We must support other ppl who want to promote BLACKNESS and dis-engage from the companies and persons who do NOT!
i reside in Nigeria,west Africa,Even here we have a big problem.you rarely see a woman with natural hair.Out of 20 women,not even one will have natural hair.Internalised racism is part of society.The only way we can change it is by teaching our children to love themselves.I am 15 years old and I have been natural for only over a year.Even my mother calls my hair “uncivilised”
True. Even check out Nollywood movies, the only time a person would have natural hair is to signify poverty.
My mother refuses to let me wear my natural hair out because It is “uncivilised”
I don’t beleive any “older lady tried to spit on you” perhaps she was a crazy lady, but in the other hand all that the article says is true. I’m part of that mayority of black women in a country where you’re not pretty if you have too much black characteristics, and be pretty means you have your hair straight.But things are changing in small steps and there are many women in DR that are going natural lately.I always like to see how black american women are considered pretty in the US and they are proud of their beauty (and they really are)but here in DR they will only get a cold glance that says :” ‘doesn’t she know she’s not really pretty?’ Would like to know who invented “bad hair” term, I hate that word.
Why would Lauren lie about an old woman trying to spit on her? They lynch Blacks in the DR. Why would spitting be so inconceivable????
Wish I saw this article earlier. I went to the Dominican Republic in January and I have a tapered fro. I received some really dirty stares from mostly women (an older lady tried to spit on me); the men seemed intrigued and some went as far as to cat call at me. It’s really unfortunate as a woman to see so much anger and negativity from other women that look like my own family. It has only inspired me to be more comfortable and confident in the way God made me. I’m hoping that it will inspire other women to see the beauty within themselves.
I would not spend a single cent visiting the DR. Those people are sick and twisted with self-hate and we, as proud Black people, need to disavow them completely.
you wont be missed… goto haiti try and void being kidnapped.. they call their dark skin kaka dyab or devils shit they see it ias a curse the mulatto elite 2% of pop holds all the power and riches and have real racism by exclusing blacks where DR wot exclude them they account for 85 percent of tourist workers and send that $ home dummy..my haitian pen pal that i buy art from got paaaaaiiiid because where did we go and spend a small fortune on haitian art? DR… without DR she wouldnt be able to send money to jacmel.. i plan on visiting again soon.. she advises not to go to jacmel due to my light skin.. is very dangerous for me.. i believe her the history there was about killig off mixed ppl and making a pure black republic…because ulike the spanish side the french mulattos were also slave owners and incredibly cruel.. some say worse that the whites…. so learn b4 takling…
You need to learn to respect others’ innate right to have an opinion that differs from your own, or at least develop the ability to respond in a civilized manner. SMDH.
I sincerely hope you’re only like this online, where you can’t get your ass kicked.
BTW, my opinion remains unchanged. That is the problem with responding to strangers in an irrational and unnecessarily hostile manner. They don’t care what you think once you demonstrate you’re a boorish fool.
I agree. Their level of racism is way overboard. In solidarity, I feel African-Americans, should boycott Dominican businesses. Most of them do not like African-Americans anyway -only their money.
It would be interesting if Puerto Rico decided to apply those same “rules” to The Dominicans who over-populate the island.
This article is very well written and is highly accurate. Dominicans need to acknowledge both sides of their heritage.
we do YOU WANT US TO ONE DROP… WE SAY MIXED U SAY BLACK…
I agree with the article. DR don’t normally embrace curly hair but if you compare black women to Asian or East Indian women, we black women are likely to embrace having darker skin and curly hair more than our Asian and East Indian sisters.
I have been to China and Japan as well as Thailand and if you think ONLY black people obsess over looking “Westernized” or white, you would be sadly mistaken. Not only do Asians and East Indians obsess over looking white, they are getting MAJOR surgeries to have lighter or whiter skin, breaking their natural rounder faces down to appear more v-shaped wearing makeup two shades lighter than their natural skin tone. When many Asians go to the beach they wear these masks that cover their WHOLE face! It’s pretty amazing because I never see black women going that far. I mean yes you hear some ignorant things coming from Black women sometimes, but we are no where near as bad as other races are when it comes to skin bleaches.
The Asians don’t normally change their hair because they have straight hair, but believe me when I tell you that the descendants of Africa are not the ONLY ones who think being lighter or more European looking is superior. We as Black women can’t even compare when it comes to Asians women and East Indian women who are ubber obsessed with appearing white. I am a light skin Spanish and Black and Arab woman, when I was in Thailand I can’t even begin to tell you how many of the women came up to me and compared their skin color to mine! They compared their skin tone to mine simply because I was much lighter than many of them were and they were surprised because I look black. I’ve lived in New York where East Indian men want to date and marry me SIMPLY because I’m so light skin compared to them.
I encourage us black women take the time to talk to or learn how other non-white races try to mimic white people as well and maybe we can start to see that we are actually not as obsessed with looking like Barbie as much as other cultures are. I’ve traveled quite a bit and have interacted with many people, been exposed to many cultures and I’ve never seen anything like the Asians when it comes to skin whiteners and plastic surgery to try to look WHITE. I have seen the total transformations that many Asian women go through to appear white.
Omg I accidentally “thumbs downed” I meant to like it! I really liked your thoughts because you are right–color ism is everywhere, and it’s not even as bad as we tend to think it is in black-American culture
That’s strange. My grandmothers husband is from Japan and I visit Asia often and never encountered that. I think you’re full of shit sorry.
I think it’s just over-exaggeration, just like with he white women and hair extensions and plastic surgery thing. I guess it makes insecure black women feel better about their delusions. The truth is the VAST MAJORITY of white women do not partake in these activities. Infact only 2 million in the united states have breast implants (most women get them after they have had kids in their older years) and white women are underrepresented in plastic surgeries compared to other groups.
That’s 2 million women total in the united states out of 150 million***
“white women are underrepresented in plastic surgeries compared to other groups.”–Umm…I know I’m late to this thread, but that statement is completely false.
Yes, not all white women are getting plastic surgery and other ethnic groups numbers have risen, but still, the vast majority of women (steady 70%) that have plastic surgery in the US are white. So that statement is complete lie.
You might want to go Google the Indian skin whitening industry and look and see that it is popular in Thailand and Japan as well. Look up the Black Chinese…the Huns, The Jomon people, the Mongols, the Zhou. You might want to look up on some history and stop using a single example of one person in your family as if it is the law and don’t come off as ignorant telling people they are full of shit when you are not well-versed on this subject, apparently.
I agree, I have noted this amongst Asians and East Indians as well. Odd, because the Dravidians are the original people of the Indian subcontinent, and the Jomon people are as dark as your typical African or Black person. The Huns were also dark. When we look at history, all people had melanin to begin with. So this desire of white skin and straight hair comes from oppression and brainwashing. Similar to how white Australians persecute Aborigines.
Racism is not going any where. Ad it s a liv an thriving I every color and ethnicity. Just look at how people are boycotting Cheerios and Coca Cola. So Sad.
…and some clueless people still hold that there’s no ‘race problem’ as such to answer; that slavery has ended and black people should just stop mentioning any existence of far-reaching after-effects, psychological damage or present-day legacy of lies still in existence today? (!)
The evidence speaks for itself and no amount of head-in-the-sand reasoning by misled individuals trying to play the issue down is going to cut it for me or any other person who has experienced the reality of deep-seated prejudice, racism and it’s insidious effects.
After exploring through the world wide web and meeting techniques that were not pleasant, I thought my entire life was done.
Sweet – happy new year!
Van Gogh said it best with “Instead of trying to reproduce exactly what I see before me, I make more arbitrary use of color to express myself more forcefully.”
One of my best friends is a Dominican American. I realized how much self hate was in the Dominican community when he told me that his brother used a relaxer to get rid of his curls. Now when a DUDE goes so far to use a relaxer to make himself look less African, there is a problem.
I don’t think that my friend and his wife are as color struck because at their wedding it was a rainbow of people there and I know that although he’s only dated Dominican females he has messed with all sorts of girls. So not all Dominicans are this prejudice.
But I do think that the reactions in this article is nothing short of sad. Slavery is still felt in so many countries amongst so many people. Even here in America, I am a dark skinned African American woman and people are always saying “YOu are such a pretty dark Black girl!!!” Like seeing someone as dark as me who is lovely is something that is surprising. I always take the compliment and thank the person and keep it movin. I know that most people who say that genuinely don’t mean any harm but it just shows peoples mantality.
The guy who is reamining in DR to change the way of peoples thinking has a long road ahead of him but I still think its noble of him to want to help his people
REALLY SO WHEN YALL USE THE DOO RAG AND TEXTURIZER TO LOOSEN NAPS AND GET WAVES IT IS SELF HATE?
“Also, in the Dominican Republic, curly hair is not bad, at all. Especially not in the dominican republic. It’s seen as something usually beautiful. People always speculate on how gorgeous mine is, and I have EXTREMELY curly hair. So curly it never goes past shoulder length despite it reaching midback when pulled down…. Dominican Republic with me, I come from a small town called Santiago. People couldn’t help but if she’s mixed due to her hair. As if black girls couldn’t have well managed long hair. The answer is simple shea butter and knots giving her a curly look.” YOU”RE SO FULL OF IT!!! I JUST came back from studying abroad in Santiago (I attend UW MADISON) and that IS THE MOST RACIST CITY IN THE DR!!!! I am a light skinned Afro-Puerto Rican with “good” hair and you know what they did??? Pressured me to straighten and DYE MY SHIT BLOND EVERY DAY!!! Not only did I bring up issues of racsim with the PUCMM faculty, but I BLOGGED about it as well! Guess what, those fake ass “INDIOS” (yall Black, not no damn Indians, Tainos only exist in the PR mountains!) told me I was exaggerating the fact that Dominicans spit, threw shit, and talked shit about the darker skinned Americans in my class. The only place I like in the Caribbean was CUBA!
HERE’S MY BLOG ON THE EXPERIENCE—you’ll LOVE it! https://litebritechronicles.blogspot.com/?zx=8b32161ad166555e
Well clearly her experience is different then yours. Sorry you went through that.
youre a bold faced rican liar.. yall hate us for being darker skinned .. and tainos were in the DR way more than pr, AND GREEETED COLUMBUS TO THEIR DETRIMENT.. YOU act as if calling us black is an insult.. it shows your racism..and Haiti is named after their name for the area.Ayti.. dummy..PR tainos according to SPAIN royal archives died off due to disease and mixed with wwhites and blacks creating PR ppl so u black also.. adn to me that is not an insult its a blessing you low life …YOU yall wish u were taino and italian as u always claim and even irish but never black.. even tho to this day u are a colony and were justa sugar plantation for spain.. focus on YOUR JIM CROW style racism in PR can a dark skinned person have upward mobility there.. no so fuckl outta here … we had Pena Gomez a black man with haitian ancestry as our leader that will NEVER happen in PR where you hate Dominicans and call us ni99er and monkeys your social media pages say it all.. YOU have ZERO ROOM TO TALK
Currently I am living in the DR and in the process of going natural. It is DIFFICULT as an African-American women. Everyone looks at my skin color and assume I am Haitian – which is not an offense considering the beauty of Haitian people and the Kreyol language – however, when they hear me speaking English without an accent they are confused. Many do not believe me when i tell them I am from the states…It is HARD fro darker skinned Dominicans to realize that they ARE Black – And the hardest part is seeing them not only hate to be the darkest person in the room, but to see them HATE there hair when it is not straightened – a process that not only includes a relaxer, but a painfully HOT blow out. I wish that Black Dominicans could learn to love themselves and to gain knowledge of their heritage .
A lot of them do. Please go and talk to some of them. My friend tried it to be different she would never do it again. she loves her hair.
This is interesting. I am Dominican, and am now considering going natural. NOBODY understands why it's such a big deal for me to do this. Since African American women have at least some history and acceptance of going natural, nobody understands why for me, as a Dominican, it's actually the scariest decission I've every made in my life. I talked a bit about it in my blog post:
https://www.breakingtheglassceilings.com/2009/09/good-hair.html
Hello … I just discovered this blog and though I intend to read everything written about Dominicans' rejection of blackness, I felt compelled to comment now.
I am a black American woman, with natural hair that I've worked three years to achieve. I am very proud to say my hair is 100 percent natural. I wear it braided, and for added length I use braiding hair that has a natural-hair texture.
The reason I'm here is to research gender roles in Dominican relationships, which sounds pretty basic. Nevertheless, I'm finding so many interesting dynamics I never dreamed would come into play.
I've been here three weeks, and I will be here for an indefinite stay.
Last Friday, I went to a shop to have my hair re-braided, and the process was shocking. At home, the stylist who does my braids specializes in natural hair.
Here, the woman braiding my hair insisted upon using a blow-dryer to "straighten" my hair. It was so hot I thought my scalp was on fire. Plus, she wanted to use a brush to pull the hair even harder to straighten it.
In my rudimentary Spanish, I explained to her that I don't want my hair straightened … I merely wanted it braided. Unfortunately, my hair is so straight at the roots, it looks like I've gotten a relaxer.
My observations thus far, have been that Dominicans do indeed reject blackness. The preference for straight hair and light skin is amazing. Some of the people are darker than me, and claim they are "white." Who am I to disagree with them, so I just shake my head.
Having been taught to embrace and celebrate my blackness, I am lost on this island that pretends Africa has no historical significance.
africa is a part of our culture … and they do hair very well .. so what… here yall relax thre they blow dry…. i stop ppl if they are wildin on my hair .. yaljust want us to say we are african ONLY
It’s time every descendant of an African to take responsibility for their view of their natural beauty and their education as to how to manage it. We all came from some blue-black people, kinky-haired people, right down to our first mother on earth.
And, now that WE'RE FREE to do so, it’s our job to be acquainted with what works for us to bring out our natural beauty. If you want a real change, then, don’t just look at the sad part.
I like this blog because it does more than air dirty laundry, it cleans up too.
Keep showing and revealing to the world how beautiful we are.
On the other hand, this article, to me, is like the minstrel show gone haywire.
I didn’t even read it all, because I didn’t want my mind to go there.. I’ll carry my view of African beauty in my walk, in my words, and in how high I hold my natural head up for all to see. I’ll show it off, confidently. More sisters are upholding their own type of beauty above others.
It’s been effective enough to get these ignorant people questioning themselves. It’s been effective enough to convince the world that big booties are good things, and it will be effective enough to do the same for all other african-features, including dark ebony skin and tightly coiled hair.
https://www.easycareregimen.blogspot.com/
Being curvy was popular waaaaaaay down in time. It was a sign that you were healthy and would give birth to many children then all of a sudden Maybe it was the flapper era, not sure don’t quote me on it cause I don’t know, but it was sexy to be thin and have a boyish figure. Now its a mix of both. You can teach people that and show people our beauty, but we have to make sure that we aren’t trying to shove it down peoples throats. But I do have to say we have to stop gaining up on each other over the littlest things. we need to see all of us as beautiful no matter what we do to ourselves whether we are natural from head to toe, or are natural hair, but bought our breast and booties or wear colored contacts, or rock our skin that is dark as a raven. We need to still find each other beauty. Whether we wear no make up or can’t leave the house without beatin that face. Hell even if we shave our head to the skin or snatched the tail of the ass of a horse, its ok we are still beautiful people. When we go in on each other it is just sad. How can we get others to follow suit if we can’t do it?
I am now getting off my soap box.
“make sure we aren’t trying to shove it down people’s throats”?? You mean like the way the european standard of beauty is shoved down all our throats everyday and has been for centuries? It’s sad that black people think we can be proud, but not TOO proud of who we are, and where we came from. We constantly apologize for being different or try to cover up our uniqueness with quick fixes to better blend in to the colorless mold of society. The minute someone of color is confident in who they are and stops trying to live up to someone else’s expectation of who they should be and what they should aspire to, they’re looked at as cocky or ethnically overbearing. Every body else on the face of this Earth is allowed to feel good about being who they are except black people, no we don’t want to make anyone feel uncomfortable with how relaxed we are in our own skin, skin that’s so very different than theirs, lets chemically alter the hair we were born with and fad that skin with some bleach, uhm no thank you. -_-
Make sure we aren’t trying to shove it down people’s throats?? You mean like the way the european standard of beauty is shoved down all our throats everyday and has been for centuries? It’s sad that black people think we can be proud, but not TOO proud of who we are, and where we came from. We constantly apologize for being different or try to cover up our uniqueness with quick fixes to better blend in to the colorless mold of society. The minute someone of color is confident in who they are and stops trying to live up to someone else’s expectation of who they should be and what they should aspire to, they’re looked at as cocky or ethnically overbearing. Every body else on the face of this Earth is allowed to feel good about being who they are except black people, no we don’t want to make anyone feel uncomfortable with how relaxed we are in our own skin, skin that’s so very different than theirs, lets chemically alter the hair we were born with and fad that skin with some bleach, uhm no thank you. -_-
Honestly, it's somewhat true. But that's an exaggeration. Big butts, are not an issue. As a girl lacking one despite the whole Dominican big butt genetic I will tell you from experience it isn't a problem. Dominican men love butts. I think the issue lies with Dominican women having some of the curvies frames in Hispanic America, being downgraded with those killer Haitian curves. I've had guys ask me why I don't have the kind of butt you can put a glass on. I just answer, bad luck. ;3
Also, in the Dominican Republic, curly hair is not bad, at all. Especially not in the dominican republic. It's seen as something usually beautiful. People always speculate on how gorgeous mine is, and I have EXTREMELY curly hair. So curly it never goes past shoulder length despite it reaching midback when pulled down.
There is racial tension, that is undeniable. That usually is toward hair that's coarse, and doesn't spring. People there aren't aware of buntu knots and the like. If they saw buntu knots once the knots were out and saw springing curls, they'd label it as "good hair"
Good hair is well managed curly hair or straight hair. The key word being well managed. Not braided, not straight flat lifeless hair. Good hair is hair that can be well managed. Certain people just don't take an interest to beautify their hair, going towards straightening or braiding. The easier main steam options. My friend of haitian decent raised here came to Dominican Republic with me, I come from a small town called Santiago. People couldn't help but if she's mixed due to her hair. As if black girls couldn't have well managed long hair. The answer is simple shea butter and knots giving her a curly look. It's just not really seen in the DR. If they saw a blog like this with so many options. I think a lot of people in the DR would be astounded. I believe the Miami Herald's article was extreme. Far too extreme. The racial animosity exists, but it isn't settled on just hair. It most likely will be there for sometime. I think it's ironic to expect a welcome to a nation you took over. It's just not done. India still isn't fond of Indian born Indians, or white people. I don't see why Dominican Republic should be any different. As an American I feel saddened by the way they treat haitians, but can sometimes understand the whole "we were on the same boat, why don't they just develop how we did rant"
I'm sure a lot of people will view this comment as I'm picking sides. But truly, I'm not. I'd love to see Haiti develop as it's own nation, but before that occurs Haitians need to take pride in their own nation. Their looks, and their country.
I don't know where this journalist got his information from, some of it is honestly bull. I say this as someone who was raised there from a toddler into my teens and goes back frequently.
Very interesting view. I appreciate it. My friend was raised in the DR until she was a preteen I think and then they moved to Miami. People asked her what her ethnicity and she said it with pride, “I’m Dominican”. She was very sweet and always kept me laughing and she told me it depended sometimes which areas you were in. You know? well I loved her curly hair and she said that she never had an issue with it. But when our ship moored in Perth she decided to get it blow dried and straightened. She liked it because it was different, but she said truthfully she liked it curly and you are correct she said it was the loose ringlet type hair that people think is “good hair”. Actually when I go into Latino grocery stores everyone ask me if I’m Dominican. I’m not, I am African American and Native American Mostly, but my family tree is a nice melting pot of diversity.
Wow.. this hits home. I am Haitian american & I grew up in South FL. I remember going to school with a few dominican kids.. I remember one occasion, I was about 13 yrs old & they were probably around the same age. Anyway, we were on the bus and the bus driver called out to this dominican kid and said "Hey black boy" or something like that to get his attn. This kid got sooo angry. I remember him walking home and talking about how he's NOT black. And this kid was Morris Chestnut's skin complexion. I was confused and didn't quite understand the dislike to be black. I remember a few other times in my life where hispanics in general have discussed or argued that they were hispanics. This is actually going on in my own family. My 14 yr old cousin, who's a lighter skinned girl, has recently become infatuated w/ "not getting too dark".. as if being darker skinned is not beautiful. This saddens me…
You know what? Over time if you are dark it meant that you were meant for field work if you were fair skin then you were meant for luxury because such pure skin can not handle a long time in the sun. A lot of the time that was what people looked at when they would get promotions or married off. My friend is Cambodian and her and her husband are light in color, so they assumed all their kids should be that way which would secure their status money wise and the kudos I guess with in their culture. Their oldest is nutmeg brown I guess and he is not the important one. There middle son is the pride and joy because he has porcelain skin like a Japanese doll. Their youngest is in the middle. he’s light but not as light as the second child.
A lot of races don’t want to be called a race that their not especially if that race is darker. Call a Puerto Rican Mexican and see what happens its more then just where they are from. Its a WOW discussion if you can have it.
Pharmacy BLONDES where I live are also pharmacy BLONDES… Not pharmacy fakes. In the context it's used in my neighborhood and between the Dominicans I know, it means permed and bleach blonde- not simply fake. But yet
again, that's my experience. While, of course, I appreciate the opinions and points of others, and don't presume to assume that ALL Dominicans are the same, none of your comments can change my experience in DR or my day to day in New York City, which is what I shared in my comments.
All of my comments are based on my opinion, thanks… I'm just going to leave it at that
@ serenissima:
"And one more thing: the bleach blonde, perked and blown out Dominican is so prevalent in New York City there's even a name for them: Pharmacy Blondes (the actual saying is in Spanish, but i can't think of how it goes)"
Just to clarify–The term is "mujer de farmacia", and it is used to describe ANY WOMAN that's fake–whether it's fake hair, fake nails, fake hair color (that you could buy at a pharmacy). It's not just used to describe Dominican women who do it. It was a term made popular in a merengue in the '90's…I forget who sings it. Anyway, wrong use of the term.
@ Anonymous July 23, 2009 10:11 AM:
Thank you very much for your post, and I agree with you wholeheartedly. As a Dominican young woman, I have to say that I am not comfortable with the direction this conversation is taking. I take offense to the general accusations being made here. Is there racism in the Dominican Republic? Yes. Is there a hair issue? Yes. Do we all think the same? Absolutely not. I can also say that I've been discriminated against by black (non-latino) people–more so than by white people. In addition, I didn't know any other black woman with natural hair until a couple of years ago! I have not, nor do I plan to, perpetuate that negativity by judging all black (non-latino) people with the same ruler, however.
With regards to the whole "I'm not black, I'm Dominican" issue:
I basically grew up in the Bronx and I've uttered the same phrase from time to time. By "black" I have meant "African American", so I'm not referring to the race. It doesn't fall in line with the definitions, I know, but that's how I, and most other people I know, have meant it. Conversely, in instances when I don't disclose my nationality and someone has asked, they themselves have said "Oh, I thought you were black." I've stopped saying that, though, and people (including my co-workers, who are white), have gotten confused when I've said I'm black (and I usually have to explain).
As for the culture issue, the Dominican culture and history are very complex, and I cannot do it justice here. All I can say is that Americans (in general) can take many things for granted, such as the concept of equality, etc. There are certain things you can't do in other countries, such as protesting and battling the status quo, without a price. I'm certainly not saying the Civil Rights Movement came easily, but the after-effects of dictatorship and repression of certain liberties can still be felt in the DR.
Sorry for being long-winded–All I'm saying is, let's try to understand each other and let's have a dialogue without pointing fingers. It is a sad situation, and it is not unique to the Dominican Republic.
Anonymous 7/22 1:13 wrong context. Get it together as in show some solidarity as people of color.. You can express any thoughts you want as can I. I surely won't be basing my opinions and experiences of Dominicans on racist youtube comments nor should anyone. I have known many people from DR, Brazil, Ecuador. etc and they are as varied in their opinions and issues with colorism and hairism as African Americans. I used to get my hair pressed by an old lady from the South and the comments were just as rank and foul so what is the problem here that Dominicans should be singled out for their "black denial."
To "get it together" in the context that YOU used it would require people of color to open a dialogue that is not only based on honesty but compassion. I see a lot of venting in here but very little compassion for the struggle for identity across the diaspora and recognition of our common ground. That's a gerbil wheel its time to get off if progress is going to be made.
I repeat- get it together black and brown people i.e. focus on UNITY not finger pointing.
@ anonymous July 21, 2009 9:05 PM
Get it together? For responding and sharing our thoughts on something that is happening beyond the article. I hear it when I USED TO get a blow out. This article did not tell me something new…go on youtube..speak to a dominican and tell them to get it together and let us converse and share our thoughts without being told to get it together!!!!!!
The issues within the black diaspora will not go away easily as long as we continue to argue and bicker amongst ourselves. Responding in anger to a person who is lost in terms of identity will never bring that person over to your point of view and painting an entire community with one brush without taking time to get to know each person one on one to get an understanding of their story will never bring about unity.
Thank you poster. That "they bash us lets bash them mentality" is pointless and counter productive. It is part of the reason that truly liberated pan-africanism can not take a foothold in our society. Whether you are African America,African Carribean, Afro-Latina or any mixture thereof we share a common struggle. This article is more divide and conquer bs and we as people of color fall for it every time. I can respect the personal experiences of other but they are indeed just that- personal! They are not a fair representation of Dominicans as a whole anymore than an ignorant rapper is a representation of all African Americans.
Also, how can you say it doesn't matter if the lady was misquoted when some people are using those same quotes to support their positions that Dominicans are in black denial? That's silly.At the very least the misrepresentation of her interview speaks to the inflammatory slant of the article.
Get it together black/brown people.
funnily enough, i'm spending my summer working on the haiti vs. dominican republic case before the inter-american human rights court. solange pierre is one of the plaintiffs/victims. the situation in the d.r. is deep…and it all goes back to self-hatred and racism…
RACE/ETHNICITY=Black (of African descent)
NATIONALITY=Dominican. I don't see the two being interchangeable. Just because someone chooses to self-identify with one doesn't mean they are not the other, but seeing how most blacks are treated, portrayed, and/or the quality of life afforded to many, can ya blame someone for seeing an opportunity to disassociate and then jumping on it? Would I do so? God, I hope not, but apparently it isn't a question of pride for those that do–it's survival. The whole system is SEVERELY screwed up. This is a useful discussion, but we need to address the underlying problem. Who's brave enough to do so? Who CARES enough to do so? Who's gonna call a spade a spade (forgive the choice of words)and stop this foolishness at the individual level? Is it a question of 'it ain't my problem, so I don't care'? Wherever you stand on the issue, stand proudly–say what you mean and mean what you say.
Honestly I get it…I'm Black…to me, if I say that, that means that I'm an American, and basically all I know about my history and my heritage is that my skin is dark and that I KNOW I'm not white…if Dominicans who have dark skin want to clarify them being Dominican versus black, I understand…they know their history, ancestry, and really have a totally different culture and upbringing than those of the same skin color who were born, raised and grew up in America..think about it. No one says anything to our Caucasian friends who say they are German or Russian…?? We don't shout out to them, "you're white!!!"…now do I agree with the idea that Black is bad…not even, but as far as people giving themselves a title, leave em alone…I say I'm Black with tons of pride…
This is so sad but true. And as far as denying your race. Something that always stands out in my mind is the Black Dominican man that I used to work with who stated "I could tell anyone that I'm Black and they'd believe me. But I'm not Black. I'm Dominican. *blank stare*
@anon, the distance between American blacks and blacks from other parts of the diaspora is disturbing and goes both ways. I've been in rooms and listened as American blacks went on and on about "those foreigners" even though they knew I was one of "those foreigners." When they'd remember, they's say "Oh, I don't mean you of course." There seems to be a lot of mistrust and misunderstanding between various groups. I too would like to see it go away.
I'd never heard about the Dominican blow-outs until I began reading another hair blog for about 2 or 3 yrs. And the writer would always talk about how she gets a Dominican blow-out between touch-ups because they do a good job at straightening.
I now see why they do such a great job. I know in America we still have a lot of hair issues but these people in this article are having a full-on identity crisis. I think it's a damn shame, but it shows how damaging the whole institution of slavery has been on so many levels.
It's very sad, & I just hope some of the Black people who are proud of their heritage choose to stay & represent. Hopefully there will come a time when we can all appreciate and value all of the different cultures & races this planet offers, rather than viewing one as better and another as ugly or something to be ashamed of. Oy vey!
I am loving this post and I find this issue to be a very serious and disturbing matter. I am happy for sites like this one that people from other countries can access and see the positive images of black women with natural hair. I know that this may be off topic but living in Miami I encounter a lot of different cultures and I find that not only dominicans have a seperatist (sp)attitude but so do the haitians. I hang with a lot of haitian people and they tend to seperate themselves from "american blacks" (even though many of them were born and raised in america). I find that a lot of different carribean groups have negative attitudes toward "american blacks" and I find this to be quite disturbing. This will be a great topic to have here on the site and I would be glad to comment.I want to say so much more but I hsave to go. Much love Bri
@ serenissima
YES, they post hate messages about blacks and hatians in their papers and even all over youtube so to this sister saying stop bashing Dominican and no blacks in the world want to claim black… they are bashing black folks all over the internet. So you should leave that same comment on yoou tube.
Love this blog! great topic!
Why is sharing your feeling on the matter a negative thing! We are suppose to negate the fact that this is happening. No I am not bashing Dominican (like they bash me) but why cant we get together and discuss issues like this. I think dialogue is powerful and healing. You will get some bashers but thats how they feel. I commend BGLH for always talking about political issues. We also discuss the natural hair in Nigeria and how its viewed negatively. Why are we aloud to share how we feel about what going on in DR. You really think thats this article is going to make people boycott the county and not visit please! I have been to DR and was treated better than Dominicans in the US has treated me but I wont return until they stop bashing Haitians. Call me what you want say what you like. I am just expressing myself and thats my right!
Sorry guys… Where it says 'perked' in my comment, it's supposed to say 'permed'
you see sh*t like this makes me want to raise hell, it erupts some type of anger inside of me. this isn't with just dominicans though, my dad's mother is venezuelan (which is also a spanish country) and they are quite racist as well. Therefore I choose not to identify with them plain and simple ! Nor do I go to dominican salons because I remember going there 2 years ago and they dissed my natural hair saying i needed a perm. Now I was in hs and didnt know any better so I let them do it and bam there went my beautiful kinks down the drain. Since then I've been trying to grow it back to it's original length. But atleast I am older now and I've been back natural for hmmmm about a year now and I am not looking back 🙂
And one more thing: the bleach blonde, perked and blown out Dominican is so prevalent in New York City there's even a name for them: Pharmacy Blondes (the actual saying is in Spanish, but i can't think of how it goes)
At anonymous 10:35
That was the US throughout history and up to 50 years ago, in the discrimination against Blacks. The ignorance was not ignored or pardoned; it was picketed and protested until changes were made.
But as far as I can tell, Dominicans are the ones embracing and perpetuating the cycle. It's not just this one article, which so many commenters seem to want to vilify. It's every day.
My girlfriend, who was raised in DR, totally agreed when I showed her this article. She recalled memories of working in her fathers store, in Washington Heights, NY, where 60 % of Dominican immigrants to the US settle, and listening to them talk about Black people.
And the drunker they got, the worse they talked. 'Black people are ugly. They're mean. They stink. In DR, they're just our workers.' And the worst part is, her fathers side of the family is darker than me! He's the only 'White' one.
My gf also has a friend who constantly mentions my being Black. Whenever my gf can hang out with her, she immediately complains how she's blowing her off to hang with me and my Black friends. The friend in question has hair curlier than mine, that she perms and bleaches blonde every three weeks. (It hasnt grown past her chin in the three years that I've known her, btw.)
My point is, it's not about this one article and whether or not this woman was misquoted. I live in a Dominican household, I've spent a summer living in DR with friends (not at a resort, but IN DR, at friends houses in Santiago) and the skin color and hair issues are just as real as they ever were. And they won't change until Dominicans stop making excuses, step up to the plate and realize it's wrong.
i can't help it, this kind of hate, ignorance, and self-loathing just makes me cry. God made us each to be different, everything in this world is diverse, y can't we accept each other, and love each other?
@ Anonymous… thanks for the links. I'll look through them and see if anything is appropriate to post.
This blog is about hair, and I think it's one of the reasons the article above is really unique and fits well with BGLH.
If any of the information/links you've provided touch on the issue of hair as it relates to civil rights/liberation, then I'll be sure to put it up.
Thanks for sending them!
For anyone who is interested, here are a few articles/videos I enjoyed. Even the older ones are still relevant today as not much has changed in Latin America.
– https://www.pbs.org/wnet/wideangle/episodes/brazil-in-black-and-white/introduction/965/
– https://www.livinginperu.com/news/8007 (Peru by the way is considered to be one of the worst when it comes to discrimination towards blacks. Also check out https://www.nytimes.com/1996/08/17/world/for-blacks-in-peru-there-s-no-room-at-the-top.html. It's very old, but well-written. I've found it difficult to find updated information on Peru, so if anyone else can recommend books/articles, that would be great.)
– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBNUOsrIiAs (If you watch this, you can find other links to other stories about racism in Latin America)
– https://blogs.nypost.com/tempo/archives/2007/08/racism_in_latin.html
– https://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=7b4ef8e52790034e043a37d170243f0f
– https://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=45320
– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DB_VpEUsyX0 (Great story on a woman who believes she can become the first black president of Costa Rica)
@BGLH, to begin with, there are other articles in the same link for the article you posted (e.g. https://www.miamiherald.com/multimedia/news/afrolatin/part1/index.html) that talk about other aspects of the struggle. One thing I think a lot of people outside of Latin America don't understand is the fact that Latin American governments for a very long time (and only now slowly changing) wouldn't even acknowledge the black population. Imagine living in a country where your race isn't even acknowledged, much less counted in the cencus, by your own goverment. I've read a lot of articles on this subject, most at least 2 years old. If I can find recent information, I'll post.
@ anonymous 9:43 and 10:06 … If either one of you could do a guest post about the growing civil rights movement in the Dominican Republic, I would love it!
Or if you could direct me to any articles about it. As long as they mention/address the issue of hair, it would be a great fit for the blog.
As J said, the aim is not to villify but to educate. This article was sent to me by a BGLH reader who followed our discussion on natural hair in Nigeria, and felt this was somewhat related.
It seems other people have read this article (it is pretty old, but still relevant), but I didn't know about it until it was sent to me recently.
I certainly don't want to paint one side of a picture. If a reader had sent an article about civil rights in the DR, as it related to skin and hair, I definitely would have posted that too. If those resources exist, please let me know.
Guys, there are tons or articles, videos etc on the web about the blossoming civil rights movement throughout Latin America. This article was just one point of view. Check some of those out and let's move on.
Rebuttal link;
This was also mentioned on afrobella:
https://clutchmagonline.com/newsgossipinfo/black-denial-response-did-the-miami-herald-have-an-agenda/
Jenteel,
It's not about challending journalistic integrity (I don't have much faith in that anyway lol) BUT when you publish an article with direct quotes that portrays a woman of color, an educator, a Dominicana as essentially a racist that's serious. This article is OLD, and when I read it long ago I was out raged. It was incredibly easy to find, correspond with, and speak with Dr. Hernandez concerning it. I wont post our personal correspondence, but her scholarly publication record and my interactions with her are in complete opposition to how she was portrayed in this article.
The intent of this article may not be to villify, but every time this article pops up on a blog or forum you get a cadre of women stating they will never visit the DR and spouting all types of hate speech at Dominicans. Guess what most of the world is in "black denial" since the origins of all man are of Africa. Can we stop making other people of color the scapegoats for the ravages of white supremacy?
@Shandra E…, in many countries, including many in the Caribbean where I was born and raised, black is not simply defined by color. In the US, a person with any black ancestry is black because black folk in this country insist on sticking with one-drop makes you black. We like to blame that on white folk, but we're the ones insisting on carryng that idea forward. Black folk in the US also like to dictate how the rest of the world is supposed to view blackness. In the Caribbean, there is a term "doogla" or "dougla" depending on the country. The term means mixed, usually black and east indian. Many of these people are dark-skinned but they're considered mixed because in the Caribbean, at least in my experience, mixtures are acknowledged and do not depend on skin color. So a darker-skinned person with indian mother and black father, for example, is mixed no matter how dark their skin. I've never understood the US insistence on claiming only one side of your parentage. Take Tiger Woods for example. I still don't get the outrage over his not referring to himself as black. He's not. He's mixed. To refer to himself as black is to distance himself from his mother. Why should he have to make that choice.
The issues within the black diaspora will not go away easily as long as we continue to argue and bicker amongst ourselves. Responding in anger to a person who is lost in terms of identity will never bring that person over to your point of view and painting an entire community with one brush without taking time to get to know each person one on one to get an understanding of their story will never bring about unity.
Can we get back to what this blog is supposed to be about – lifting each other up and encouraging each other on our natural journey. We know everyone won't get it and everyone won't appreciate it, but who cares?
@ anonymous – July 13, 2009 7:28 p.m:
i appreciate your respect for journalistic standards, but the article was simply posted as is. this is a natural hair blog that often ties in natural hair to culture. even if ms. hernandez's quotes were edited out (which would not have been acceptable to do), the article would have still been inflammatory to a majority of BGLH readers. honestly, these sentiments are not so foreign in the dominican republic. many have also commented on their personal experiences.
in regards to ethnic groups/nationalities discussed on this blog, we discussed some of these same issues in regards to nigeria: https://blackgirllonghair.blogspot.com/2009/04/sunday-retrospectives-natural-not-hot.html
our aim at BGLH is never to "vilify" any one individual or ethnic group. our aim is to draw attention to the worldwide issues towards acceptance of natural hair by individuals of african descent.
You know…i had a lot of dominicans friends and quite a few family members by marriage that are dominican. I myself am haitian. When I read how they treat haitians and how much self hatred that they have it makes me sick to my stomach,
@ LIVING Golden…You would be surprised many of us are well informed on DR and President Trujillo OR THE "Parsley Massacre"
and are still sickend by the Dominican mentality. I am not giving a sympathy pass I will leave that to you. I went to a Dominican's friends home and he was a male. His mother was so rude to me because she thought I was her sons girlfriend and he later on explained to me why his dark skin mother was upset. she wants him to marry a Rubia to purify the family and she thought I was his girlfriend. I am outraged by how Dominicans treat Haitians and how insulting they are to me a black women and no i am not going to try and understand because this is the exact mentallity that has the little girls in my classroom crying to me saying that they hate their skin and my neice telling me she wants hair like Hannah Montana. I remain sickend by this mentality and I wont apologize for it. I tell that to my Dominican friends when the say something offensive or say but you are not really black ( tell that to Trujillo ). The hatred that you want to give a pass to is all over You TUbe. They are spreading this disease..so you give them a pass and say oh its not their fault its circumstance. The have Dominican actually saying long live Hitler because of President Trujillo. and I think to myself, If Hitler was alive you would be one of the dead ones. no I am not giving out passes or showing sympathy because of what they endured hell Haitians endured so much more and aint nobody giving us a pass No one even acknowledges what going on in that country. I find this ignorance offensive and I am outraged by the Dominican mentallity. A Dominican in spain would never be welcomed…the spanish would yell out IBAROS (I MAY HAVE SPELLED IT WRONG) MEANING CONQUEROR. My sister in law tried to pull that ish on us saying she was indian and spanish. This Domincian girl looks like the women on this blog, my sister has a curlier texture of hair than she does and is a proud Haitian but my sister in law is dominican (spanish and indian)with no drop of African blood. I told her than how come she does not look like a lot of south americans. that have the spanard and indeginous mix. No answer
i am not attacking anyone just simply sharing my point of view.
@ Lady….beautifully said… I manage my hair just fine!!!!
wow….I'm reminded of a girl i grew up with; her last name was Martinez & her first name was something "spanish" as well! However, before she opened her mouth & before anyone knew her name….every black girl in the class assumed she was a foriegn African girl who didn't speak English! We had a few things right: she was "foriegn", she didn't speak English….but once she learned how…She made sure we all knew SHE WAS NOT BLACK, instead she was "LATINA"?? MAN were we so lost!!! She's actually a Belizian who looks mOre "AFRICAN" american than most black girls i know!!! & spanish happened to be her native language!! So i said all that to say, it doesn't even stop in the U.S, Haiti or Dominican Republic…there are "African descendants" all across the globe in denial, & ashamed of who they are?! & It's really sad as it only Magnifies the common thread of History we all truely share….How is it that EVERYONE who looks "black" (or better yet everyone period) seems to hate being black…yet no one can be satisfied with their identity/cultural background….seems like the human race is facing an Identity crisis to me!!! Like goodness, we all came from Africa….lol…YES i went There!!! i'm so SICK of all this madness….
just because one black person eats tortillas while the other grubs on corn bread or just because one pales in comparison when acknowledging skin tones, DOES NOT mean one is any more white or less black than the other!!! perhaps it only means, one is farther from the TRUTH……and SERIOUSLY, i just HATE that even matters??!! obnoxious….
thanks for posting this…"Good" read!!
@ anonymous 7:28 p.m. … no. i wasn't aware of that. i will publish it if i find it. do you know a link?
*Sigh*
Bglh are you aware Dr. Hernandez published a rebuttal to this insisting she was severly misquoted in this slanted article?
I am familiar with Dr. Hernandez and her work supports her assertion. She has tried unsuccessfully for years to bury this distorted article and those quotes attributed to her. I would encourage you all to look deeper before breaking out the pitchforks.
In fairness, I think the rebuttal should also be posted. This article is really villifying.
Whoa boy… This is a loaded topic for me. I have a lot of Dominican friends and a Dominican girlfriend, and race has definitely played a major part in these relationships. A lot of my girlfriends friends, who are Spanish, dislike me because I'm Black and not light skinned (even though I'm partially redeemed by my 'good' hair smh).
My gf and I also had a major breakup over race, and some nasty opinions she used to have about Black girls, which culminated in her telling me I wasn't 'really' Black. Needless to say, I set her straight! And I feel like being with me teaches her more and more everyday that these color lines are ignorant and stupid.
Dominicans have a lot of racial issues and self-hatred, that run as deep as those with Blacks. We have a lot of the same problems, and it's just sad the kinds of attitudes prevalent in this article and in DR.
What I find amazing is how the irony of all this is present in my life. My grandmother (considered in the States extremely fai-skinned)is Dominican born and moved to the States, had my mother who was teased in the South about being light so much she married and had children with the darkest man she could find here in the States- my Daddy ;0) Later it was me visiting Dominican salons here that I was told my hair was "Not that bad"- her exact words and I could get away with just blowing my hair out, not relaxing it. Ironically she planted the seed for me to go natural. I ditched the salons, relaxers, and flat irons and fell in love with my "not that bad" curly hair!! My grandmother hates it, my mother loves it. I'm trying to get her to love hers just as much and undo some of the damage (self hatred) that was instilled in her as a child.
I'll see if I can find any good online references, but here's look up the Parsley Massacre to get an idea of who Trujillo was. (Trujillo, determined to expand his influence over all of Hispaniola, in October 1937 ordered the indiscriminate butchery by the Dominican army of an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 Haitians on the Dominican side of the Massacre River.
The Parsley Massacre occured in October 1937 on the Dominican Haitian border. Between 17,000 and 35,000 Haitians living in the DR were killed by
Dominican civilians and military officials. The reasons for the massacres was a supposed response
to the theft of land and cows in the border regions, but a type of racial cleansing and extension of
Trujillo's authoritarian rules are more definite reasons for the massacre. The massacre was named
becasue of the mispronounciation of the Spanish word for parsley, perejil. It was belevied that
Haitian decendents would pronounce the word with a distinct Haitian Creole accent. The DR would
receive a black eye for the events within the international community and added to the tense
relations between the countries. In October 2007, an apology for those events was published.)
This is what I refer to when I saw people should have some historical reference beofre making comments.
could somebody explain more about trujillo and the effect he had on the dominican republic?
@Lili, no coincidence. In places like DR, Brazil, Peru, for example, dark-skin and curly hair can make it incredibly difficult to get quality employment. In Peru, shop/restaurant owners are blatantly open about the fact that they will not hire people of darker skin. It's slowly changing, but still a fact of life nonetheless….
I vacationed in the DR with my hubby and daughter – we are all varying shades of brown; my hubby is dark chocolate. We were at a resort near Puerto Plata. I recall many dark skinned Dominicans shouting stuff to my husband like "you are my brother 'cos you have my skin colour" or "we darker skin people have no money and must stick together". People would automatically assume we had little money because of our colour; at our hotel the (light-skinned- more on this, see below) maids/waiters etc would stare at us in wonder as if it was a rare phenomenom for people like us to afford a nice hotel, good clothes etc. I felt incredibly sorry for these people for the damage and destruction colourism, self-hate and slavery had done. The issues with colourism were so evident even though we only stayed for a short while. Overall they are a friendly people, the food delicious but I would be wary of living in such a country with my brown skin.
Also the city of Puerto plata was very clean; even the more economically challenged areas. I admire that.
With regard to the waiters etc. I could not help noticing that the "front row" staff eg at the reception, etc were lightskinned. The cleaners appeared to be darker. Of course this could just be coincidence…
@Jai
Zoe Saldana refers to herself as Black, the Dominican Media is not to happy with her about that.
@Nikki, it is not unfathomable that many black Dominicans didn't think of themselves as black until coming to the US. If you're brought up in a culture that defines you as anything other than black and you're taught from a very young age that black is the worst thing a person can be, it would be hard not to develop the mindset that many black or mixed-race Dominicans have. To give Dominicans credit, in the past few years, more black Dominican women (in the US) are pushing for acceptance of their natrual hair. It is not an easy process. Imagine having your entire culture opposed to you being who you are.
I suggest you read a little of the history of blacks in the Dominican Republic before making nasty comments. I don't like the situation in the Dominican Republic, but I understand it and can therefore feel some compassion for the people there. As FlyVixen said, Trujillo was an AWFUL dictator. Do some reading on him.
I have long been frustrated by the attitude of many black Americans towards Dominicans. While I understand their initial outrage at the widely-held view among Dominicans about blacksness, I wish more black Americans would take the time to learn the history and understand where that hatred comes from.
How can black people ever progress and become united if we refuse to take the time to understand differing points of view?
@ Olivia… you ask an excellent question. Hopefully with continued discussion we can learn what to do.
That makes me want to go to the Dominican Republic and DO SOMETHING just anything so that these people know how lovely they are and that we are all creatures of God, equal and the same no matter how we look.
You stole the words right out of my mouth, Jenteel!
It's fascinating to me how some Dominicans (and people originating from other Latino countries) still believe that they are direct descendants of Tainos and Spaniards and that they don't have a drop of black blood even though their skin is a chocolate shade w/ kinky hair. I just feel sorry for people who are stuck in that mentality because they are losing their heritage and pressuring beautiful young girls into believing their crap!
I've read about the same situation a while back and of course i was in shock. Here in the north our excuse is unacceptable while over there its a whole other ball game. Not saying its acceptable but one can't win there.. as it is still going through the "development stages" You Know building a strong foundation for the country.
As Black people we need to understand how much stronger and powerful we would be as a whole supporting one another and accepting who we are… We need to take back control of our rights… our ancestors worked hard for us to be where we are today.. what about our future families?
I've read about the same situation a while back and of course i was in shock. Here in the north our excuse is unacceptable while over there its a whole other ball game. Not saying its acceptable but one can't win there.. as it is still going through the "development stages" You Know building a strong foundation for the country.
As Black people we need to understand how much stronger and powerful we would be as a whole supporting one another and accepting who we are… We need to take back control of our rights… our ancestors worked hard for us to be where we are today.. what about our future families?
I've read about the same situation a while back and of course i was in shock. Here in the north our excuse is unacceptable while over there its a whole other ball game. Not saying its acceptable but one can't win there.. as it is still going through the "development stages" You Know building a strong foundation for the country.
As Black people we need to understand how much stronger and powerful we would be as a whole supporting one another and accepting who we are… We need to take back control of our rights… our ancestors worked hard for us to be where we are today.. what about our future families?
I've read about the same situation a while back and of course i was in shock. Here in the north our excuse is unacceptable while over there its a whole other ball game. Not saying its acceptable but one can't win there.. as it is still going through the "development stages" You Know building a strong foundation for the country.
As Black people we need to understand how much stronger and powerful we would be as a whole supporting one another and accepting who we are… We need to take back control of our rights… our ancestors worked hard for us to be where we are today.. what about our future families?
I've read about the same situation a while back and of course i was in shock. Here in the north our excuse is unacceptable while over there its a whole other ball game. Not saying its acceptable but one can't win there.. as it is still going through the "development stages" You Know building a strong foundation for the country.
As Black people we need to understand how much stronger and powerful we would be as a whole supporting one another and accepting who we are… We need to take back control of our rights… our ancestors worked hard for us to be where we are today.. what about our future families?
I've read about the same situation a while back and of course i was in shock. Here in the north our excuse is unacceptable while over there its a whole other ball game. Not saying its acceptable but one can't win there.. as it is still going through the "development stages" You Know building a strong foundation for the country.
As Black people we need to understand how much stronger and powerful we would be as a whole supporting one another and accepting who we are… We need to take back control of our rights… our ancestors worked hard for us to be where we are today.. what about our future families?
I've read about the same situation a while back and of course i was in shock. Here in the north our excuse is unacceptable while over there its a whole other ball game. Not saying its acceptable but one can't win there.. as it is still going through the "development stages" You Know building a strong foundation for the country.
As Black people we need to understand how much stronger and powerful we would be as a whole supporting one another and accepting who we are… We need to take back control of our rights… our ancestors worked hard for us to be where we are today.. what about our future families?
I read this article before and reading it again is just as upsetting.
I think its sad that the dominicans continue to spread this self hate to their children generation after generation.
Why did Zoe Saldana come to mind after reading this article again? Does she claim NOT to be black too? May God help them all for denying how He made them!
@ Nikki, you've got me screaming lol. OMG, why did Dave Chappelle'skit come to mind?(Clayton Bigsby)
@ jenteel, thanks for the info I'm always learning something from this blog 🙂
@ Leila, welcome back from vacay!!!
An inappropriate comment was recently published. This was a total and honest mistake and I apologize to everyone who saw it and took offense.
Wow…wow…wow!!! What is it about being black that people want to avoid it like the plague? I guess black is only beautiful if you have long straight hair..oh and let's not forget…a good skin bleaching cream…
This article makes me sick to my stomach. It just floors me that these women are subjected to so much hate and pressure to go against what God gave them. The attitudes in this article are just disguting and frightening.
God doesn't make mistakes. He made us all the way we look for a reason.
For what it is worth, curly and kinky hair rocks!!! Black women are beautiful just the way God made them : )
This article has brought tears to my eyes. I'm really upset by the hateful oppressive attitudes in this article. I'm really sad now : (
Wow Nikki… They sure will have culture shock. Well I can't deny that my Gram was Siminole because if I did my nose would give it away. The only thing about my heritage that halfway embarrassed me was knowing that Massa' actually did rape one of my Great Grams that is why there are two spellings of the name Fluellen (Flewellen) and that cousin somebody would be my exact clone except she is ten shades lighter. Time and awareness usually heals this pain but if even one seed is still deseased, negative ideas can creep back up like the plague. (In the movie Australia they called them creamies)
@jenteel I love your comments. You speak nothing but the truth. Another book that might be of interest is The Farming of Bones by Edwidge Danticat.
*sorry if this shows up more than once, I kept receiving an error notice.
@jenteel I love your comments. You speak nothing but the truth. Another book that might be of interest is The Farming of Bones by Edwidge Danticat.
*sorry if this shows up more than once, I kept receiving an error notice.
@jenteel I love your comments. You speak nothing but the truth. Another book that might be of interest is The Farming of Bones by Edwidge Danticat.
*sorry if this shows up more than once, I kept receiving an error notice.
@jenteel I love your comments. You speak nothing but the truth. Another book that might be of interest is The Farming of Bones by Edwidge Danticat.
*sorry if this shows up more than once, I kept receiving an error notice.
@jenteel I love your comments. You speak nothing but the truth. Another book that might be of interest is The Farming of Bones by Edwidge Danticat.
*sorry if this shows up more than once, I kept receiving an error notice.
@jenteel I love your comments. You speak nothing but the truth. Another book that might be of interest is The Farming of Bones by Edwidge Danticat.
*sorry if this shows up more than once, I kept receiving an error notice.
@jenteel I love your comments. You speak nothing but the truth. Another book that might be of interest is The Farming of Bones by Edwidge Danticat.
*sorry if this shows up more than once, I kept receiving an error notice.
people need to be aware of this issue. i take issue when anyone of african ancestry denies their heritage and usually it's someone who looks just like me. it's one of the reasons why i don't call anyone of latino heritage "spanish". it's just one more way to separate from blackness. it all boils down to self-hate.
i am soooo happy i was raised by proud haitian parents who taught me to love my wonderful culture and all the languages we speak. now i'm not saying that haitians don't have hair and color issues. growing up, i was told i had "good hair" by family members. just like all caribbean and latin nations we have those issues, but there is a universal feeling of "we live in a black country that was the 1st, let me repeat it: the 1st and only country to beat the ish out of a european power and win our independence". even the lightest haitian, haitian of syrian descent or bi-racial acknowledges "blackness". african influence is apparent in the music and culture. haiti was 2nd only to the us to become an independent nation in the americas to win it's independence. it was the catalyst for all!
president trujillo implemented this self-hate strategy in the d.r. and it worked quite well. his grandmother was half-haitian, but he hated his blackness so much, he encouraged "whitening" of the country by instituting a european influx. (he idolized hitler, even having some dealings with him) he also killed 30,000 in a river massacre. his soldiers couldn't identify the haitians from the dominicans so the only way you could be identified was by saying the world "parsley" in spanish which some haitians had trouble pronouncing. obviously domincans were also killed in this massacre. the "you're not black" ideology continues to this day in their educational system. and this thinking is carried over into the states.
if you want a good read on this, check out the book, "in the time of the butterflies". a film that focuses on haitian-dominican relations today (among other things) is "the price of sugar".
https://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=7625915
the only thing i could do was laugh when i saw obviously black people saying they weren't black.
it's pure sickness.
WOW…
Very scary stuff to read.
I'm an African girl and I have so much love for our Caribbean brothers and sisters, but this is creepy to read.
I hope these issues get sorted out when people decide to have more children, they can teach them good values of respecting all types of hair.
I too remember reading this article years ago and it continues to frustrate me. An overwhelming number of Dominicans hold these values to the heart, but not all. I remember arguing with a distant cousin about our family being of African descent and she swore up and down that true Dominicans consist of TaÃno (Amerindian), and Spaniard; nothing else. A lot of the racism and self hate that Dominicans experience drive deep into the history of our country. Trujillo was an awful dictator who I would place 85% of the blame upon for propagating self hatred. After his dictatorship ended (aka he was executed) the tensions between Haitians and Dominicans only escalated.
It's an unfortunate situation. When I decided to BC my cousin in Dominican Republic continued to bash my new look. That was fine, except she was talking to everyone about it and telling my aunts and cousins that I looked crazy and was much prettier with longer hair. Unfortunately for her my family completely supported my decision to go natural and went off on her, including myself.
There are natural communities in Dominican Republic, it may not be a conscious decision or organized movement like here in the United States, but there are those who refuse to go with the norm. I have many family members in DR who wear locs, and sport natural hair and it's not what others would consider to be "good" hair… whatever that is. umm… sorry for the long post…
here is the wiki page to Trujillo if you wanted more info…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rafael_Trujillo
I too remember reading this article years ago and it continues to frustrate me. An overwhelming number of Dominicans hold these values to the heart, but not all. I remember arguing with a distant cousin about our family being of African descent and she swore up and down that true Dominicans consist of TaÃno (Amerindian), and Spaniard; nothing else. A lot of the racism and self hate that Dominicans experience drive deep into the history of our country. Trujillo was an awful dictator who I would place 85% of the blame upon for propagating self hatred. After his dictatorship ended (aka he was executed) the tensions between Haitians and Dominicans only escalated.
It's an unfortunate situation. When I decided to BC my cousin in Dominican Republic continued to bash my new look. That was fine, except she was talking to everyone about it and telling my aunts and cousins that I looked crazy and was much prettier with longer hair. Unfortunately for her my family completely supported my decision to go natural and went off on her, including myself.
There are natural communities in Dominican Republic, it may not be a conscious decision or organized movement like here in the United States, but there are those who refuse to go with the norm. I have many family members in DR who wear locs, and sport natural hair and it's not what others would consider to be "good" hair… whatever that is. umm… sorry for the long post…
here is the wiki page to Trujillo if you wanted more info…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rafael_Trujillo
I too remember reading this article years ago and it continues to frustrate me. An overwhelming number of Dominicans hold these values to the heart, but not all. I remember arguing with a distant cousin about our family being of African descent and she swore up and down that true Dominicans consist of TaÃno (Amerindian), and Spaniard; nothing else. A lot of the racism and self hate that Dominicans experience drive deep into the history of our country. Trujillo was an awful dictator who I would place 85% of the blame upon for propagating self hatred. After his dictatorship ended (aka he was executed) the tensions between Haitians and Dominicans only escalated.
It's an unfortunate situation. When I decided to BC my cousin in Dominican Republic continued to bash my new look. That was fine, except she was talking to everyone about it and telling my aunts and cousins that I looked crazy and was much prettier with longer hair. Unfortunately for her my family completely supported my decision to go natural and went off on her, including myself.
There are natural communities in Dominican Republic, it may not be a conscious decision or organized movement like here in the United States, but there are those who refuse to go with the norm. I have many family members in DR who wear locs, and sport natural hair and it's not what others would consider to be "good" hair… whatever that is. umm… sorry for the long post…
here is the wiki page to Trujillo if you wanted more info…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rafael_Trujillo
I too remember reading this article years ago and it continues to frustrate me. An overwhelming number of Dominicans hold these values to the heart, but not all. I remember arguing with a distant cousin about our family being of African descent and she swore up and down that true Dominicans consist of TaÃno (Amerindian), and Spaniard; nothing else. A lot of the racism and self hate that Dominicans experience drive deep into the history of our country. Trujillo was an awful dictator who I would place 85% of the blame upon for propagating self hatred. After his dictatorship ended (aka he was executed) the tensions between Haitians and Dominicans only escalated.
It's an unfortunate situation. When I decided to BC my cousin in Dominican Republic continued to bash my new look. That was fine, except she was talking to everyone about it and telling my aunts and cousins that I looked crazy and was much prettier with longer hair. Unfortunately for her my family completely supported my decision to go natural and went off on her, including myself.
There are natural communities in Dominican Republic, it may not be a conscious decision or organized movement like here in the United States, but there are those who refuse to go with the norm. I have many family members in DR who wear locs, and sport natural hair and it's not what others would consider to be "good" hair… whatever that is. umm… sorry for the long post…
here is the wiki page to Trujillo if you wanted more info…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rafael_Trujillo
I too remember reading this article years ago and it continues to frustrate me. An overwhelming number of Dominicans hold these values to the heart, but not all. I remember arguing with a distant cousin about our family being of African descent and she swore up and down that true Dominicans consist of TaÃno (Amerindian), and Spaniard; nothing else. A lot of the racism and self hate that Dominicans experience drive deep into the history of our country. Trujillo was an awful dictator who I would place 85% of the blame upon for propagating self hatred. After his dictatorship ended (aka he was executed) the tensions between Haitians and Dominicans only escalated.
It's an unfortunate situation. When I decided to BC my cousin in Dominican Republic continued to bash my new look. That was fine, except she was talking to everyone about it and telling my aunts and cousins that I looked crazy and was much prettier with longer hair. Unfortunately for her my family completely supported my decision to go natural and went off on her, including myself.
There are natural communities in Dominican Republic, it may not be a conscious decision or organized movement like here in the United States, but there are those who refuse to go with the norm. I have many family members in DR who wear locs, and sport natural hair and it's not what others would consider to be "good" hair… whatever that is. umm… sorry for the long post…
here is the wiki page to Trujillo if you wanted more info…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rafael_Trujillo
I too remember reading this article years ago and it continues to frustrate me. An overwhelming number of Dominicans hold these values to the heart, but not all. I remember arguing with a distant cousin about our family being of African descent and she swore up and down that true Dominicans consist of TaÃno (Amerindian), and Spaniard; nothing else. A lot of the racism and self hate that Dominicans experience drive deep into the history of our country. Trujillo was an awful dictator who I would place 85% of the blame upon for propagating self hatred. After his dictatorship ended (aka he was executed) the tensions between Haitians and Dominicans only escalated.
It's an unfortunate situation. When I decided to BC my cousin in Dominican Republic continued to bash my new look. That was fine, except she was talking to everyone about it and telling my aunts and cousins that I looked crazy and was much prettier with longer hair. Unfortunately for her my family completely supported my decision to go natural and went off on her, including myself.
There are natural communities in Dominican Republic, it may not be a conscious decision or organized movement like here in the United States, but there are those who refuse to go with the norm. I have many family members in DR who wear locs, and sport natural hair and it's not what others would consider to be "good" hair… whatever that is. umm… sorry for the long post…
here is the wiki page to Trujillo if you wanted more info…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rafael_Trujillo
I too remember reading this article years ago and it continues to frustrate me. An overwhelming number of Dominicans hold these values to the heart, but not all. I remember arguing with a distant cousin about our family being of African descent and she swore up and down that true Dominicans consist of TaÃno (Amerindian), and Spaniard; nothing else. A lot of the racism and self hate that Dominicans experience drive deep into the history of our country. Trujillo was an awful dictator who I would place 85% of the blame upon for propagating self hatred. After his dictatorship ended (aka he was executed) the tensions between Haitians and Dominicans only escalated.
It's an unfortunate situation. When I decided to BC my cousin in Dominican Republic continued to bash my new look. That was fine, except she was talking to everyone about it and telling my aunts and cousins that I looked crazy and was much prettier with longer hair. Unfortunately for her my family completely supported my decision to go natural and went off on her, including myself.
There are natural communities in Dominican Republic, it may not be a conscious decision or organized movement like here in the United States, but there are those who refuse to go with the norm. I have many family members in DR who wear locs, and sport natural hair and it's not what others would consider to be "good" hair… whatever that is. umm… sorry for the long post…
here is the wiki page to Trujillo if you wanted more info…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rafael_Trujillo
"Many black Dominicans here say they never knew they were black — until they visited the United States." That is hilarious. I LOVE IT. Clearly more Dominicans need to travel. The bit about Hernandez and her comments about black women with their 'big asses' thinking they were pretty – que cosa! – so all dominicans wish to be blond and blue eyed, essentially? And then they say it isn't self hate? When you see the lack of interest they have in THEIR own (black) history I say don't fight it. Leave them be. Because as the global community shrinks and they are more exposed to the world, they'll be laughed back to their country when whites look at them and say "white!??! you aren't white, you're a negro". THEN they'll grasp the concept. LMAO – hope they youtube it;)
I am a Haitian American in the DC area. Where do I begin?… I have been to Haiti and the Dominican Republic. I didn't get any discrimination while there, but while I was on a tour (with other Haitians from the US, the tour guide was describing Haitian immigrants to the Dominican Republic as only being able to live in ghettos and pointed as we drove by. All I could feel was anger and sadness. Didn't he realize that the awful things he was saying about haitians was towards a tour group consisting of haitians?? This girl I used to be best friends with was dating a Dominican guy and when he found out I was Haitian (without meeting me) he automatically hated me, but once he met me he thought I was OK for a Haitian, what?? I am dark-skinned with natural hair and the issue of hair and skin color in the Dominican Republic as well as in Haiti is BIG. They equate natural hair to slavery. The problem between Haiti and the Dominican Republic (in my opinion) is ridiculous and should stop. Instead of all that time spent towards efforts to separate and discriminate, both countries should work together. Anyway…sorry for the long comment, but the "black" issue on the island is intense.
W O W . to the millionth power
W O W . to the millionth power
W O W . to the millionth power
W O W . to the millionth power
W O W . to the millionth power
W O W . to the millionth power
W O W . to the millionth power
So sad. For years, I have been berated because of my "bad hair" and my choice (gasp!) to first wear it natural, and now to wear it in locks. To make it "worse", I am also dark-skinned… So for most people they consider it as two strikes against me. I just shake it off… I know that me and my hair look damn good and I'm not going to apologize for what grows out of my head naturally!!! As if!!!
i remember reading this article a couple years ago myself. reading it again, this jumped out at me just as much as the hair hatred factor:
"You should see how they come in here with their big asses!'' she said, shuffling across her office with her arms extended behind her back, simulating an enormous rear-end. "They come in here thinking they are all that, and I think, 'doesn't she know she's not really pretty?' "
I thought being shapely was something to be proud of there. :/ It's what a lot of their women tend to be admired for. But I guess to be furthest from black goes beyond just hair texture. Either way it's an unfortunate mindset that is easier said than done to erase.
that whole concept of curly or afro textured hair being "unmanageable" is just as harmful as the good hair bad hair nonsense
I manage my hair just fine thank you very much
i'm speechless, that is so crazy, yet so sad.
what would be the action of change here?