Katherine
Taveras
Blog
post 1
Isolated systems
Image by: Lissette Hazoury
While
some may say the concept of race is necessary in creating social categories and
structures, it is imperative to understand that race is not innate but rather a
formulated concept to categorize people into further control. As Audrey and
Brian Smedley state, “the term reflected a particular folk way of looking at and
interpreting human differences, both physical and cultural” (Smedley 4). However,
through colonization this notion soon became a worldwide view: in which people
with white skin benefited from exponentially as opposed to those of darker skin.
As one examines the island of Hispaniola and
its development since the colonization of Christopher Columbus and the Spanish in
1492. One can determined how the implication of race has created a divided
nation. Henry Louis Gates explores this further in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RlG4b3LV9o
Originally populated by the Arawak’s the island of Hispaniola was foreign to
the concept of race. This soon changed when the Spanish saw the monetary potential
in the island through gold and other commodities. With high demands and not
enough workers, the Spanish sought the acquisition of enslaved Africans through the slave trade. Which resulted in creating a melting pot of people and
cultures. However, through the process of racialization the Spanish ensured to
not only separate themselves from both the Arawak’s and the Africans but to
ensure themselves as the dominant race. Through the notion of superiority and
inferiority, imposed by the Spanish is how I believe race came to be in the
island of the Hispaniola.
Previous
academic courses have all shed meaning to the concept of race, which led me to interpret race as the concept of categorizing individuals into groups based on ones
heritage. However, early lessons presented in this class have further educated
me in understanding race not only as a developed concept but also as a concept that
has been imposed on humanity and used as a form of control. Furthermore, how
race is used to oppress those who are not members of the superior race, giving
rise to the evils of racism.
When
considering the importance of race and why it persists in Hispaniola it is
important to understand the correlation between nation and race. Today we know
the island as the Dominican Republic and Haiti. As both countries became
colonized by different nations, different ways of life and culture were
adapted. Eugenio Matibag states “they are separate and unequal: Haiti has a
predominantly black, French Patois- speaking population; the Dominican
Republic, a predominantly mestizo or mulatto, Spanish-speaking population” (Matibag
1) while this quote states the factual information of the countries it underlines
the root of racism between the countries. Most Dominican people considered
themselves mulattos, which is a mix between Europeans and Africans this is
often misinterpret as being more “white”. Lissette Hazoury discusses this
further in http://www.sobremesamagazine.com/on-the-dominican-racial-crisis/.
It is this belief that creates a notion of superiority over Haitian people.
Over time this has been the reason for endless massacres and crimes against the
Haitian people. Furthermore, Dominicans benefit from oppressing Haitians
through abuse of labor and resources.
References:
Matibag, Eugenio. Haitian-Dominican
Counterpoint: Nation, State, and Race on Hispaniola First ed. New York:
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN, 2003. Print.
Smedley,
Audrey, and Brian Smedley. Race in North America: Origin and Evolution of a
Worldview. Colorado: Westview press, 2012. Print.
Haiti &
the Dominican Republic: An Island divided. Henry L. Gates. PBS, 2011. Film.
Hazoury,
Lissete. "To Be Dominican is to Not Be Haitian: Development of Dominican
Racial Identity through Antihaitianismo and the Indio Myth." sobremesa
magazine 2016. Print.
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