Colorism in the Dominican Republic

Sammy Sosa before and after using skin bleaching creams

Colorism is an issue that has been deeply imbedded within the Dominican culture for many years. It is not necessarily a tangible aspect of the culture, however its effects can be felt throughout the entire society. Colorism is defined as discrimination against people of a different skin tone within one's own race. This issue adversely affects Dominican's with dark skin more so than any other Dominicans. The social hierarchy in the in the Dominican Republic has people who are the darkest at the bottom of the society and people who are the lightest in the upper crust of society. Whiteness is associated with success and wealth and blackness is associated with being poor and unsuccessful.

It has been a part of Dominican culture to reject their black roots. Dominican women straighten their hair and use skin bleaching creams to lighten the skin to look more white. Natural hair and braids are even banned in some schools.(Robles, 2007) Most black Dominicans don't acknowledge their African roots and don't consider themselves to be black.When asked about their racial background most Dominicans refer to themselves as Indian. They usually only acknowledge Indian and Spanish aspects of their culture.

The history of colorism in the Dominican Republic originated several hundred years ago when many African slaves were freed from the sugar plantations in the country. Blacks began to move up in society and so they wanted to take the emphasis off of race. Then in 1822 Haiti, which shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic, took over the Dominican Republic and ruled for 22 years. Because of this wrinkle in Haitian and Dominican history, Dominicans developed anti-Haitian sentiments. Then in 1930 dictator Rafael Trujillo came into power. During his 30 year reign Trujillo encouraged the ethnic cleansing of Haitians in the Dominican Republic through violence. His regime is considered to be one of the most violent and bloodiest in the Americas. Furthermore, during the presidency of Joaquín Balaguer, Belaguer complained that Haitians were "darkening the country."(Robles, 2007) Being associated with black is not desirable in this country.

The reason I chose this aspect of Dominican culture is because it is somewhat of a controversial subject that is not being addressed. Colorism is relative to the Dominican culture because it affects the lives of so many Dominicans of African ancestry. It is important because it affects how they identify themselves in the world. This aspect of the culture is important to me because it not just a Dominican issue, but it's an issue that affects blacks throughout the entire African Diaspora. I experience this same issue within in my own culture. Black people with lighter skin tend to be more successful are and more desirable as objects of beauty. There many African Americans who, when asked about their racial/ethnic background, will say that they are mixed with Indian and a host of other things. Although they may not be quite as intense as the Dominicans', many African Americans have the same racial identity issues. This is not my favorite aspect of Dominican or African American culture but it exists and needs to be addressed.


Works Cited

Howard, D. (2007). Development, racism, and discrimination in the Dominican Republic. Development In Practice, 17(6), 725-738. doi:10.1080/09614520701628097

Jones, S. (Photographer). (2009). Sosa skin whitening. [Web Photo]. Retrieved from http://www.examiner.com/black-culture-traditions-in-houston/sosa-is-symptomatic-of-global-self-hatred

Robles, F. (2007, June 13). Black denial. Miami Herald. Retrieved from http://www.miamiherald.com/multimedia /news/afrolatin/part2/index.html