Some Dominicans Are Denying Their Blackness; Twitter Gathers Them

Dominican Republic Flags, Washington Heights

Source: Busà Photography / Getty

Even as the world unifies in the name of social equality there are folks who still need a serious education. Some members of the Dominican community in upper Manhattan are in denial about their roots. On Tuesday, June 2, Dominicans started trending on Twitter for all the wrong reasons. Yesterday, a video was captured of several individuals chasing out Black protesters from the Dyckman area which is synonymous with the Dominican culture.

While some say the intent was to detract looters from vandalizing their local businesses there were some people who are clearly shown using racists terms and denying they are Black. Naturally, this did not sit well with Black people, Afro-Latinos and thankfully select Dominicans who know the math.

For those not in the know, the Dominican Republic shares Hispaniola Island with Haiti. Recent reports estimate that 85% of Dominicans have African ancestry. Less than one percent show that they have ancestry from Europe. While skin tones vary a large portion of their community is dark-skinned—see MLB slugger David “Big Papi” Ortiz for example. The denial is largely attributed to their former dictator Rafael Trujillo. During the 1930’s, Rafael Trujillo accepted Spaniard and Jewish immigrants into the Dominican Republic following its civil war to help whiten its population. He encouraged Afro-Dominican’s to marry the Spaniard immigrants and vice versa for “ethnic cleansing.” Around October 1937 is when Rafael Trujillo carried out a massacre against Haitian’s living in the Cibao region of northwestern Dominican Republic. Approximately 35,000 Haitian’s were killed in that massacre. Almost 90 years later the color-ism remains a sore issue within the Latino narrative. You can view some of the best responses to the fail in Dyckman below. Photo: Getty