Haiti : Black in Latin America (Haiti & the Dominican Republic: An Island Divided)

In one Dominican family, one child can be considered black and the other white.
Though siblings, their different skin colors make them two different races.
Because of this unique structure, I was forced to live and deal with prejudices in new ways.

There's No Racism Here?
A Black Woman in the Dominican Republic
By Kiini Ibura Salaam

...Ironically, one of the phrases I heard repeated most often in the Dominican Republic is "No hay racismo aquí." (There's no racism here). Dominicans do not believe racism exists in their country. This lack of consciousness made the racism an unusually heavy burden to bear. When trying to discuss my feelings and problems, I constantly met with resistance. Instead of receiving support and understanding, I was bombarded with negations that the discrimination I was experiencing was real...

Just like African Americans, Dominicans come in all hues and shades. They are a many-toned people, formed by the familiar mix of European "conqueror" and African "slave" with the extra ingredient of the island's original indigenous people thrown in.
....
Unlike the situation in the United States where color dictates culture, in Dominican society, everyone shares the same culture regardless of color. "White" Dominicans eat rice and beans, dance the merengue and kiss upon meeting, just as "black" Dominicans do. Except for the differences due to racist manifestation of class (through which the rich just happen to be white and the poor just happen to be black), there are no inherent differences in the lifestyles of "white" and "black" Dominicans.
In one Dominican family, one child can be considered black and the other white. Though siblings, their different skin colors make them two different races. Because of this unique structure, I was forced to live and deal with prejudices in new ways. I could not avoid problems by living with a "black" family. There were no black families. I had to live within a community that rejected me...

Just as the English language connotes the word 'white' with purity and goodness, Dominican Spanish makes similar connections. One host mother described her study-abroad son in one breath of linked words: "so nice, so sweet, and so white." Her verbal connection of these words exposed her mental relationship to them. For her the words 'nice,' 'sweet,' and 'white' are interchangeable. Through these similarities I realized that in many ways all oppressed people have to fight the same patterns of self-hatred and confusion as we do in the United States.....

Racialized sexism is that peculiar brand of discrimination that breeds on black women (and other women of color) while somehow missing black men and white women completely.

...Becoming aware of its existence explained why all the host mothers constantly told me how beautiful I could look if only I would fix (read: perm) my hair. Racialized sexism explained why my friend Vincent, also a possessor of natural hair, never had to defend his choice to wear his hair "that way." It explained why I thought constantly having different parts of my body grabbed in the street was a common experience until I discussed it with some of the white female students. They were shocked. Only their flaxen hair had been touched, never their bodies.
...

This blend of racism and sexism was the roughest thing to handle. I was equipped to deal with the racism, but not the mixture of the two. After some time, we black students became accustomed to the horrified glances and gasps we received when we referred to ourselves as black. One host-mother in particular would stop us saying, "No, no, no, don't call yourself black, you're Indian." ....

Complete Essay Here:
 
Spain, Italy & Portugal, their people are pretty much the same as their language follows suit as well. With that being said, in the differences between one side of the once overly burdened slave island "HISPANIOLA", the Taino Indians were the original inhabitants. The slaves that were later brought to the island should be called what Wyclef Jean called them during the 2010 Earthquake telethon, "DISPLACED AFRICANS". The current divide is based on "old fade" dividing us up, nothing more.
 
Ive got three brothers, they'res four of us all together. Two of us are dark skinned and two of us are lighter skinned. Same dads. So we would be classified as different races? Those systems of classification are the biggest bull**** ive heard in my life - it serves only to divide and conquer.

My family goes from dark to light, bright, almost white ...LOL..... and even some Puerto Rican!!
 

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