Not Haitian: Exploring the Roots of Dominican Identity

Valerie Lamb and Lauren Dundes
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Valerie Lamb: Department of Political Science, McDaniel College, 2 College Hill, Westminster, MD 21157, USA
Lauren Dundes: Department of Sociology, McDaniel College, 2 College Hill, Westminster, MD 21157, USA

Social Sciences, 2017, vol. 6, issue 4, 1-12

Abstract: A literature review supplemented by interview data from a small sample of Haitian and Dominican immigrants living in Miami, Florida elucidates the complexities of Afrolatino-Dominican identity. The data include Dominican recollections of childhood warnings about threats posed by Haitians allegedly willing to cast spells and act as agents of punishment for misbehaving Dominican children. These data are consistent with antihaitianismo and the tendency for Dominicans to deny their African heritage in favor of their European Hispanic roots. The paper also explains how Dominicans’ ethnic flexibility in navigating “racialized” social space in the US is relevant to future census measurement of race and ethnicity.

Keywords: Afrolatino; Dominicans; Haitians; race; racial identity; Census; antihaitianismo; Hispaniola; indio; colorism; immigrants (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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