Dominican Republic and Haiti: Country Studies

Dominican Republic and Haiti: Country Studies
light-skinned mulatto who claimed that he was "white" (French
and Spanish), instituted as official policy that Dominicans were
racially white, culturally Spanish, and religiously Roman Catholic.
Balaguer continued this policy until the 1980s when he
openly recognized African cultural and social influences. He
made the change because, first, he followed two opposition
party governments, those of presidents Guzman (1978-82) and
Jorge Blanco (1982-86), who had officially recognized the
country's African roots. Second, he was appealing for votes as
he prepared for his reelection campaign in 1986. Because of
Trujillo's and then Balaguer's racial conditioning, emigrants
and visitors to the United States are often shocked to discover
that they are viewed as "black." However, they and many back
home welcomed the civil rights and black pride movements in
North America in the 1960s and 1970s. Those returning
brought a new level of racial consciousness to the republic
because they had experienced both racial prejudice and the
black pride movement. The returning emigrants who brought
back Afro hairstyles and a variety of other "Afro-North Americanisms"
received mixed reactions from their fellow Dominicans,
however.
Modern Immigration
Although almost all immigrants assimilate to Dominican
society (often with surprising speed and thoroughness), immigration
has had a pervasive influence on the ethnic and racial
configuration of the country. Within a generation or two, most
immigrants with the exception of Haitians are considered
Dominican even though the family may continue to maintain
contact with relatives in the country of origin. Both the elite
and the middle segments of society have recruited new members
with each economic expansion. The main impetus to
immigration was the rise of sugar production in the late nineteenth
and early twentieth centuries. Some groups have had
earlier antecedents, whereas others arrived as late as the 1970s,
1980s, and 1990s—Haitians and Chinese from Taiwan continued
to enter in the late 1990s.
Nineteenth-century immigrants came from a number of
sources. North American freedmen, principally Methodists,
came in response to an offer of free land made during the
period of Haitian domination (1822-44). Roughly 5,000 to
10,000 immigrated; most, however, were city dwellers and
quickly returned to the United States. A few small settlements