Being mix race is a very interesting "concept," especially as a Dominican. Before NYU I identified solely as Dominican. I identified as Dominican before I even identified as mix-race and way before I had to acknowledged that being mixed race entailed being both white and black.
It’s not that Dominicans are denying that they are black, is just that as mix race country, who has experienced quite a lot of oppression (from Spanish colonizers, to when Haiti seized control for a brief period, to the Trujillo dictatorship), we do not think of it as “white and black” the way it is thought about in America, who has a particularly distinct concept of blackness and whiteness (obviously, with Jim Crowe laws, “Sep. but equal," KKK, war on drugs etc etc etc etc).
Being a white Dominican is not at all the same thing as being white in America, so if you told a white Dominican they are white they will just say, no I’m Dominican. If you told a black Dominican that they are black, they will just say no, I’m Dominican. It’s about ethnicity NOT about “race.” Understand this before you get heated up because America sees "race" and not ethnicity.
It is annoying to see these posts that judge Dominicans for not identifying as black. We never identified as black, that is black American to keep it in context, because that was never important, it was also not the same culturally. Sure some Dominicans can resemble black Americans as Dominicans themselves can be black, but melanin is viewed differently on the island. Granted, very dark skinned Dominicans may be bullied because they are seen to be closer to their African roots, and they may face microagressions like “haha you look like a Haitian,” but that’s sadly something you can find in MANY countries (i.e. the Rwandan genocide happened because the Belgians put the Tutsi’s minority in charge because they were lighter than the Hutu majority).
Obviously Dominicans are friends with Black-Americans, people can exists in their cultural differences the same way they can exist with their skin color similarity.
That is to say, skin color is not something that is thought about for Dominicans, people just exist in their very versatile way. It is not colorblindness, it is simply that race relations is not a determining factor. Sadly some people prefer white features like lighter skin or straight hair but that is NOT the same thing as imposing white hegemonic principals onto a populace. Why? There are people that want curlier hair and darker features too. IT IS NOT THE SAME THING AS OPPRESSING SOMEONE FOR BEING BLACK.
Like you don’t go around all day thinking about what color your toes are painted, why, because it’s not like something that is detrimentally crucial to your life. Similarly, Dominicans do not make their skin color detrimentally crucial to their lives. You can’t blame a person for existing in their blackness and never having had to identify as black before they just identified as a HUMAN BEING.
Relating that to my experience in France these last five days, I know that I am seen as light skin. But at the same time I’m still seen as black here because people have a different expectation for being mixed race (i.e. having lighter hair or lighter eyes etc). This is a different experience than in NYC, as I am solely viewed as a Dominican.
Mixed-race is peculiar because a lot of mixed race people in Paris that I have seen so far “look” Dominican— and what is a Dominican- just a black and white person. So to just see someone’s skin color and judge them based on that is ridiculous. But nonetheless, me thinking that they are Dominican makes me want to tie a bond with them; to share what we have in common: our Dominican-ness,nonetheless they are Parisian.
Seeing how mixed race Dominicans and mixed race Parisians can look so similar just sheds a light on colonialism. It also highlights what their beauty standards are; an almost fetishized beauty. I of course can not speak to the life experience of white people, nor can I speak to that of a very dark skinned person, so I can only speak for myself, and hopefully people that have my same complexion and cultural background.
Like I said, the idea of treating some people differently because they are mixed-race is interesting. So is the fact that people are in fact mixed-race. It forces one to understand that you don’t choose how you are born looking, so why do you choose what treatment to give a person solely based on their skin color? I could have looked like my mother who if white and has hazel eyes, or I could have came out like my father, who has a very chocolate-copper-red-like complexion.
So if you wanna take something out of this then it will be, instead of yelling via facebook posts about how much Dominicans are stupid for not identifying as black, how about you take the approach of, not everyone wants to think they are being oppressed for their skin color; so stop making them think that they should be oppressed and that skin color brings this on. A better approach would just be like, "Hey, the only difference between you and me is where that ship from West-Africa stopped," but don’t force people to identify as something they never identified as before to ease your insecurities with the system.
MERCI BEAUCOUP FOR READING THIS IF YOU DID.
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