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The neighboring countries of the Dominican Republic and Haiti share an island – as well as a troubling history that has impacted the Western Hemisphere from as far north as Canada to southern Argentina.
“To me, the island is the birth of our racial caste system across America,” said Michelle Stephenson, whose documentarystateloosFeatured this weekend in Tribeca-festival must aired in a television show in July.
“This is where the first Europeans arrived, where the first Africans arrived, and where the first genocides took place, and the island’s racial caste system unfolded before spreading throughout the country. hemisphere, ”said Stephenson, of Panamanian and Haitian descent. NBC News.
“Staatloos” It follows Rosa Iris Dendomie, a young Dominican lawyer and immigration lawyer of Haitian descent, as she struggles to run for Congress in the Dominican Republic.
Also known by its Spanish name “Apátrida,” the documentary shows Dindomé visiting the sugarcane towns known as “Patisse,” which are home to many Haitian immigrants and Dominicans of Haitian descent. It portrays the struggle of a widely exploited group that was disenfranchised nearly a decade ago, when Dominican Supreme Court retroactively revoked citizenship For many Dominicans who have unregistered Haitian parents – even those born in the Dominican Republic.
According to the documentary, the decision left more than 200,000 people of Haitian descent stateless. Although the government is under international pressure, Measures were taken in 2014 To allow children born in the Dominican Republic and a few others to apply for citizenship, thousands of people have been deported from the Dominican Republic, many with valid applications for Dominican citizenship.
“The court ruling is a reflection of a country which, despite its mixed ethnic identity, refuses to accept anything that has to do with its African heritage,” Dendomi told NBC News.
During her failed congressional candidacy, Dendomie was riddled with threats against her life and that of her son, ultimately forcing her to flee the country. Since being granted asylum in the United States, Dedomie has worked with Stevenson to use the film as an opportunity to engage community groups and international organizations in the Racism issues against blacks and immigration.
On camera, Stevenson links the racial tensions of the island’s past to the Dominican Republic’s current racial politics.
The tragic story of a dark-skinned girl named Morayem ends the film. Her life is told through audio commentary as viewers see other children in the bates and sugarcane fields. Describe The parsley massacre of 1937 Who executed thousands of Haitians and Dominicans of Haitians living decently in the Dominican Republic.
“On a dark October night, Morayem had to go into hiding,” Dendomie said in an audio commentary. Dictator Trujillo decided to whitewash the race and solve the so-called problem of Haiti. He killed many of them, including Morayem’s mother, because of the color of their skin. “
An Associated Press article published by the New York Times on December 8, 1937 stated that Haitian President Stenio Vincent accused “8,000 Haitians of having been the victims of ‘mass murders’ on Dominican soil since October. The article also said that the Dominican State Department dismissed the Haitian reports of the killings and described them as delusional.
More than 80 years later, the film stars Dominican President Danilo Medina (who served from 2012 to 2020) denying allegations of racism against Haitians.
“How can the Dominican Republic be a racist country if over 80% of our population is black and mulatto? How can Dominicans be accused of racism against Haitians while they live and coexist with us all over our country? “, did he declare.
The former Dominican president also denies that Dominicans of Haitian descent have been targeted and withdrawn from their citizenship.
“The number of stateless people in the Dominican Republic is zero,” he said.
Beyond physical and political borders
Despite the ethnic tensions that have existed on the island since Spanish and French colonial rule, Stevenson hopes Dominicans and Haitians can look to their history to transcend the physical and political borders that divide their country.
On the east side of the island, when Dominicans are proud of Santo Domingo, they can proudly say that it is the oldest European city in the Americas – founded in 1496, over 100 years older than Jamestown (1607) – and that the city grid became the model for many future cities in Latin America.
Dominicans can also claim that Thomas Aquinas University in Santo Domingo is the oldest in the hemisphere – it was founded in 1538, almost 100 years before Harvard (1636).
And on the west side of the island, Haitians could also claim that their country was second behind the United States to gain independence. But Stevenson noted that Haiti was, in fact, the first successful slave revolt against a colonial power.
It’s not just the fact that after the United States, it is the second country to gain independence in this hemisphere. But this is the only successful revolution the slaves made – the blacks who were slaves to Napoleon’s army were defeated, ”the director said. “And the Haitian revolution does not even get the credit that should be given after the American and French revolutions for hiding the history of resistance.
It should also be noted that Haiti’s independence influenced the success of the first Latin American democracy, with the introduction of El Gran Libertador (The Grand Liberator) Asylum and support Simon Bolivar In his fight against the Spanish Empire.
Stephenson and Dendomie agreed there should be more conversations about race to break the cycle of discrimination.
“I believe there is a historical reality in which people have learned to think or have inherited the belief that there are people who are inferior based on their origin or race,” Dendome said. “And inside and outside the United States, when we see the struggles of other marginalized groups, we see the same cycle repeating itself. It’s a race-based battle.
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