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I am not too well versed in history. I looked this up in Wikipedia and did not get enough information.
The island, I believe, is populated by the same people, yet one half is much safer and has a civilization that is thriving compared to the other half. Santo Domingo has a large tourist industry, Haiti does not. Why the huge difference?
I know there is French and Spanish influence, the French having the Haitian side.
I am not too well versed in history. I looked this up in Wikipedia and did not get enough information.
The island, I believe, is populated by the same people, yet one half is much safer and has a civilization that is thriving compared to the other half. Santo Domingo has a large tourist industry, Haiti does not. Why the huge difference?
I know there is French and Spanish influence, the French having the Haitian side.
The problem is that they don't see themselves as the same. The Dominicans have hatred towards their African roots and they look down on the Haitians.
Dominicans seem to not realize they are of African descent, giving every explanation for their looks from "It's because we sit on the beautiful beaches all day" to "The sun dried out my hair."
I was in Dominican Republic back in November of last year for about three weeks. I traveled all over the place down there.
They are not the same people, although they do have many similarities. Their history is quite tragic with Haitians invading the Dominicans and committing massacres against them and then Dominicans massacring Haitians, there has been quite a lot of back and forth between the two countries. Yet, despite that, judging from what I saw at street level during the three weeks I was there, Dominicans and Haitians seem to treat each other more or less alright.
Currently the DR has an illegal immigration problem from Haiti and its the same issue as everywhere else in the world, plus a bloody history from both sides towards both sides, and that complicates things. Dominicans often feel they are misunderstood by foreigners, since many like to reduce the issue to race when it encompasses many facets (cultural, historical and such.)
Both are rather proud people of their respective countries and would be offended if anyone tries to tell either of the two that they are the same, or that Haitians should be like Dominicans or Dominicans like Haitians. Also, from what I could tell, at least from the Dominicans I met, they are very much aware of their African heritage, but prefer to see themselves as a mixed race Latino people and culture, since that's what they are, at least for the most part. They even have black heroes and statues of them all over the place, which shocked me, since I believed many of the stuff that are said about Dominicans.
The world definitely is not how its always painted.
The author Jared Diamond's best-selling book "Collapse: Why Societies Fail" has one chapter in it, discussing the contrast between the 2 countries. Your local library probably has a copy. One reason, is that the mountain range separating the 2 countries, makes most rain fall only on the eastern (Dominican) side, which has lush forests, and which also preserves their forests as national parks. The Haitian side by contrast, is all denuded from people cutting down all their trees for firewood for cooking. Haiti makes no effort to preserve its natural areas. You can see the stark contrast right at the border, in aerial photographs. There are also other reasons for the contrasting economies, I can't remember what they are.
Both countries have had ruthless dictatorships. The popular memoir "In the time of Butterflies" an assigned reading at many U.S. schools, describes the terror under the 27-year rule of Trujillo's Dominican police state, who (besides his own people) also brutally killed thousands of Haitian migrant workers out of genocide. The Haitian nation was also plagued by the long-time terrorist dictatorship of Dr. Duvalier and later his son, Baby Doc.
Last edited by slowlane3; 03-09-2012 at 10:22 PM..
The island, I believe, is populated by the same people, yet one half is much safer and has a civilization that is thriving compared to the other half. Santo Domingo has a large tourist industry, Haiti does not. Why the huge difference?
I know there is French and Spanish influence, the French having the Haitian side.
How did you come to the conclusion that they are the same people? Completely different languages, cultures, histories, etc.
Location: where people are either too stupid to leave or too stuck to move
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Antonio84
I was in Dominican Republic back in November of last year for about three weeks. I traveled all over the place down there.
They are not the same people, although they do have many similarities. Their history is quite tragic with Haitians invading the Dominicans and committing massacres against them and then Dominicans massacring Haitians, there has been quite a lot of back and forth between the two countries. Yet, despite that, judging from what I saw at street level during the three weeks I was there, Dominicans and Haitians seem to treat each other more or less alright.
Currently the DR has an illegal immigration problem from Haiti and its the same issue as everywhere else in the world, plus a bloody history from both sides towards both sides, and that complicates things. Dominicans often feel they are misunderstood by foreigners, since many like to reduce the issue to race when it encompasses many facets (cultural, historical and such.)
Both are rather proud people of their respective countries and would be offended if anyone tries to tell either of the two that they are the same, or that Haitians should be like Dominicans or Dominicans like Haitians. Also, from what I could tell, at least from the Dominicans I met, they are very much aware of their African heritage, but prefer to see themselves as a mixed race Latino people and culture, since that's what they are, at least for the most part. They even have black heroes and statues of them all over the place, which shocked me, since I believed many of the stuff that are said about Dominicans.
The world definitely is not how its always painted.
Haitian People
Dominican People
but didn't Spain invade/enslave DR for tons of hundreds of years? why don't they have the same disdain/resentment for the Spanish
The problem is that they don't see themselves as the same. The Dominicans have hatred towards their African roots and they look down on the Haitians.
So hating the other half made them a thriving civilization? That makes no sense.
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