This current event, the deportation of the Haitians, comes down to a matter of citizenship. Their law is anyone who is born on the island is a citizen with the exception of the people placed in the category called “those in transit.” The Dominican authorities has taken and used this exception to their advantage in refusing papers and passports of the Haitians even if their parents were born in Dominican Republic. As the article states in September 2013, the Dominican court laid the law stating in the “La Cuestión Haitiana” that if you were born in the group “those in transit” you are not considered citizens. The president Medina set up a plan which threatened the Haitians with deportation called “the National Plan for Regularization of Foreigners
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Hence, Dominicans would do everything to look as white as possible for examples straighten their hair. Once you were poor back then you were considered black even if you were a little dark. In the 1930s, Dominicans could only consider themselves as either “White” or “Indian” because the dictator at the time, Rafael Trujillo, eliminated the option “black” on a national identity card. Winn states that in 1937 Trujillo committed an act of genocide against tens of thousands of Haitians, even on those who were born in Dominican Republic. The genocide was based upon their skin color and their ability to pronounce the Spanish word for parsley – "perejil." The word is hard for Haitians to pronounce because of the "r" and the "j". They were instantly killed who ever failed the test. Today we don’t see a genocide but deportation of not only Haitians but Dominican born Haitians as well. People in favor of the deportation of Haitians say that it is not fair that the Dominican Republic, being a poor country, has to constantly help Haiti and its people. While others see it as an ethnic cleansing similar to the genocide that Trujillo oversaw. Then and even now, the racial tension is intense and any small thing can trigger this tension leading to an outburst within the two
Hence, Dominicans would do everything to look as white as possible for examples straighten their hair. Once you were poor back then you were considered black even if you were a little dark. In the 1930s, Dominicans could only consider themselves as either “White” or “Indian” because the dictator at the time, Rafael Trujillo, eliminated the option “black” on a national identity card. Winn states that in 1937 Trujillo committed an act of genocide against tens of thousands of Haitians, even on those who were born in Dominican Republic. The genocide was based upon their skin color and their ability to pronounce the Spanish word for parsley – "perejil." The word is hard for Haitians to pronounce because of the "r" and the "j". They were instantly killed who ever failed the test. Today we don’t see a genocide but deportation of not only Haitians but Dominican born Haitians as well. People in favor of the deportation of Haitians say that it is not fair that the Dominican Republic, being a poor country, has to constantly help Haiti and its people. While others see it as an ethnic cleansing similar to the genocide that Trujillo oversaw. Then and even now, the racial tension is intense and any small thing can trigger this tension leading to an outburst within the two