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Anti-Haitian sentiment (Spanish: Antihaitianismo; French: Antihaitienisme) is prejudice or social discrimination against Haitians in the Dominican Republic.
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Anti-Haitian sentiment includes prejudice against, hatred of, or discrimination against Haitians due to their physical appearance, culture, lifestyle, and language.[1][2]
Origins: 16th century through 19th century
Human Rights Watch has stated in their reports that the differences between Haitians and Dominicans can be based on colonial times from linguistic, cultural, and racial differences. For instance, the Dominican Republic was governed by the Spanish, and thus acquired part of their culture from the Spanish, mixed with Africans and Native Americans. Haiti, on the other hand, was governed by the French, and its culture is a mixture of French, African and Native American. The majority of Haiti's population is descended almost entirely from African slaves, while Dominicans possess a multiracial mix of Spanish, African and Indigenous ancestry. It is evident that historical background is related between the two countries, however, there are major cultural divisions.
Anti-Haitian sentiment can be traced back to a policy of racial segregation instituted by the Spaniards in the Captaincy General of Santo Domingo (present-day Dominican Republic).[3] Prior to the arrival of Europeans, the island was split into absolutist chiefdoms, three where modern-day Santo Domingo now exists, and two where modern-day Haiti now exists (albeit also including some territory which is currently part of Santo Domingo). Carib people from islands further south were often at war with the Taíno people. Columbus reached the island in 1492 (slaves imported from Africa arrived from 1503 onwards—many natives were also soon enslaved), and within a few decades the Spanish controlled most of the island. During the 17th century, however, the French also began maneuvering for control, and in 1697 acquired the western portion (now part of Haiti—whereas the Spanish portion encompassed the modern Dominican Republic). Finally, in 1795, with the Peace of Basel Spain ceded the eastern two thirds of the island in exchange for Gipuzkoa. However, French control would not last after the Haitian Revolution and the Spanish reconquest of Santo Domingo. In 1821, the Republic of Spanish Haiti would proclaim its independence to be shortly afterwards be taken by the western Haitian forces from 1822 to 1844. In 1844 the secret revolutionary movement called "La Trinitaria" took place and the Dominican Republic declared its independence defeating the Haitian forces. After several tumultuous decades, the Spanish briefly acquired nominal control of the Dominican Republic in the 1860s, setting off another war. By the late 19th century, over three hundred years of European control was ended; the modern history of west Hispaniola (Haiti) and east Hispaniola (Dominican Republic) had begun.
Under Trujillo: 1930s and 1940s
Anti-Haitian sentiment was strongly institutionalized during the regime of Rafael Leónidas Trujillo. Border disputes under Trujillo culminated in the order of a military intervention and to massacre Haitians accused of practicing vodou or witchery, practices that were against the popular Roman Catholic beliefs in the Dominican Republic at the time. Claims range "from several hundred to 26,000"[4][self-published source] or even "recorded as having a death toll reaching 30,000"[5] in October 1937, an event subsequently named the Parsley Massacre. During later diplomacy, Trujillo agreed to pay hundreds of thousands in reparations,[4] but somewhat less was actually delivered. Due to corrupt Haitian bureaucrats, exceedingly little[6] reached the families. Dominican intellectuals Manuel Arturo Peña Batlle, Joaquín Balaguer, Manuel de Jesús Troncoso de la Concha, among others, led the campaign.[7][8]
The 1937 massacre legitimized subsequent state acts of violence against the Haitian-origin population in the Dominican Republic. Each successive government since has forcibly removed thousands of Haitians and Haitian-Dominicans in routine round-ups and expulsions by the military.[9]
Present day: 1990s
Trujillo's policies served to perpetuate anti-Haitian sentiment within the Dominican Republic.[4] In the 1996 Dominican presidential election, Joaquín Balaguer (historical leader of the populist right and former right-hand of dictator Trujillo) united in a "National Patriotic Front" with PLD candidate Leonel Fernández in order to prevent José Francisco Peña Gómez, who was adopted as an infant by a Dominican family but born to Haitian parents, from becoming President.[10][11]
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