The Dominican Racial Imaginary : Surveying the Landscape of Race and Nation in Hispaniola

This book begins with a simple question: why do so many Dominicans deny the African components of their DNA, culture, and history?Seeking answers, Milagros Ricourt uncovers a complex and often contradictory Dominican racial imaginary. Observing how Dominicans have traditionally identified in opposition to their neighbors on the island of Hispaniola—Haitians of African descent—she finds that the Dominican Republic’s social elite has long propagated a national creation myth that conceives of the Dominican as a perfect hybrid of native islanders and Spanish settlers. Yet as she pores through rare historical documents, interviews contemporary Dominicans, and recalls her own childhood memories of life on the island, Ricourt encounters persistent challenges to this myth. Through fieldwork at the Dominican-Haitian border, she gives a firsthand look at how Dominicans are resisting the official account of their national identity and instead embracing the African influence that has always been part of their cultural heritage. Building on the work of theorists ranging from Edward Said to Édouard Glissant, this book expands our understanding of how national and racial imaginaries develop, why they persist, and how they might be subverted. As it confronts Hispaniola’s dark legacies of slavery and colonial oppression, __The Dominican Racial Imaginary__ also delivers an inspiring message on how multicultural communities might cooperate to disrupt the enduring power of white supremacy. Honorable mention, 2017 Gordon K. and Sybil Lewis Award from the Caribbean Studies Association This book begins with a simple question: why do so many Dominicans deny the African components of their DNA, culture, and history? Seeking answers, Milagros Ricourt uncovers a complex and often contradictory Dominican racial imaginary. Observing how Dominicans have traditionally identified in opposition to their neighbors on the island of Hispaniola—Haitians of African descent—she finds that the Dominican Republic's social elite has long propagated a national creation myth that conceives of the Dominican as a perfect hybrid of native islanders and Spanish settlers. Yet as she pores through rare historical documents, interviews contemporary Dominicans, and recalls her own childhood memories of life on the island, Ricourt encounters persistent challenges to this myth. Through fieldwork at the Dominican-Haitian border, she gives a firsthand look at how Dominicans are resisting the official account of their national identity and instead embracing the African influence that has always been part of their cultural heritage. Building on the work of theorists ranging from Edward Said to Édouard Glissant, this book expands our understanding of how national and racial imaginaries develop, why they persist, and how they might be subverted. As it confronts Hispaniola's dark legacies of slavery and colonial oppression, The Dominican Racial Imaginary also delivers an inspiring message on how multicultural communities might cooperate to disrupt the enduring power of white supremacy. "The Dominican Racial Imaginary subverts the way of knowledge of Dominican elites by telling the stories of 'the forced delivered child.' This child (a blend of Africans, Tainos, and Spanish) fled to the mountains escaping the abuses of the colonizer and became an adult in maroon communities. This book takes a look at history as a space of interrogation. When and how did Africa become part of the Dominican racial mix? In renewing the past, rather than the imposed Indo-Hispanic racial homogenization narrative, we might see something more--the historical creation of a multiracial rainbow. The stories the child/adult tell about the slave traffic, anti-colonial movements, the division of the island, more anti-colonial revolutions, abolition, and renewal of colonial oppressions. These stories also tell about cultural constructions unique to the island and the formation of a subversive racial imaginary. Battles against the continuity of white supremacist values people cultural practices, and ways of knowing attest to this subverted imaginary. In telling the stories of women dancing under the spell of the snake, of youngsters in New York City wearing dreadlocks, of Dominican intellectuals and politicians searching for their true identity, of people creating cooperation at the Haitian-Dominican border, this book strongly argues that there is a nation of Dominicans battling against the continuity of white supremacist values"--Provided by publisher "The Dominican Racial Imaginary subverts the way of knowledge of Dominican elites by telling the stories of 'the forced delivered child.' This child (a blend of Africans, Tainos, and Spanish) fled to the mountains escaping the abuses of the colonizer and became an adult in maroon communities. This book takes a look at history as a space of interrogation. When and how did Africa become part of the Dominican racial mix? In renewing the past, rather than the imposed Indo-Hispanic racial homogenization narrative, we might see something more--the historical creation of a multiracial rainbow. The stories the child/adult tell about the slave traffic, anti-colonial movements, the division of the island, more anti-colonial revolutions, abolition, and renewal of colonial oppressions. These stories also tell about cultural constructions unique to the island and the formation of a subversive racial imaginary. Battles against the continuity of white supremacist values people cultural practices, and ways of knowing attest to this subverted imaginary. In telling the stories of women dancing under the spell of the snake, of youngsters in New York City wearing dreadlocks, of Dominican intellectuals and politicians searching for their true identity, of people creating cooperation at the Haitian-Dominican border, this book strongly argues that there is a nation of Dominicans battling against the continuity of white supremacist values"-- Résumé de l'éditeur