Exclusion Landscape: The Dominican Republic Border

When Christopher Columbus sailed across the Atlantic, his first contact with North Americans was with the inhabitants of the island of Hispaniola. Today, this island is home to two countries that have been born to hate each other because of the very people who conquered them. This hatred did not fade, seeping into the blood of Dominicans and their ideologies. The Dominican Republic's attempt and success in removing and stopping Haitians from crossing the border and gaining power in the Dominican Republic can all be traced back to colorism and how their colonial authorities treated the natives of the island. 

Haiti was ruled by the French while the Dominican Republic was in the hands of the Spanish. The French were brutal in the treatment of their side of the island, Saint-Domingue. They exploited the land and used Saint-Domingue as only a means of production. They farmed the same crop using the same soil and burned the crops to start over again, which in turn destroyed the land (hoser).  In order to facilitate an economy that would transport great wealth back to France, slaves were shipped from the coast of Africa in order to maximize profits and the cash crop economy of the colony.. The slave trade that the French engaged in would fill their portion of the island with thousands of Africans, which greatly impacted the ethnic makeup of Haiti today, with an astounding 95% of the population. . The around 500,000 slaves decided to overthrow the around 32,000 French that lived there during the Haitian Revolution (hoser). This was a partial success, because although they did grant themselves independence, they owed a massive debt of at least $28 billion in response to the war they caused. This tanked the Haitian economy and it took them until 1947, or 143 years to finally pay the French back (Goldhammer and Foreman). Compared to Haiti, the Dominican Republic’s economic and governmental success can be attributed to Spanish rule. 

Unlike Saint-Domingue, Santo Domingo was not an important asset to Spanish. The Spanish were worried more about exploiting the lands in Northeastern Mexico, where the Aztecs resided (Meyers). The people in Santo Domingo were allowed to intermingle with each other, meaning it was more of a mixed society. The Spanish promoted interracial relationships in order to make way for Indian to Catholic conversions (Newman). Santo Domingo’s economy was stable and did not rely readily on cash crops. When the natives finally obtained freedom from the Spanish, the Dominican Republic was received well and even experienced an economic boom when they realized they could profit off sugar cane (hoser). They had the fertile land available to them, unlike Haiti’s, which had been destroyed by the French. Today, Haiti and the Dominican Republic are polar opposites in regard to the countries economic prosperity and the natural resources available to them. This difference created a superiority complex among the Dominican people, believing that their Haitian neighbors are “lesser-humans.” 

In 2010, the Dominican Republic’s constitution was changed. It removed a citizen's right to birthright citizenship and only gave citizenship to those who were born on Dominican soil to legal residents (Harris). This change in the Constitution explicitly targeted Haitians, as prejudice reigns supreme in the Dominican Republic, with Haitian hate running rampant due to the color of their skin. Haiti is seen as a dirty, poverty stricken country that can, and will, infiltrate the Dominican Republic. Furthermore, Dominicans are known for not accepting their African heritage and profiling those who are black. For example, those that are dark-skinned in the Dominican Republic are referred to as Haitian even if their families have been in the Dominican Republic for generations. It is harder for Haitians to get jobs and to start a new life in DR when they are being persecuted. In an experience from Johnny Harris, a reporter from Vox, he demonstrates how even in the border marketplaces created by the UN in order to have a place where vendors from both sides can buy and sell on equal footing, are disadvantageous to the Haitians. Harris states, “They’re stuck on this side waiting to cross the border and the border guards are just delaying it and meanwhile the Dominicans are able to set up and get the best spots” (Harris). Although there have been attempts to reconcile Haiti’s invasion of the Dominican Republic and the Dominican’s Republic mass killings of Haitians brought by Trujillo’s regime, the Haitians always get the short end of the stick. It is uncertain if there will ever be peace among these two groups of people, but one thing is for certain; it is almost impossible for people in positions of power to let go of their position willingly. Where it be in the government, in job holdings, or the local towns, the Dominicans will always try to make sure they are above someone else.

Haiti and the Dominican Republic Border (Haiti on the bottom left and the Dominican Republic is on the top right)

Haiti and Dominican Republic Border Market

Works Cited

Goldhammer, Arthur, and Nicholas Foreman. “Haitian independence debt.” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haitian_independence_debt. Accessed 12 November 2024.

Harris, Johnny. “Divided island: How Haiti and the DR became two worlds.” YouTube, 17 October 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WvKeYuwifc. Accessed 12 November 2024.

hoser. “A Tale of Two Islands.” YouTube, 28 April 2023, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U67cf6VDhXM. Accessed 12 November 2024.

“Mexico - Spanish Conquest, Aztec Empire, Colonialism.” Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/place/Mexico/Expansion-of-Spanish-rule. Accessed 12 November 2024.

Meyer, Michael C. , Parkes, Henry Bamford , Griffin, Ernst C. , Bernstein, Marvin David , Willey, Gordon R. , Cline, Howard F. and Palerm, Angel. "Mexico". Encyclopedia Britannica, 11 Nov. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/place/Mexico. Accessed 12 November 2024.

Newman, Brooke. “Interracial Marriage in the Atlantic World.” Oxford Bibliographies, Atlantic History, 11 January 2018. Accessed 12 November 2024.

Rosalsky, Greg. “'The Greatest Heist In History': How Haiti Was Forced To Pay Reparations For Freedom.” NPR, 5 October 2021, https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2021/10/05/1042518732/-the-greatest-heist-in-history-how-haiti-was-forced-to-pay-reparations-for-freed. Accessed 12 November 2024.