Reappraising race? Dominicans in New York City

Abstract

AbstractHow do Dominican migrants living in New York City relate to the changing social and cultural contexts that accompany experiences of migration, settlement and return? Dominicans, on migrating to the United States, confront a blunt racialised categorisation of black, white, Asian or latino/a, as opposed to the seemingly more fluid labelling in the Caribbean. In this paper, which draws on interview‐based research in the US and the Dominican Republic, I explore the impact of contemporary international migration on racialised discourse and identification among Dominicans. Given the popular and historical rejection of African Caribbean or black identity in Dominican society, migrants who would not identify as negro/a (literally translated as black) or mulato/a in the Dominican Republic, find themselves being labelled as black Hispanic or latino/a in the US. Increasing emigration and transnational connections since the 1960s have not heralded a predicted re‐evaluation of racialised discourse in the Dominican Republic. The commonly used term indio/a, which retains meanings specific to the Dominican context with regard to the rejection of negritud and concomitant anti‐Haitian sentiment, remains a popular term of reference among Dominican migrants and returnees. While Dominicans living in the US may ‘overcome the legacy of denial regarding the African part of their heritage’ (Torres‐Saillant and Hernández, 1998: 145), I argue that the much‐vaunted dynamics of transnationalism have so far failed to lead to a full reappraisal of racialised identification in Dominican society, both on the island and within the US. Transnational experiences, rather than stimulating a wider understanding of race, have promoted stasis or further reinforced existing racialised identities and prejudice. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.