Where no gringo is ugly

Like I said this country makes me feel incredibly cynical, so sorry for the huge dose of negativity in this cluster of posts. But I couldn´t talk about the anti-Haitianism here without bringing up the other side of the coin, which is the terrible racial self-hatred here. Dominicans simply will not admit we are a black, African people. Our claims to the contrary are laughable. Most Dominicans would rather admit to being "indio", literally Indian, by which they mean to refer to the original Taino inhabitants of the Antilles than admit to being black. Therefore light-skinned mulattoes generally refer to themselves as "indio claro" and the darker-skinned refer to themselves as "indio oscuro." "Negro" or "prieto," the words for "black" are used exclusively for Haitians or to insult a dark-skinned Dominican. In addition, there are a innumerable other permutations to refer to variations of skin color, such as "trigueño", "cafe con leche", "jabao", etc. (wheat-colored, coffee with milk, untranslateable respectively). But, in my opinion, generally people recognize that there are four racial strata, white, light-skinned black, dark-skinned black and (black) Haitian in descending order of status.

What all of this leads to is a collective delusion and denial on the part of dominicans that is simply maddening. The darkest-skinned Dominicans who are most marginal to Dominican society, unfortunately, and in my opinion logically and by design, are the ones that feel the greatest need to reinforce the status differences between Dominicans and Haitians. Being here you are constantly bombarded with imagery, attitudes and sayings that reinforce that to be black is to be stupid and ugly and to be white is to be beautiful and smart. You constantly hear of "pelo bueno" (good hair) and "pelo malo" (bad hair). The vast majority of the women here straighten their hair in an attempt, however subconsciously, to attempt to look more European, more white. And although I understand that the attitude is pervasive and often afro-Dominican women are forced to straighten their hair in order to meet "professional" standards, I don't like it. This country needs a black pride movement.

The other annoying part of it all, is that the black self-hatred here makes this even more of a playground/paradise for white tourists. Cualquier trapo de gringa aqui es una reina. White men and women here are the most coveted sexual and marital partners, and when added with class and national power (that visa/green card) the romantic attractive potential of white tourists simply skyrockets. Again it is maddening because most of the white tourists here are not aware of how much they are valued for their lighter skin, and in doing so, most Dominicans reinforce the idea that they are not beautiful, not smart, not worthy. Que paisito!