Same Race Different Faces Essay Research Paper

Same Race, Different Faces Essay, Research Paper

Same Races, Different Faces In

“Black vs. White” is not a story only seen in the United States of America. It is a problem which has, and still continues to plague many sections of the world. This problem, in many instances, goes beyond a stereotypical belief that the battle is fought due to cultural differences. What does this mean. Factors which unite such as religion, culture, and political beliefs, play no actual part in unity in this scenario. Cultural differences do play a certain part, but does not take ‘center stage.’ Now, what happens when you add a third “color” in there. In the United States people of color are many times classified as a group, minorities. In other countries, colors play parts rather than a stringent line of division. A country which can bring this problem into a closer scrutiny is the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic is a small country which shares an island, in the Caribbean, with Haiti. 95 percent of the Dominican Republic is Roman Catholic, the other five is made up of Santeria, Episcopal, and Voodoo. Three color groups which people fall into, in the Dominican Republic are white, tan, and black.

The book, La Presencia Negra en SantoDomingo by Carlos Andujar Persinal, gives accounts about certain incidents, customs, and beliefs that cause rifts among the different color groups in the Dominican Republic. According to this reading, the hierarchy that exists due to color consists of the whites on top, followed by the tan, and at the bottom the blacks. In the Dominican Republic, white Dominicans control 73.5 percent of the country, while the tan control just a ‘bit’ more than the blacks. If religion, most political views, and culture are very similar what causes this dilemma. In Perfil de Dos Naciones en la Espanola, by Jean Ghasmann Bissainthe, this same question is presented. Small groups from the color groups were asked to give their opinions on the other groups. The answers given dealt with serious stereotypes that stigmatize these color groups. For example: some said blacks were savages, tans conformed to both groups, and the whites were greedy and power hungry. Later on in the book another sample group goes on to express feelings of disgust just because of the difference in skin tone. Many sources try to explain why people would think another group of people are bad even if their cultures are similar and views on pretty much all of life are similar. Brehm and Kassin’s Social Psychology Third Edition give the concept of Ingroup Favoritism. This concept is defined as the tendency to discriminate in favor of ingroups over outgroups. The whites could know nothing of the tans, the tans could know nothing of the blacks, the blacks could know nothing of the whites, and vice versa, yet because they are different groups will discriminate in order to promote their group. People will try to enhance their self-esteem by discriminating against others and having a sense of belonging to a group. This concept, according to Brehm and Kassin’s Social Psychology, is called Social Identity Theory. Again, the groups could know nothing of each other, but could possibly be so discriminatory just to boost up their self esteem.

Excuses are a very popular form of discrimination, due to color, in the Dominican Republic. In Masso’s work, (an Inwood/Washington Heights, N.Y. neighborhood pamphlet) popular excuses for discrimination are as follows: White . Both blacks and lighter skin blacks are from Haiti. Tan . Blacks belong in Haiti and the Whites are all European. Black . Both Whites and Browns are Europeans. These excuses or opinions were expressed by a number of people interviewed, by Masso and fellow sociologist Dr. Miguel Sebastian, in the Dominican Republic. An interesting point brought up by this ’study’ is the fact that blacks belong in Haiti. The history between these two ‘extremly neighboring’ countries has been less than pleasant. The Dominican Republic used to be under the control of Haiti for many years. The larger part of Haiti’s population is black, by association many could tie the blacks in the Dominican Republic to Haiti. The ‘lighter blacks,’ as the tan were referred to in De Colores, are considered the descendents of the Native Dominican Indians (Tainos). The whites are considered to be the descendents of the European (Spanish, French, Portuguese) settlers.

“Que tiene que ver el pasado con el presente (What does the past have to do with the present.). Mucho (Plenty!)!” This question is considered by Masso to be the beginning of unraveling the problem of discrimination. The ideas and ignorance to each others cultures and biological differences set the dreadful for today’s play of prejudice. An example of an instance that coincides with this idea is found in James Jones’ Prejudice and Racism. British explorers described the darker skinned people’s color and sexuality the most. “.proceedeth of some natural infection of the first inhabitants of that country, and so all the whole progenie of them descended, are still polluted with the same blot of infection.” This was a description given when an Englishman noted the color of a child conceived of a black woman and white men. They referred to color as an infection. This idea is carried from hundreds of years ago and sets a standard of living for many. It works the same way in different situations. The Taino Indians of t