Dominican Republic to be 'Socially Cleaned'

[Panich52]

Daily Kos

Dominican Republic to be 'Socially Cleaned' in two days
Jun 14, 2015 12:21pm PDT by gjohnsit

   In two days about a quarter of a million people will be made stateless. They will have no homes, no passports, and no civil rights. There are several reasons for this, but the primary reason is racism.

  At issue is a ruling by the Constitutional Court in the Dominican Republic to strip away the citizenship of several generations of Dominicans.

According to the decision, Dominicans born after 1929 to parents who are not of Dominican ancestry are to have their citizenship revoked. The ruling affects an estimated 250,000 Dominican people of Haitian descent, including many who have had no personal connection with Haiti for several generations.

What we are witnessing is one of the largest humanitarian crisis in the western hemisphere, except this one is completely by choice.
 As a recent Peace Corps volunteer in the DR, stationed near the border of Haiti, I have a very personal perspective on this issue.

  This may be hard to believe for most Americans, but racism in the DR is much worse than racism here in the United States. The idea of being black in the DR is wrapped up with being Haitian, and then takes on a xenophobic quality.

  The thing is, 90% of Dominicans would be considered 'black' by American standards. So there is a huge difference between being considered moreno (brown) and negro (black). The Policia Nacional Dominicana are so underpaid and openly corrupt that being mistaken for being Haitian means having to bribe officers (which I've personally witnessed) or be arrested and possibly beaten. Being mistaken for being Haitian means being denied job opportunities, public education, bank accounts, and health care.

  In other words, being black in the DR means being a second-class citizen with no legal protections. And now it means being stateless.

  The Dominican government recently opened seven deportation centers near the Haitian border, and gave them the Orwellian name of "welcome centers”.

  The Dominican government has also requested 36 large passenger buses "be made available for continued use".

Much more
http://m.dailykos.com/story/2015/06/14/1393198/-Dominican-Republic-to-be-Socially-Cleaned-in-two-days?detail=email

[JustAnotherGen]

1. It's shameful n/t

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

2. The US should offer them all citizenship.

We're big enough of a country that 250k is a drop in the bucket.

[drm604]

3. Horrifying.

There are people in this country who would like to do something similar.

[xynthee]

4. WTF?! nt

[Duppers]

5. omg.

What can we in the U.S. do?

[MisterP]

6. "black" means "Haitian"--and it didn't matter last time, either

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parsley_Massacre

pe-rghe-hheel

[lpbk2713]

7. That headline probably caught Limbaugh's attention.

He was starting to think he would have to go somewhere else for fun.

[Renew Deal]

8. The Washington Post just posted a story about this.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2015/06/16/the-bloody-origins-of-the-dominican-republics-ethnic-cleansing-of-haitians