As a Dominican woman I am appalled.
There are so many Dominicans who are descendants of Haitians yet have never even been to that side of the island. They are just as Dominican as I am… perhaps even more so since HAITIANS have contributed greatly to the development of the Dominican Republic! !!
This ruling denies children the right to go to school, strips away their access to health care and has deported countless Haitians born in DR.
This conversation is an important one. The historical text behind this conversation is not a light one. It has much to with both countries at war in the 1800s… it has to do with Trujillo ordering the mass killing of Haitians in 1937 with the parsley massacre. .. it has to do with this phenomenon of mass cleansing that not only was happening in DR but in most Latin American countries who also breathe internalized racism, denial of blackness and self hate. Bottom line. … we as Dominicans who are knowledgeable and consider ourselves humanist/activists must fight for the rights of our Haitians sisters and brothers. .. injusticia done to them is injustice we do to ourselves. We must stop pointing fingers!
I am incredibly disappointed in the Dominican government and hope that many Dominican activists and leaders fight to reverse this.
The ruling also violates Article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states that:(1) Everyone has the right to a nationality.(2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.
#dominicansforhaitianequality
The Writer and The Story 