Systemic Racism and Anti-Haitianism in the Dominican Republic

The elites that govern the Dominican Republic have historically utilized anti-haitianismo, a constructed ideology based on racial stereotypes and prejudices, as a resource to accumulate more power. By separating “us” from “them” and inciting a feeling of insecurity in a populist manner, the elites are able to create a division in society, which, on the one hand, enables a model of domination over the minority group, while, on the other, entails the support from the majority. In 2013, the Dominican State invalidated the citizenship of hundreds of thousands of people of Haitian descent born as far back as 1929. This illegal act was the culmination of years of the State’s efforts to limit the right to nationality to Dominicans of Haitian descent and Haitian immigrants. Discriminatory policies and practices as such, have had severe social effects such as statelessness, preventing many people from their full enjoyment of human right