Reconstructing Racial Identity and the African Past in the Dominican Republic

New World Diasporas

by Kimberly Eison Simmons

"Documents a seismic shift in Dominican identity over the last two decades which the author argues is the result of contact with the U.S.; that Dominicans have moved away from seeing themselves as indio  and increasingly self-identify as Black."--Robin Derby, University of California, Los Angeles

In Latin America and the Caribbean, racial issues are extremely complex and fluid, particularly the nature of "blackness." What it means to be called "black" is still very different for an African American living in the United States than it is for an individual in the Dominican Republic with an African ancestry.

Racial categories were far from concrete as the Dominican populace grew, altered, and solidified around the present notions of identity. Kimberly Simmons explores the fascinating socio-cultural shifts in Dominicans' racial categories, concluding that Dominicans are slowly embracing blackness and ideas of African ancestry.

Simmons also examines the movement of individuals between the Dominican Republic and the United States, where traditional notions of  indio  are challenged, debated, and called into question.  How and why Dominicans define their racial identities reveal shifting coalitions between Caribbean peoples and African Americans, and proves intrinsic to understanding identities in the African diaspora.

Kimberly Eison Simmons, president of the Association of Black Anthropologists, is assistant professor of anthropology and African American studies at the University of South Carolina.

176 pages, Paperback

First published July 5, 2009

Reviews

[Alondra Mercedes · Rating 4 out of 5]

The reality that our history books attempt to hide. We are the legacy of the African population brought to the Americas as slaves. It is reflected in our skin color, the texture of our hair and the food we enjoy. Yet, we have denied it for generations.

Fun fact: The DR does not categorize its population based on skin color anymore (thank God because that was confusing). I did check my mom's old Cédula and it had the letter describing her skin color. I guess it now serves as a historical artifact lol.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm tempted to give this book 3.5 stars but since it covers a topic that needs to be discussed more I'm upping it to 4 stars. I'm going to re-read this and see if the questions I'm left with were actually in the book and I somehow missed it. I don't know, it is a short and informative book and a good place to start if you're beginning to question your Dominican identity but I felt like this book would've benefitted from more perspectives and in-depth interviews from people that are Dominican, Dominican-American, and Haitian-Dominican.