Identity Crisis: Why I Boycotted the Dominican Republic

Small Talk

‘So where are you from?”

That seemingly straightforward question tends to get a complicated answer.

An internet meme illustrating this question is how I connected the dots to my boycott of The Dominican Republic.

I was born in The Bahamas to parents who weren’t citizens of the country.

This caused me to forfeit automatic Bahamian citizenship.

I learned this as a teen.

I’m not sure how knowledgeable Haitian people were of Bahamian law.

I just know they believed your birthplace determined nationality, not your parent’s birthplace or a set of laws.

Proud Bahamian/Future Dominican Republic Boycotter

As children, it was ingrained in us that we were Bahamian.

Adults would quickly correct us if we ever attempted to call ourselves Haitian.

I proudly agreed and accepted myself as a Bahamian.

In 1989, we moved to Miami.

At the time, there was such a volatile hatred and intolerance for anything “Haitian”.

It was coming from people who looked just like us who had somehow forgotten only a boat stop separated us.

In 2019, not much has changed overall.

The leader of the “free world” referred to Haiti as an (expletive) hole.

Donald Trump never “stepped foot” in Haiti! Maybe he saw a little too many “save the children” commercials.

After being “Bahamian” for all of my life, the Miami school culture was about recognizing your ethnicity.

They didn’t care where you were born.

I couldn’t be Bahamian if both of my parents were Haitian.

This was the start of an identity crisis for me.

Identity Crisis

Once I understood U.S. immigration laws, I researched Bahamians ones. My greatest fear had come true.

I had to “apply” for citizenship in a land I was born into. The rejection was real.

I told myself my American peers were right.

I wasn’t a Bahamian. Even Bahamas saw me as simply “Haitian”.

Now when asked where I’m from, I reply: “I was born in the Bahamas to Haitian parents’.

If its an informal setting like social media, I may alter the answer to “Miami”.

I consider it home since I’ve lived here most of my life.

As an adult, I’ve found it easier to adapt to my ethnicity! Even as an American citizen, Haiti would not reject me.

The Dominican Republic vs The Bahamas (GET OUT)

After Hurricane Dorian left the Abaco islands desolate, undocumented Haitians in The Bahamas continue to be treated as second class human beings.

Many are facing deportations after losing everything in the largest natural disaster to strike the area.

There are still those of the opinion that Black people’s struggles ended with slavery. That we now have access to the same opportunities as anyone else.

These threats of deportation are just one of the many acts of wickedness we have to endure!

Once they all cease to occur, we can then label them “history”. Unfortunately, it is my people’s current reality.

Like The Bahamas, The Dominican Republic revised its constitution and ceased to allow birthright citizenship.

They have deported 70-80k Haitian descendants in three-years time.

These Haitians (in both countries) were working while building roots. One amendment or hurricane later, they are being told to GET OUT!

Geographically, Haiti and The Dominican Republic are one country.

Racism separates them into the upper and lower class (dark-skinned versus lighter-skinned). The ones with European features dominated.

It wasn’t unusual for Haitians in the Dominican Republic to deny their Haitian heritage.

They only wanted to acknowledge the part of themselves that society had accepted.

How could I hold that against them when I know how it feels to have an identity crisis?

Black History (Same script, different cast)

Blackness has a history of being associated with worthlessness.

We were worthy of unjust servitude but nothing more!

How else could these governments discard human beings as if they were “aliens” on borrowed time?

Instead of judging my Dominican brothers and sisters, I stood with them. People and systems simultaneously rejecting us were the norm.

Their plight was even worse considering they did not have back-up plans for housing or economic support.

Many were homeless and being ordered to an unfamiliar country. It was their parent’s homeland that they now had to navigate as their own.

The same is taking place in The Bahamas.

Since this terrible mass deportation, I vowed to boycott the Dominican Republic.

Why should I sow into a land that had no regard for my people?

A Weak Strategy

I joined the local marches and made my disgust known through my social media platform (albeit small).

There was a time when tourists were dying on a weekly basis in the D.R.

I wondered how much karma/laws of reciprocity played into tarnishing their tourism industry.

I love to cruise and so far I’ve done well with avoiding all that port in the Dominican Republic.

Taking a stand made me feel proud!

One of my favorite quotes is, “If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything”.

Life has a funny way of making you swallow your words.

A family member wanted me to come along on a possible trip to the D.R.

I explained my views to her and she thought they were extreme.

I told her if she could not find anyone else, I would make an exception. That seemed fair, though I wished I wouldn’t have to “pause” my boycott.

Contrasting Point of Views

Here we were, both Haitian descendants but on opposite sides of the fence.

She asked me if these Dominicans/Haitians would be rooting for me like I am for them.

I was taken aback at the question.

It stems from a worldview that may be at the root of all this racial turmoil.

Why should I be the one to care first?  

Blame it on my moral code. I strive to follow the golden rule even to own my detriment.

An Opened Mind

As I write this blog, I’m gaining more insight into my family member’s viewpoint.

Not the “uncaring” part, but the purpose of the boycott. What was my “taking a stand” achieving?

Here I am boycotting the Dominican Republic but the Bahamas and so many others are guilty of the same atrocities.

The nation I call home is presently one of the most notorious violators of Black people.

In one example, undocumented Haitians (among others) cling desperately to TPS (Temporary Protected Status) that allows them to avoid deportation.  

One flick of the “pen” and they’re back in their native countries.

Trump denied this same protection to displaced hurricane Dorian survivors seeking shelter in America.

The conditions in most of these countries are virtually unlivable.

Haiti is experiencing extreme unrest that has brought tourism to a halt.

Rebels have risen up against government entities and the innocent are caught in the middle.

Haiti is still the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.

Though the U.S. is deeply flawed, the odds of moderate success are much better here.

Guilty on All Counts

As a traveler, if I boycotted every country that oppressed/oppresses Black people, I would be grounded.

Poofbeegone.com would be nonexistent!

I wrote this blog in hopes of sealing my resolve in boycotting The D.R.

My main objective was to justify my stance.

I was right. They were wrong. End of story.

Instead, I see the much bigger picture.

I was throwing ice cubes in the volcanoes of racism and hoping to stop the burning.  

Now that I see the error of my ways, where does that leave me?

The future can look as dark as my skin when I try to visualize racial victory!

My faith tells me to speak those things that be not as though they are!

When it waivers, I won’t be ashamed to say, “Lord, help my unbelief!”

I saw a T-shirt with the words: “Across cultures, darker people suffer the most. Why?”

Maybe wearing it will bring more awareness than this so-called boycott of mine!

Talk to me, where do you stand?

~Poof…Bee Gone

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