Dominican American

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A Dominican American or Dominican-York ^[1] is an immigrant or descendant of immigrants from the Dominican Republic to the United States. Historic immigration records of Dominicans in the United States date from the late 1800s, and New York City had a Dominican community since the 1930s. From the 1960s onward, through the fall of the Trujillo military regime, large waves of migration have thoroughly transnationalized the Dominican Republic, metaphorically blurring its frontier with the United States. There are approximately 1,118,265 Dominican Americans, both native and foreign born.

Contents 1 History 2 Adjustment and Development 2.1 Social and Political Representation 2.2 Participation in U.S. Politics 2.3 Racial Identity 3 Dominican American Culture 4 Notable Dominican Americans 5 Authors 6 Fashion 7 Notable and Newsworthy Personalities 8 Prominent Political Figures (present) 9 Notes 10 External links

[edit] History

Since the early 1960s, economic problems and political turmoil in the Dominican Republic have led to a vast migration of Dominicans to the U.S., mainly to east coast cities, particularly New York City, New York ; (Washington Heights, Manhattan, Queens, The Bronx and Brooklyn). Paterson, New Jersey, Passaic, New Jersey; Perth Amboy, New Jersey; Lawrence, Massachusetts, Boston, Massachusetts, Providence, R.I., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Baltimore, Maryland, and smaller waves of Dominicans into Houston, Texas, New Orleans, Louisiana and Miami, Florida are worth noting. Dominican Americans have settled in these areas largely because of the already existing and growing Latino community found in these places, having come on the heels of a similar migration of Puerto Ricans. Although Dominicans have been in the United States since the 1960s, almost half of all the Dominican Americans today have arrived since the 1990s. New York City's Washington Heights neighborhood on the northwestern tip of Manhattan, is so densely populated by Dominican Americans that it is sometimes referred to as Quisqueya Heights. ("Quisqueya" is a popular name for Hispaniola that many believe derives from the island's original Taino name.) Dominican Americans are now one of the largest Hispanic groups in the United States; less numerous than the Mexican American majority and Puerto Ricans, and about even with Cuban Americans. Currently the largest concentrations of Dominican Americans are in New York (455,061), Florida (170,968) New Jersey (102,630) out of a total Dominican American population of 764,945.^[2]

Many Dominicans have also settled in Puerto Rico (56,146) by makeshift boats called "yolas". Although thousands of Dominicans illegally migrate this way every year, many are apprehended by the United States Coast Guard while others perish during the harsh, dangerous journey across the Mona Channel.

The ten US communities with the highest percentage of people claiming Dominican ancestry are^[3]

1. Haverstraw, New York 26.95%
2. Lawrence, Massachusetts 22.47%
3. Perth Amboy, New Jersey 18.81%
4. Passaic, New Jersey 13.06%
5. Sleepy Hollow, New York 12.67%
6. Union City, New Jersey 11.46%
7. Haverstraw, New York 11.13%
8. Paterson, New Jersey 10.27%
9. Bronx, New York 9.99%
10. Manhattan, New York 8.87%

[edit] Adjustment and Development

An overwhelming number of Dominican Americans are young first generation immigrants without a high school diploma. Many Dominican Americans also come from the rural countryside of the Dominican Republic. Many are poor, "undocumented", and have language barriers as well. Second generation Dominican Americans are significantly more educated, as reflected by their higher incomes and employment in professional or skilled occupations. 21% of all second-generation Dominican Americans have college degrees, slightly below the national average (24%) but significantly higher than U.S. born Mexicans (13%) and U.S. born Puerto Ricans (12%). ^[4] Thus, this signals that Dominican Americans are progressing. Even so, according to the United Nations Subcommittee on Human Development in the Dominican Republic in their 2005 report, Dominican Americans are statistically the poorest ethnic group in the United States.^[5]

As soon as the Dominicans set foot in the U.S., many of them went right into business. Bodegas, Latino Supermarkets, International phone calling centers, restaurants, remittance wiring, taxi companies, travel agents, and accountants owned by Dominican Americans line many main drags that spread through many Dominican or Latino neighborhoods. Spanish is undoubtedly the first language of choice, especially for recent arrivals.

[edit] Social and Political Representation

In New York City, the residence of 53.2% of all Dominicans in the United States, Dominican residents tend to be segregated from non-Hispanic whites, blacks, and other Latinos such as Puerto Ricans and Colombians. Even where they share the same neighborhood with other ethnic and racial groups, such as African Americans or Ecuadorians, Dominican Americans tend to remain socially encapsulated in their own communities. The dominant image of Dominican Americans has been uncharitable from the start. In the 1980s and 1990s, Dominicans joined Puerto Ricans as one of the most stigmatized ethnic minorities in the United States. The American public can easily associate both groups with poverty and violence, as witnessed by a host of Hollywood films and TV series.^[6] Journalistic reports consistently identify Dominican Americans as one of the main culprits of drug trafficking and money laundering in the eastern US, and Washington Heights was commonly known as the "crack capital" of New York City.^[7] Similar to other "colored" groups from the Caribbean and Latin America, Dominican Americans have been intensely criminalized and racialized. In 2004, a single line of dialogue in an episode of Law and Order had a white police officer refer to Dominicans as "animals"; this line generated protest by the Dominican American and Latino communities to demand (and receive) an official apology by the NBC television corporation.

[edit] Participation in U.S. Politics

Dominican immigrants have a long way to go in the process of political empowerment, but signs of improvement are already visible. The U.S. House of Representatives does not yet have a Dominican member, although at least two dozen Dominican Americans are elected as councilmembers, county legislators, and state legislatures throughout the United States. The majority of Dominican elected officials are in New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Maryland, and Massachusetts. There are also Dominican Americans elected in New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and Puerto Rico.^[8]

The electoral participation of Dominicans in the United States may improve as a result of the 1994 approval of dual citizenship by the Dominican legislature, which makes it easier for migrants to become U.S. citizens without relinquishing their Dominican nationality.^[9] A 1997 Dominican law, which took effect in 2004, allows Dominicans living abroad to retain their Dominican citizenship and voting rights, even if they become citizens of another country. Traditionally, Dominicans living in the U.S. are passionately involved in politics "back home," but unlike other Spanish-speaking ethnic groups, such as Cuban Americans and Mexican Americans, Dominican Americans are not as inclined to take an active part in U.S. politics, partly because many dream of eventually returning to the island.^[10]

[edit] Racial Identity

Dominican Americans--like many other Hispanics--often shun the rigid racial model prevalent in U.S. society and instead view themselves as racially mixed, neither white nor black, nor other single race. Since 1980, the Census Bureau has asked U.S. residents to classify their race separately from their Hispanic origin, if any. In 1990, 29.2% of Dominican Americans responded that they were white, while 30% considered themselves black. A plurality chose the "other" category--39.8% of the total.^[11] The prevalence of the "other race" category probably reflects the large number of people with mixed African, European and Amerindian ancestry, usually grouped under the folk term indio in the Dominican Republic (73% of the Dominicans are mixed European, African, and Taino Amerinidan descent). In the United States, they often define their racial identity in ethnic terms--that is, based on their national origin--or in pan-ethnic terms, such as Hispanics or Latinos (the self-titles used by a small percentage of Dominican Americans whom lived or their parents lived in the US before 1960, as the majority of Dominicans with a solely national self-title "(Nuyo) Dominican Yorks" and "Puerto-Dominicans" arrived later). Thus, Dominican Americans contest the country's traditionally narrow view on race by expanding the number of possible racial categories or pressing for the public recognition of racially mixed persons ( Dominican Americans are both mulatto and mestizo). At any rate, the current system of racial classification in the United States does not capture well the multiracial Hispanic experience in general, as recent research suggests.^[12]

[edit] Dominican American Culture

Dominican Americans are a mix of mostly European Spanish and African, and it shows in their art and music. However they are also a mix of Native American or Taino, which is clearly visible in the interior northern Cibao and southwestern Bahoruco regions were the inhabitants have more of the Taino/Arawak features is more prevalent, than in the southeastern or coastal areas where the Black/African features are more predominant.^{[citation needed]} On the other hand, the Spanish settlers brought diseases and exploited the Native Americans as slaves so their population significantly decreased and eventually became diluted in the sense that no "pure" Taino, can be found. This does not mean that the Dominican people are not Taino. Taino at the base of a large pyramid, with European/Spaniards, and Africans forming the other levels. To replace the Native Americans, and ironically save the Taino the Spaniards brought in massive amounts of Africans as slaves, many who right away fled to the mountains and mixed with the surviving Taino's in the hinterland who were called "indio salvaje" (wild Indian) as opposed to "indio manso" (domesticated Indian) in the plantations called repartimientos by the Spaniards. One other much ignored fact is that during the colonial period, especially after the discovery of Mexico and Peru, with their offers of easy gold, the Spanish in "Hispaniola" left to these newer colonies, leaving behind the Spaniards who had intermarried with the native Taino. Also due to the low level of contacts between the island and Spain, which only visited sporadically. The peoples on the island, Spanish settlers, mestizos and black's meshed and intermarried bringing about a genuine, unique and distinct ethnic phenotype that can be truly called a Dominican nation, in ethnicity, ideology or national outlook.

Music is the heart of the Dominican culture. Dominican music includes merengue and bachata, a modification of bolero. Bachata, as well as hip hop, and reggaeton, has become popular among many Dominican American youth.

Almost 90% of all Dominican Americans are Roman Catholics. Dominican Catholics are involved in the cult of the saints, and the cult of the national virgins, Altagracia and Mercedes, which are as strong symbols of Dominican identity as the flag.

Dominican food features white rice, habichuelas (beans), yuca, plantains, mangu, beef, and sancocho. Presidente is the most popular national beer while the national drink is rum made from sugarcane, mainly of the Brugal brand.

In very rare occasions Dominican Americans are referred to by the moniker, "Platano." (For their love of plantains).^{[citation needed]}

Since most Dominican Americans are first generation immigrants, many are in a transition of retaining their culture while at the same time assimilating to the American culture. This mainly applies to the Dominican American youth, who today face the challenge of becoming fully assimilated into the larger white American "melting pot" substrata. Marriages with other north Americans of a non-Dominican background or from Latin America can or could cause the assimilation to go either way. But through the Internet, popular music and facility in travel, Dominican Americans do not have to lose their roots and connections to their history if they wish. Those who view their stay in the United States as a temporary phenomenon tend to be less interested in assimilation into the larger society.

[edit] Notable Dominican Americans

The Dominicans and Dominican Americans have made great strives in the field of baseball as it is the top sport in the Dominican Republic. Sammy Sosa, Alex Rodriguez, Alfonso Soriano, Pedro Martinez, Vladimir Guerrero,David Ortiz, Miguel Tejada, Albert Pujols, Manny Ramirez and Hall of Fame member Juan Marichal are just a few of the many famous Dominican baseball players.

Dominican Americans have also contributed major literary works on their experiences in the US. Two of the best known are Julia Alvarez, author of In the Time of the Butterflies, and Junot Diaz, author of Drown. Oscar De La Renta is one of the most recognized names in the fashion industry.

Among the many well known Dominican American politicians include former New York City Councilman Guillermo Linares (currently Commissioner of Immigrant Affairs for the City of New York), New York State Assemblyman Adriano Espaillat, New York State Assemblyman Jose Peralta, New York City Councilman Miguel Martinez, New York City Councilwoman Diana Reyna, Rhode Island State Senator Juan Pichardo, Rhode Island State Representative Grace Diaz, Trenton NJ Councilman Manuel Segura, Allentown, PA Councilman Julio Guridy, Massachusetts State Representative William Lantigua, first Dominican Supreme Court Judge Rolando T. Acosta and many more. Dr. Rosa Perez-Perdomo, who is Secretary of Health for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is the highest ranking Dominican appointed official in the United States as she is the only gubernatorial cabinet-level appointment in the country. Dr. Eduardo Sanchez was Commissioner of Health for the state of Texas from 2001 to 2006.^[13]

Another well known Dominican American is actor and co-star of the popular sitcom Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Alfonso Ribeiro. The character he portrays, Carlton Banks, is a wealthy African American, and for years many viewers of the show had no idea he was of Latino ancestry.

Zoe Saldaña is a young promising actress born in New Jersey to Dominican immigrants. Michelle Rodriguez, born of a Dominican mother and a Puerto Rican father, is well known for her roles in the television series Lost and movies The Fast and the Furious, S.W.A.T., and Resident Evil. Merlin Santana was a well-known actor from New York City whose parents are Dominican. His most notable role was as Romeo on the Steve Harvey Show. He died in March 2002.

Many Dominicans exist in the New York rap scene. J.R. Writer of Dipset is Dominican and fellow members Juelz Santana and Hell Rell also are mixed with Dominican ancestary. Fabolous and AZ are also Dominican born rappers from New York.

[edit] Authors

• Julia Alvarez
• Junot Diaz

[edit] Fashion

• Oscar De la Renta, Fashion Designer and Businessman.

[edit] Notable and Newsworthy Personalities

• Magali Febles, owner of the Miss Dominican Republic and Miss Puerto Rico pageant franchises
• Ilka Tanya Payan, actress, AIDS/HIV activist
• Providencia Paredes, assistant/confidante to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
• Miguel Suero, notorious New York City druglord

[edit] Prominent Political Figures (present)

• Adriano Espaillat, New York State Assemblyman (first Dominican American to be elected to a State House in the United States)
• Guillermo Linares, first Dominican American elected in the United States, former New York City Council Member
• Miguel Martinez, New York City Council Member
• Diana Reyna, New York City Council Member (first Dominican American woman elected in New York City)

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• Dominican American National Roundtable

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