World

Dominican Republic’s ‘Ethnic Cleansing’

Published

9 years ago

June 30, 2015

By Freddie Allen
NNPA Senior Washington Correspondent

WASHINGTON (NNPA) – A Dominican Republic court order threatens to force more than 200,000 Dominican-born Haitians from their homes in an effort that many human rights watchers have called modern-day ethnic cleansing.

Just days after the Rachel Dolezal episode captivated America and a few days before the mass murder of nine church members studying the Bible in Charleston, S.C., the June 17, 2015 deadline expired for Dominican-born Haitians to request residency papers proving their citizenship in the Dominican Republic leaving hundreds of thousands of people stateless.

Media outlets have reported that the government has announced plans to start deportation efforts deploying the military and transport vehicles in neighborhoods where Dominican-born Haitians live. The Dominican government officials also said that they would allow undocumented foreigners to begin the path to become naturalized citizens in the future.

Ron Daniels, the president of the Institute of the Black World 21st Century, a group that advocates for social, economic and political equality for marginalized people in the United States and around world said that the treatment of Dominican-born Haitians, especially those working on the sugar plantations, is a festering cancer on the island of Hispaniola.

“It’s really a schizophrenic relationship between the government of the Dominican Republic and the government of Haiti to ensure that Haitian migrants work in the sugar fields,” said Daniels.

Bill Fletcher, a global justice activist, writer and the host of “The Global African” on Telesur-English, said that the tension between the two countries that share the island of Hispaniola dates back to the 18th century when French and Spanish colonists imported African slaves to the island to harvest sugar cane.

After the successful slave rebellion on French-ruled western part of the island, Haiti declared its independence from France in 1804. Then in 1822, the Haitians invaded the Spanish-ruled east, in their minds, to unify the island and to end slavery, said Fletcher.

Haitian military forces occupied what is now the Dominican Republic for more than twenty years. After their own war for independence, the Dominicans won their freedom from Haitian rule and declared their sovereignty in 1844.

“There was a tension that existed and a deep suspicion that existed on the island of Hispaniola,” said Fletcher. “That tension ratcheted up with the regime of Rafael Trujillo.”

Fletcher called Trujillo “a perfect example of self-hating mulatto” and some historians claim that he even wore makeup and hair dyes in effort to appear more European.

Trujillo ruled from 1930-1961 and “He focused on the Haitians in much the same way that Hitler focused the Jews,” Fletcher said.

Trujillo solution to the Haitian problem in the Dominican Republic culminated in the Parsley Massacre of 1937. Historians estimate that 10,000 to 25,000 Haitians, many of them Dominican-born and living on the border between the neighboring countries, were executed under orders from Trujillo’s government.

Trujillo served as president until 1952 and continued to rule the country after he left the office wielding power through his military ties under a succession of paper presidents. In 1961, Trujillo was assassinated while traveling near Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic, ending his long and brutal reign.

Fast-forward to 2010 Dominican lawmakers approved a constitutional amendment that denied citizenship to Dominican-born children whose parents, were considered “in transit,” often a result of their temporary and seasonal work status, even though many of them had long ago taken up residency in the Dominican Republic.

International outrage over the amendment gave the Dominican government pause and lawmakers appeared to back down from their plans for full-scale deportation. That reprieve would be short-lived.

Then, in 2013 a court stripped Dominican Haitians and their children of their citizenship unless they could prove their legal status prior to 1929. Others can request residency permits as foreigners or apply to become naturalized citizens, but for now more than 200,000 Dominican Haitians are effectively stateless, because most have lived in the Dominican Republic for generations and have no familial ties to Haiti or even speak French or Creole.

Daniels said that the ugly backdrop to the self-hatred and racism, behind the constitutional amendment is the fact that many Dominicans share an African heritage.

“This was a conscious decision to identify themselves as Hispanic,” said Daniels, noting there was a time in the Dominican Republic’s brief history that government officials prioritized importing European Hispanics to the island in an effort to “whiten” up the population. “It really was a part of their self-hatred, if you really want to get down to it.”

Many Dominicans who have shunned their African roots claim “Taíno” heritage for the indigenous people of Hispaniola that were all but wiped out when European settlers began to colonize the island. Anthropologists have used DNA evidence to prove that more than 80 percent of Dominicans have some African ancestry.

Daniels continued: “Even some Black Dominicans don’t consider themselves Black, because of this psychology. They don’t want to be associated with Haiti, they don’t want to be identified as Black.”

Fletcher said that they are right-wing elements within the Dominican Republic that are racist and xenophobic and focused on Haitians and the Haitian descendants as the source of the economic problems in the country.

“I don’t know if the majority of the Dominican population agrees with that or that right-wingers and the ultra nationalists are so loud-mouthed that they’re silencing reasonable voices,” said Estela Vazquez, an executive vice president of 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, a labor rights group.

Vazquez said that Dominicans living in the United States should be raising their voices and declaring that the Dominicans of Haitian-descent should stay in the Dominican Republic.

“Not only should we reach out to the Dominican government and say that, ‘This is wrong and the whole world is watching,’ we should also call on the Obama administration and the State Department to intervene. We should call on our ministers, our rabbis, our priests and our imams to write letters to the Dominican government and direct their congregations in a day of prayer,” for the Dominican-born Haitians suffering in the Dominican Republic.

Vazquez compared the actions taken by the Dominican government, forcing thousands of Dominican Haitians to flee their homes to Nazis rounding up German Jews and herding them into concentrations camps in the 1930s. Other human rights activists also fear that the crisis could devolve into armed conflict between the neighboring countries and even genocide of the Dominicans of Haitian-descent.

“There’s an anti-Haitian posture and attitude that permeates much of Dominican society that needs to change,” said Daniels, adding, “And if it can’t change through moral appeal, than it needs to change through our ability to exact pain,” through economic sanctions in the tourism industry.

Daniels said that the life-blood of the Dominican Republic is tourism and that’s where economic boycotts should start.

Daniels noted the success of the threat of economic boycotts in Indiana after the state promoted a “Freedom of Religion” act that many people feared would allow businesses to discriminate against gays and lesbians.

“People and companies decided to exercise a tourism boycott of that state and [Indiana state lawmakers] changed their tunes immediately,” said Daniels. “The Dominican Republic would change its tune immediately, if there were any effective challenge to its tourism or sanctions on its tourism. That message would change everything. We need to shut it down and they will change their tune.”

Fletcher said that the growing humanitarian crisis in the Dominican Republic is not a situation where people should just close their eyes or turn to the sports page.

“It’s important for steps to be taken to weaken the regime of the Dominican Republic to the point where they will never, ever consider such a horror again,” said Fletcher. “The next time an African American is thinking about taking a trip to the Dominican Republic, they should think twice. The next time that someone is considering a real estate investment in the Dominican Republic, they should think twice.”

Fletcher added: “Sitting back and simply shaking your head is unacceptable and it’s not an option.”

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Barbara Lee

Congresswoman Barbara Lee Issues Statement on Deaths of Humanitarian Aid Volunteers in Gaza 

On April 2, a day after an Israeli airstrike erroneously killed seven employees of World Central Kitchen (WCK), a humanitarian organization delivering aid in the Gaza Strip, a statement was release by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA-12). “This is a devastating and avoidable tragedy. My prayers go to the families and loved ones of the selfless members of the World Central Kitchen team whose lives were lost,” said Lee.

Published

1 week ago

April 17, 2024

Oakland Post

Congresswoman Barbara Lee

By California Black Media

“This is a devastating and avoidable tragedy. My prayers go to the families and loved ones of the selfless members of the World Central Kitchen team whose lives were lost,” said Lee.

The same day, it was confirmed by the organization that the humanitarian aid volunteers were killed in a strike carried out by Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Prior to the incident, members of the team had been travelling in two armored vehicles marked with the WCF logo and they had been coordinating their movements with the IDF. The group had successfully delivered 10 tons of humanitarian food in a deconflicted zone when its convoy was struck.

“This is not only an attack against WCK. This is an attack on humanitarian organizations showing up in the direst situations where food is being used as a weapon of war. This is unforgivable,” said Erin Gore, chief executive officer of World Central Kitchen.

The seven victims included a U.S. citizen as well as others from Australia, Poland, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Palestine.

Lee has been a vocal advocate for a ceasefire in Gaza and has supported actions by President Joe Biden to airdrop humanitarian aid in the area.

“Far too many civilians have lost their lives as a result of Benjamin Netanyahu’s reprehensible military offensive. The U.S. must join with our allies and demand an immediate, permanent ceasefire – it’s long overdue,” Lee said.

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Bay Area

Nigerian Bank Chief Killed in Helicopter Crash on Way to Superbowl XVIII

According to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Dept., the crash occurred near Nipton, on the edge of the Mojave Desert Preserve. The poor weather conditions — rain, wind and snow showers—may have contributed to the accident, although the investigation is not complete. All six aboard were killed. Herbert Wigwe, 57, founded Access Bank in 1989, and it became the country’s largest competitor, Diamond Bank in 2018.

Published

2 months ago

February 24, 2024

Oakland Post

Herbert Wigwe with his wife, Chizoba Wigwe, left, and Abimbola Ogunbanjo, right. ENigeria Newspaper image.

By Post Staff

The co-founder of one of Nigeria’s largest banks died with his wife, son and three others when the helicopter transporting them from Palm Springs, Ca., to Boulder City, Nev. to attend the fifty-eighth SuperBowl at the stadium outside Las Vegas crashed on Feb. 9.

Herbert Wigwe, 57, founded Access Bank in 1989, and it became the country’s largest competitor, Diamond Bank in 2018.

More recently, Wigwe was planning to open a banking service in Asia this year after making successful expansions to other parts of Africa, including South Africa, Kenya, and Botswana.

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu described Wigwe’s death as an ‘overwhelming tragedy.”

Oakland resident and Nigerian immigrant Kayode Gbadebo agrees with Tinubu. He met Wigwe in Nigeria but crossed paths with him in London in 2006. Wigwe, he said, “took risks.”

He was young and people thought he couldn’t do what he intended, which was not so much about money but community.

“He was more like Jesus in washing the feet of the poor– Wigwe was culturizing community,” Gbadebo said.

“There will never be another like him. This is a deep, deep loss” and he hopes everyone will eventually “be comforted.”

He was also disappointed that a replacement has already been named even before Wigwe is buried. “It is not reasonable. You don’t want a vacuum, but it’s” not fair to the family, Gbadebo observed.

Wigwe had also been working to solve the migration issues from African countries, believing that “investing in higher education was key to controlling mass migration, which “is destabilising countries across the world,” BBC News reported.

“We need to take a holistic approach to address global migration, starting with our traditional framework for international development,” Wigwe wrote.

To that end, according to BBC News, Wigwe was preparing to open Wigwe University in Niger, where he was from.

“The best place to limit migration is not in the middle of the Mediterranean or the English Channel or the Rio Grande. It is in the home countries that so many migrants are so desperate to leave,” he wrote, saying his university was an opportunity for him “to give back to society.”

Besides Wigwe and his wife, Chizoba Nwuba Wigwe, and one son, two crew members and Bimbo Ogunbanjo, former group chairman of the Nigerian Exchange Group Plc, were also killed in the crash.

According to Wikipedia, three other children survive Wigwe.

In his statement reported in People magazine, Tinubu described Wigwe as “a distinguished banker, humanitarian, and entrepreneur.”

“I pray for the peaceful repose of the departed and ask God Almighty to comfort the multitude of Nigerians who are grieving and the families of the deceased at this deeply agonizing moment,” the president said.

He added, “Their passing is an overwhelming tragedy that is shocking beyond comprehension.”

Besides feeling the tremendous loss, Gbadebo fears the disorder and greed that will follow. “It’s a mess,” he said.

People magazine, BBC News and Wikipedia were the sources for this report.

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Activism

No Valid Reason for Failing to Condemn Hamas’ Act of Terrorism

On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists crossed the Israel-Gaza border and indiscriminately slaughtered Israeli civilians in their homes. They killed nearly 300 young people at a music festival and took at least 200 hostages including 30 children. The atrocities they committed included massacres of families, abduction of the elderly and children, burning of babies and rapes of women.

Published

6 months ago

November 3, 2023

Oakland Post

iStock image.

By Joe W. Bowers Jr.

California Black Media

OPINION

On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists crossed the Israel-Gaza border and indiscriminately slaughtered Israeli civilians in their homes.

They killed nearly 300 young people at a music festival and took at least 200 hostages including 30 children. The atrocities they committed included massacres of families, abduction of the elderly and children, burning of babies and rapes of women.

The horrific surprise attack deserves universal and unequivocal condemnation. President Joe Biden called what Hamas did “an act of sheer evil” and pledged to defend the lives of Israelis and Jewish Americans.

He said, “Let there be no doubt. The United States has Israel’s back. We’ll make sure the Jewish and democratic state of Israel can defend itself today, tomorrow, as we always have.”

Hamas killed approximately 1,400 people including 32 Americans. Citizens from 40 different countries including the United Kingdom, France, Mexico, and Thailand were killed or reported missing.

Hamas fighters breached Israel’s border defenses on the final day of Sukkot while soldiers were away due to the holiday and launched attacks on 22 towns outside the Gaza Strip. This security lapse has been described as a catastrophic failure of Israel’s intelligence agencies..

Hamas is an extremist Islamist militant organization that has governed the Gaza Strip since 2007. It is recognized as an Iranian-backed terrorist group by the U.S. and the European Union and has a long history of violence against Jews and Palestinians, the latter of whom they often use as human shields.

While there have been plenty of groups who have unequivocally condemned the massacres, there are a number who haven’t, including organizations such as the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), Black Alliance for Peace, Red Nation, and independent Black Lives Matter (BLM) chapters (excluding the national Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation).

The DSA San Francisco chapter put out a statement on Oct. 9 that said, “Socialists support the Palestinian people’s, and all people’s, right to resist and fight for their own liberation. This weekend’s events are no different.”

Student organizations at a number of universities and colleges in California signed a solidarity statement titled “Resistance Uprising in Gaza” from Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). The statement attributes the violence of the Hamas attack to what it refers to as Israeli apartheid and occupation.

The SJP statement written by Bears for Palestine at UC Berkeley says, “We support the resistance, we support the liberation movement, and we indisputably support the Uprising.” Essentially, these students are indirectly associating themselves with Hamas’ barbaric acts under the guise of “resistance.”

Signing the statement were 51 student organizations including those from Stanford, UC Berkeley, UCLA, UC Davis, UC San Diego, CSU Sacramento, and USC.

A statement signed by 34 Harvard student organizations said, “We, the undersigned student organizations, hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence.”

Many university leaders, where these students are enrolled, have been guilty of failing to unequivocally condemn Hamas and for inadequately addressing their students’ expressed support for Hamas.

Several Stanford faculty members, including three Nobel laureates, condemned Stanford’s administrators’ weak response to acts of terrorism and the expression of pro-Hamas sentiments by students on campus.

Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza in 2005. It dismantled 21 Israeli settlements in the territory and handed them over to the Palestinian Authority.

The assault by Hamas on Oct. 7 was not an ordinary clash with Israel. Hamas’ actions resulted in the deadliest single day for Jews since the Holocaust.

While there are valid reasons for protesting Israel’s treatment of Palestinians and a real reckoning with the Israeli government on its policies is long overdue, nothing justifies Hamas’ attack.

Israelis who were killed largely had nothing to do with the conditions of Palestinians in Gaza. Some of the victims weren’t even Israeli — they were just tourists.

The students blaming Israel for the atrocities committed by Hamas have faced criticism. Some groups have withdrawn their endorsements because of the backlash aimed at them. Others have doubled down on their activism. SJP held a “National Day of Resistance” on several campuses.

Several CEOs have asked Harvard to disclose a list of members from the organizations assigning responsibility to Israel to insure they do not hire any of their members. A Berkeley law professor has also urged firms not to hire his students who have publicly blamed Israel for the war.

This California Black Media report was supported in whole or in part by funding provided by the State of California, administered by the California State Library.