The Face of Neocolonialism
Tony Savino | Dominican Republic
Photographer: Tony Savino
Exhibit Title: The Face of Neocolonialism
Location: Dominican Republic
For decades, Haitians have settled in the Dominican Republic to work in sugarcane fields and banana plantations and, more recently, in the booming construction sector. The Dominican government used to grant citizenship to all children born in the country, known as jus soli citizenship, with the exception of children born to diplomats and foreigners "in transit."
In 2004, a new Migration Law aimed at Dominicans of Haitian descent, expanded the category of “foreigners in transit” to include non-residents.
In 2005, the Dominican Republic was condemned by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights for denying birth certificates to two Dominican girls of Haitian descent, in violation of its Constitution.
In 2007, The Dominican Central Electoral Council officially instructed its employees to deny citizenship documents to all children born to “illegal” immigrants. In 2010, a constitutional reform eliminated birthright citizenship.
In 2013 Dominican Constitutional Court retroactively denied Dominican nationality to anyone born after 1929 who does not have at least one parent of Dominican blood.
• 210,000 people of Haitian descent are affected
Neocolonialism, Superexploitation, Denationalization and the effects of a Colonized Mindset.
Caneros working in the hot sun, 12-hour days, US $4-5 per day.
Poverty is violence. It’s a cruel and slow death sentence.
With each click of the camera’s shutter I curse the rot of humanity that perpetuates a system where hunger is a constant and tomorrow just another day to endure.
A plastic bag on a kite string, a plastic bottle for a soccer ball, a broken doll with European features. These things are the sole posessions of these children, who have no access to organized sports, culture and even basic education.
The Dominican Republic is a complex place. It is overly simple to paint "the country" as "racist," to compare it to the codified structures of South African apartheid, or for privileged voices abroad to call for an economic boycott without the consent of those who are struggling for change on the ground. It is a country with a Black population in denial of it's heritage. With an extremely low level of education. With a huge diaspora. With a legacy of interference from it's northern neighbor. With foreign companies who super-exploit workers, not only in the older manifestations of sugar and rice production, but also in the modern modes like tourism, clothing manufacturing and call centers. Some seventy percent of workers are in the "informal economy," selling pirated CDs to tourists or used clothing imported from Haiti. It is a society that benefits from and is intertwined with Haitian nationals and their descendents. Like recent immigrant groups in the United States, Haitians do many of the jobs others don't want to. Yet, in the poorest barrios of Santo Domingo to the bateyes of Barahona, Dominicans and Haitians intermarry. It is the most reactionary elements of Dominican society that forster anti-Haitianism. Many have secured key places in government. And when the contradictions of neocolonial servitude begin to bubble up to the surface, the elite pull out their trump card (no pun intended), blame it on the Haitians.
Black Lives Matter in the Dominican Republic
Dominicans Love Haitians Movement
The Latino Ministry at Riverside Church
Tony Savino
TonySavinoPhotography@gmail.com
646.334.2613
Make Comment/View Comments
