It's the same thing, seen from 2 different historical view points:
Here in America historically, if you have ANY Black blood you are considered Black. This fact has been overstated in about every post about race on this site that I've seen so far. Thus, when a black American sees a person who shows undeniable signs of an African presence in his/her gene pool, they will probably come to the conclusion that he is black.
Keep in mind, that these definitions were not created by Blacks but by Whites, To keep Those with Black Blood separate. Yet blacks have kept them in place to a certain degree. Because of this those of African parentage and Partial Africans have traditionally rallied behind that in which we have been rejected for... Being black. Now because of the overall racial experiences of many African Americans for a man or woman who is obviously or mostly in some part black, to utterly deny that heritage could be a clear sign of deep self hatred (or even mental illness, depending the said individuals phenotype).
Now here's my Observation: 1) Some Blacks are trying to
IMPOSE a black identity on Dominicans while not understanding the history of where they come from (Hispanola), and what it means to be Black there. 2) Dominicans (And many Latinos in general) definitely do not understand who is consider black In the U.S. ,who Blacks are AND what the have Accomplished here, and are bringing there views(negative) of Blacks from Latin America and picking up some of the racist attitudes of whites here in the U.S.. 3) However, many Dominicans and other Latinos, are being consider black here in the U.S. because of this, AND trend/quagmire many are taking the initiative to learn more about what some called there "Negritude." Others, Just share neighborhoods, schools, etc., with Blacks and just base there opinions and feelings about their own blackness (or lack thereof) on what they witness and their own personal experience with blacks. If these individual Dominicans who look similar to blacks develop Relationships with Blacks, sometimes they will consider themselves to be Black also.
These articles, deal the realities of Black and White in US verses the Latin world.The first Article is especially Poignant.
Best of Friends, Worlds Apart
http://www.nytimes.com/library/natio...jito-cuba.html
This one is about how the police see "Blacks" and "Dominicans" in NYC.
http://www.nytimes.com/library/natio...nerip-cops.htm