By the mid to late 1600s there were so few people here that Spain had to import folks from the Canary Islands in order to maintain their possession of the eastern side of the island.
There was never a really sizable black population at any time until the Haitian Occupation (1822-1844) although before that there were several years of attempted takeovers by L'Ouverture with the accompanying black troops.
Of course there was intercourse between the whites, mulattoes, mestizos and blacks, its only normal.
Most Dominicans will admit to Haitian influence, but very few will find anything attractive about being African. That is just a fact of life here.
In fact recent studies seem to indicate that there is a good deal of Taino Indian blood still coursing through Dominican veins...the study is ongoing--currently stalled--
As for the bones--officially, yes they are there...
As for their self-descriptions, look up Nancy Gonzalez' work on the DR. She found hundreds of descriptive adjectives used to characterize people. Some of them still in use, others no longer used...
People think about themselves as they wish, I do not try and make them think like the "should" , why?
Even in the US black community there are important class distinctions based on color, as any black knows BTW.... If you think not, go visit Spelman in Atlanta....
HB
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