Denying your Dominican Heritage

[deelt]

I was at dinner a few nights ago. Something interesting happend. There I met a young man working at a international financial institution. If you are into that status thing, he was doing pretty good for himself. He is new in town and in talking to him he presented himself to me as Peruvian.

In conversation with him and my friend he discovered that I was Dominican (while I look Dominicans to those in the "know" for those who don't know I can be confused as Hindu at a first glance and these folks often can't nail my NY-DR accent so I hear ignorant comments like those you see in the Los Angeles thread). Upon this discovery, he also revealed that he was half Dominican as well. What was funny to me was that he had actually presented himself as a Lebanese-Peruvian to my friend when he had arrived to the US. My friend is Asian from NYC, hence she has been raised around Dominicans all her life in NYC. I let it slide since it was clearly his own internal issues. But I just found it sad yet funny that his arse just got BUSTED.

The even more pathetic thing is that this is not the only time I have seen evidence of this. I've seen it with those who are clearly of color and even more so those who can afford to "pass" but are in fact Spaniard-Dominicans and French-Dominican, etc. This is especially the case for those who have lived the majority of their lives abroad and tend to socialize in often caucasian circles. Ironically, I have also seen this in Black-Dominicans but they do it for different reasons (e.g. excommunication or abandonement by the dominican side of the family for marrying a black/african-american).

Thus, my conclusion is that these people are ashamed of their Dominican heritage since they continuously downplay or outright deny what they are...
Have any folks here have had that experience? Or have you ever denied your heritage? If so, why?

Just curious...

[concon_quemao]

[QUOTE=deelt] Ironically, I have also seen this in Black-Dominicans but they do it for different reasons (e.g. excommunication or abandonement by the dominican side of the family for marrying a black/african-american).[QUOTE]

you also have to add how dominicans act towards one another. i am from RI where there is a large dominican population, but a new DC transplant. many of the dominicans i know here are passing as black, until you basically find out that they are dominican. here is my opinion. growing up, and even being here i notice that, if you do not speak spanish that well and were born and raised in the US and do not share the same customs, you are considered an outcast from your community. there is a lot of abandonement from the dominican community as well. well that sis my opinion.

[Chirimoya]

I've seen people of other nationalities do this, after experiencing negative reactions based on their nationality, or good old fashioned paranoia. I once met an Israeli guy trying to pass as a Spaniard in the UK, but the fact he spoke no Spanish kind of gave the game away.

[Marianopolita]

My Dearest Deelt,

Denial of race or nationality in scenarios that you described is due to a direct association with negative stereotypes that exist in society towards a particular group of people. Personal experiences also dictate why someone would willingly attempt to deny their ethnicity. No immediate cases in my world come to mind but this happens everywhere especially in multicultural societies in which a specific ethnic group may already have a negative stereotype associated with them.

You also have to keep in mind the personal experiences of this individual that you met and maybe in the past he did not disassociate himself but due to a personal experience with Dominicans or other nationalities has forced him to not recognize that side of his heritage. I agree with you that it's sad but until you get underneath that person's skin you will not know why or what happened. As well, in some cases it's just sheer ignorance which I have seen also. It could be that in this person's mind he would be better accepted in his social circles as a Peruvian rather than a Dominican.


LDG.

[deelt]

Hey Lesley
Yes, you are probably right. This guy still has some family in DR but his immediate family went into exile in Peru b/c of the Trujillo regime/dictatorship.
But to me it was a mixture of things.
D

Originally Posted by Lesley D

You also have to keep in mind the personal experiences of this individual that you met and maybe in the past he did not disassociate himself but due to a personal experience with Dominicans or other nationalities has forced him to not recognize that side of his heritage. I agree with you that it's sad but until you get underneath that person's skin you will not know why or what happened. As well, in some cases it's just sheer ignorance which I have seen also. It could be that in this person's mind he would be better accepted in his social circles as a Peruvian rather than a Dominican.

LDG.

[mondongo]

but i am constantly tempted to deny my hertiage. life would be easier. i probably would get contractors to actually show up...

[deelt]

In that case I'm gonna tell my children to call themselves Brazilian or something like that...

Seriously though...No, I think "acting American" helps getting people out of that...sadly, sometimes even hiring a white face as an interface works nicely too. It's using the latino complejo against them. LOL

Originally Posted by mondongo

but i am constantly tempted to deny my hertiage. life would be easier. i probably would get contractors to actually show up...

[concon_quemao]

Originally Posted by deelt

Seriously though...No, I think "acting American" helps getting people out of that...sadly, sometimes even hiring a white face as an interface works nicely too. It's using the latino complejo against them. LOL

another sad but true.............being dominican can also be a safe guard in this business world.. when you first walk in for an interview, they see a black face, but then they look at the resume (fluency in spanish) and another glance at your last name and think "well at least she's not black.. lets bring her aboard.. yippeeeeeeeeee"


That was so unPC, but hey, its a forum.. discuss.

[Stodgord]

Originally Posted by deelt

Hey Lesley
Yes, you are probably right. This guy still has some family in DR but his immediate family went into exile in Peru b/c of the Trujillo regime/dictatorship.
But to me it was a mixture of things.
D

Well,

I think it depends, I think people try to forget the negative part of their existence. For instance, Susy Castillo the ex-Miss America, half Puerto Rican and Half Dominican. From her interviews I get the feeling that she leans more to the Puerto Rican side because her Dominican father was not in her life. He actually abandoned her and was an a-hole to her mother. I speculate that she says she is half and half to not be called out in public.

[Tordok]

Hi Deelt,
About your specific anecdote: You've stated that he is half one thing and half another, so that his omission of the Dominican side may have been an effort to "keep things simple" or that indeed his Dominican side is of Lebanese origin he thought it would be more recognizable. Once he realized that you too had Dominican in you, he readily disclosed his Dominican side. He could've kept it secret even after that. This guy could've also assumed that he was being identified as "Latino" anyway and that Peru is more recognizable than DR, again to keep it simple. But lastly, he could indeed have been 'un acomplejao' about his identity and chose to deny his undervalued sense of Dominican origins.

In general:
I have witnessed many Latinos in the U.S. hiding their origins. Their loss, as far as I am concerned.

In my particular case:
In the US, my accent gives me away as "alien" right away; thus most people then follow with a "where are you from?". The truth is that I always answer "Dominican Republic" because I was born there and the epicenter of my family web is there. Many people -some, Dominican themselves and depending on what their concept of Dominican is- will try to tell me that I am not Dominican and that I must be something else. If they are genuinely confused, then I might explain further as to why my name, speech, and looks are not typically Dominican. If I detect that they are maliciously ignorant and think little of the DR or Dominicans then I will let them know that I think that they are idiots. Sometimes that may be done by telling them absurd lies about my identity such as me actually being from the Australian branch of the Draculas or that I am a defrocked Italian priest with a dark past and unpredictable violent outbursts right after meeting strangers with poor geographic knowledge. You know, BS can only be treated with BS.

- Tordok