a question about dominican heritage

[ohomem_t]

Hi,
I was just wondering about something. My family is Dominican, and both my
parents' ancestors came from Spain and intermarried in the D.R. The only problem is that my parents don't know what generation of ancestors came to the D.R., so it could be rather distant. My question is, if my family and relatives come from the D.R., thus making the Dominicans my people, can the Spanish also be considered my people if my ancestry to that country is so distant?

Tony

[PICHARDO]

By virtue of heritage, both Spain and DR can be said to be "your" people.
The rule of thumb would be that once the third generation is achieve at some stage in a new country, then that would entail the children to become identified more with that late country as their people than the first or second generation ever could or will...

Yes and yes to both your questions...

[contasm]

Originally Posted by ohomem_t

Hi,
I was just wondering about something. My family is Dominican, and both my
parents' ancestors came from Spain and intermarried in the D.R. The only problem is that my parents don't know what generation of ancestors came to the D.R., so it could be rather distant. My question is, if my family and relatives come from the D.R., thus making the Dominicans my people, can the Spanish also be considered my people if my ancestry to that country is so distant?

Tony

And let’s not forget to also consider your African ancestry as part of your Dominican heritage..

[Mr. Lu]

The question is worded rather oddly, but the gist of it is the extent of your heritage, correct? The honest truth would be that you, just like many Dominicans, are made up of so many things that, unless you have specific documentation, would be difficult to trace.

On one side you have your Spanish ancestors and god knows what that ancestral composition is like. Now we move on the Dominican side and this can be made up of so many cultures/ethnic groups. Depending on when the inter marriage happened there could be mixes of African/Haitian, Jewish, Chinese, Arab (Lebanese), other European, West Indian and X amount of other cultural/ethnic groups. It's interesting to know the "inter-mixing" that's happened in the DR and how immigration has played a big part in the cultural development of this nation.

So if you can provide some more details then you can start pin pointing some more details about your heritage.

Mr. Lu

[bob saunders]

Originally Posted by contasm

And let’s not forget to also consider your African ancestry as part of your Dominican heritage..

you are assuming that every Dominican has African Heritage; most do, but not all.

[contasm]

Originally Posted by bob saunders

you are assuming that every Dominican has African Heritage; most do, but not all.

I am assuming that TONY, not every Dominican, has African Heritage, given his comments regarding his Spaniard ancestor intermarrying in the D.R. x number of generations ago.
Bob, I agree with you; most do, but not all.

[PICHARDO]

The DR a true melting pot! Ahhhhhhh!!!

[Mr. Lu]

Originally Posted by bob saunders

you are assuming that every Dominican has African Heritage; most do, but not all.

I would agree that in the physical sense not all Dominicans have African heritage. Some Dominicans are a mix of a variety of things and if their families haven't inter-married the African heritage, in that physical sense, is non existent. But it would be difficult to imagine a Dominican family that has been here for more than three generations, and inter-married on the island, not having the physical African heritage (i.e blood). It is possible and I could think of some cases where this would happen.

I would also point to heritage, not just in its physical form, but also in the sense of tradition and culture and in that way you could make the argument that every Dominican has some vestige of African heritage. I would point to the music, the dance, the foods, religions, the oral traditions, family make ups, etc. Though there are many other cultural points to draw upon African heritage is very present, directly and indirectly, in the lives of ALL Dominicans.

The questions is whether Dominicans recognize this, understand it and accept it. Even in the way many Dominicans look and how they interact can be a reflection of the African cultural diaspora. At the end of the day you could argue that in an indirect way even expats and migrant groups have come to embody African heritage.

To sum it all up, in a physical/biological way, not all Dominicans might have African heritage, but in a cultural/traditional, way they do.


Mr. Lu

[Chip]

While it's a good thing to know one's heritage, I personally am weary of people claiming a people as "their" people - we are one people, the human race.

Some of you may think that is an innocuous term, but then again, some of you didn't have the opportunity to grow up in the deep south of the US and hear how this term is used. The bottom line this so called love of "one's people" has what has sustained racism over the centuries - it is a simple fact of history and can easily be verified that those societies that historically have used terms such as these have been the most racist and have committed the the most heinous racially motivated crimes, etc.(Germany, Japa, Bosnia, etc, etc, ad nauseum)

Why can't people think out of the box for once and why do people have such a hard time recognizing this?

[Mr. Lu]

Originally Posted by Chip

While it's a good thing to know one's heritage, I personally am weary of people claiming a people as "their" people - we are one people, the human race.

Some of you may think that is an innocuous term, but then again, some of you didn't have the opportunity to grow up in the deep south of the US and hear how this term is used. The bottom line this so called love of "one's people" has what has sustained racism over the centuries - it is a simple fact of history and can easily be verified that those societies that historically have used terms such as these have been the most racist and have committed the the most heinous racially motivated crimes, etc.(Germany, Japa, Bosnia, etc, etc, ad nauseum)

Why can't people think out of the box for once and why do people have such a hard time recognizing this?

I agree with that. In my first response I made a reference to the fact that the OP's comment was worded rather oddly. That whole "my people" thing always gets to me. As if the person saying it was the "messiah." Thanks for pointing this out. By the way, where is the OP? Haven't heard a peep from him yet.