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What is it about Haiti and the Dominican Republic?

The other day I was talking to a business woman in Port-au-Prince Haiti, she told me she cannot stand DR. I ask her: "Have you ever been there?" She replies: "Nope! And I do not plan to visit!"

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Roads in The Dominican Republic - Samana

Many times, we say that Haitians and Dominicans do not get along but let's dig a little deeper... I think there is something buried deep inside each and everyone of us Haitians that creates a silent prejudice against the other side...

If you are Haitian, chances are you don't like the Dominican Republic (the country) and you don't know why...

I am about to use myself as the guinea pig here... I am about to tell you about a deep prejudice that I have against the Dominican Republic, the country and not its people, and I cannot understand where it is coming from.

I have trouble comparing my country, Haiti, to the Dominican Republic... There I admit it...

I have trouble admitting to you that while we have been busy burning tires in the our streets they have been busy building theirs.

I have trouble admitting to you that some of the small cities in the Dominican Republic look better then our capital.

I really have trouble admitting to you that all the main roads in the Dominican Republic are paved all the way to the edge of the Haiti-Dominican border... That they have subways... Not the restaurant subway... underground train stations subways... That you can litteraly walk across the Dominican border and find an automated cash machine (ATM), while in my hometown in Hinche the Capital of Haiti's Plateau Centrale, you have to stand in line at a bank for two hours just to get 50 gourdes out of your bank account.

But guess what...

I have absolutely NO problem telling you that there are MORE crimes in the Dominican Republic than in Haiti, that children get mugged in some Barios (neighborhood) walking from school, and that many colmados (grocery store) in the barios get robbed at gunpoint.

I have NO problem telling you that if you ever get stopped by "La Policia" you better have some pesos in your pocket because they are not shy about asking you for it...

Why is it so easy for me to tell you about the negative part of the Dominican Republic?

Why is it so dificult for me to admit that somwhere along the way... "Yo double nou sou wout"???

Many Haitians tend to have a negative feeling towards the Dominican Republic but most who do have never been there.

I've been there, I've lived there. I guess I'm having touble acceptiing some facts I now know... I can't even say it... I can't even admit it... "Lang mwen lou..."

"Je wè boush pe..." as they say in Haitian Creole! I know it's wrong but I never said I was perfect.

Question: What is your feeling about The Dominican Republic? Have you ever been there?

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All Comments (13)

Ricart says...

Don't go to the Dominican Republic then. Go to Switzerland, Norway, or Sweden instead.

I'm sure they are less racist than

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Baba says...

You folks must be kidding we Haitian never respected each other not alone love our country and you talking about human rights?

pls retire pay la nan jie nou dabo avan nou di jie voizin an

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Lazarre Haspyl says...

Please, JACQUES L. do not say that again.They never occupied us. Someone who accepts to eat whatever is fat and never hungry.

And when a person opens his/her door to whatever and permits everything he/she could grow up but under control.

At the end the native people will have to suffer.

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Alix P On Facebook says...

To get a sense of how DR people abhor Haitians.

Remember presidential candidate, Jose Francisco Pena Gomez was "accused" of having a Haitian lineage.

He spent much time and money fighting that off. I guess being called a Haitian is the worst "insult" in the

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Rey says...

I believe you can find the same coming from many Dominicans, whom don't like Haitians and have never been to Haiti at all.

I think the hate resides in how our two countries went about becoming what the are today.

It mimics real life marriages and relationships, which when gone sour and separate their own ways, tend to become hostile and hateful of the other side.

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Paul says...

Woodring...

I am sorry to inform you that the Dominican Republic is the most racist country in the Caribbean.

Even Black Dominicans suffer from it there.

If you are a dark, black, Haitian in the Dominican Republic...

good luck with

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Patrick says...

Brother I'm living there, brother every Haitian who talking bad to Rep Dom, se gro ke yo genyen-l.

We have to stop burning tires, killing, robbing, and kidnapping, and start to built our country.

And I have to tell you bro, Rep Dom help us so much...

no way to hate and to talk bad about it.

that my thought to your

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Jacques L says...

The history between DR and Haiti is deep: We occupied them, they occupied us, They didn't want to join us in the revolution, the massacre on the border (Trujillo), etc...

But in the end, we do need to get past that.

I was there last year and my sister has lived there for 13 years without problems.

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Wilkenson Pierre-louis says...

I've been living in France for more than 30 years since I left Haiti at the age of 10 and I've never been to DR. The main reason why I don't like Dominicans is because of the way they treat our people and have always done.

I admire them for what they've done with their part of the Quiskeya but from an historic point of view, they've been very rude with us. Massacres, exploitation of our people, etc...

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Joseph Gourgue says...

There is a long history between the DR/HAITI.

We must not forget that Haiti ruled the DR for more than two decades.

Second, the DR under Thug President Trujillo with the Parsely Massacre, they killed over 20,000 Haitians who were living around the DR border.

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