Black in latin america - Essay Example

Black in Latin America: Haiti and the Dominican Republic The documentary, Black in Latin America, kicked off in 2011 with the first episode being the exploration of the black race in two neighbouring countries, Haiti and Dominica. The two countries are in the island of Hispaniola but despite their common history before the division that took place in the late 18th century their perceptions of the black race is different.The Haitians and the Dominicans have largely conflicting attitudes of their common African ancestry.

Of the two nations, Haitians have a larger expression of African heritage from their complexion and culture than the Dominicans. The Haitians, on one side openly acknowledges their African heritage and respects it. This respect has led to their openly defending their being related to the Africans, a defence they have paid an agonizing price for. The Dominicans, on the other hand, is a multiracial society that tries to identify with the whites. They shun their African heritage and roots and openly embrace European identities mainly Hispanic.

Being a multiracial, the Dominicans have always tried to push the African heritage to the background in the name of national identity. This has its origin in 1844 when the country became free from the Haitians, at this time, and anything associated with Haiti especially creole, statues and the African pride was considered low and inferior. It is also notable from the movie that there has emerged a new group in Dominica still identifying itself with their black ancestors. The situation in Haiti is exactly the opposite.

They embrace their African heritage to the extent that even their heroes’ statues are almost all black. The music and arts in Haiti and even the culture and language have deep African roots, and the people are proud of their heritage. I terms of religion, the Haitians have besides the Roman Catholic, the voodoo, a religion that combines both catholic and African influences. Although in the same island, the two countries are depicted in the movie as having differing attitudes towards their common African heritage.

Work citedBlack in Latin America. Episode-1 (2011) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RlG4b3LV9o