Dominicano soy: A Comparative Study of Ethno-Racial Identity Transformation and Resistance among Dominicans in the United States and the Dominican Republic

Abstract

The history of the Dominican Republic and the United States create distinct racial structures that are continuously evolving as a reflection of the identities of their respective inhabitants. For the majority of Dominicans, identifying as Dominican is a sufficient all encompassing identity. For others a number of factors have contributed to the development of new transnational identities that encapsulate the ethnolinguistic and racial components of Dominican identities in the United States and the Dominican Republic. Native Dominicans and first generation Dominicans predominantly1 in New York City and Santo Domingo, have transcended the color blindness of an ethnolinguistic identity through awareness of their place in the black/white racial dichotomy of categorization in the U.S. This new racial identity suggests a growing influence and acceptance of black/white racialization on younger generations of Dominicans in the U.S and the D.R.