The question of skin colour and race is particularly vexed in the Dominican Republic, which is just as well, as it has sustained the academic careers of a few friends of mine. I won’t pretend to explain the complex details of this vexation, firstly because it would take an extremely long time to do it, and secondly because I don’t really understand it. Suffice to say there are a number of curious observations that I have made, that generally worry me.

Of course, a large part, but not all, of Dominican national identity is the denial of the African/Haitian influence in favour of a European history, and this extends into ideas of race. Put simply, people would rather be rubio (literally blonde, but used to refer to anyone with pale skin) than prieto (dark). The reality of how Dominicans see race is far more complex, but this is a necessary simplification. The exact genetic cocktail mix is to take roughly equal parts Spanish ancestry and African ancestry (sourced directly from Spanish slave camps in west Africa or indirectly through Haitian invasions in the 19^th century), add a splash of indigenous influence. Make this a small dash, as although undoubtedly there, it is almost always greatly over-exaggerated. Strain loosely, garnish with a complex racial politics to retain the bitter taste.

Although the country is mainly in shades of brown, with many poetic descriptions ranging from azucar morena (brown sugar) to indio (Indian), by way of canela (cinnamon), the advertising and television is full of rubios. It is easy to spot if a programme or advertisement has been made in the US or the Dominican Republic, as the US productions are keen to show a veritable rainbow, to try and attract all the census categories, yet the Dominicans show light skinned, blue eyed people, as these are the idealised stereotypes that people are expected to aim for, yet represent a tiny fraction of the population. This is something that the two twentieth century strongmen made most of: the dictator Trujillo stirred up anti-black (i.e. Haitian) sentiment to consolidate the country and his power, whilst using the skin whitening creams that are still widely available, whilst Balaguer wrote a rabid diatribe denouncing the pernicious Haitian (i.e. Black) influence on the DR. Given the beauty of the descriptions that people give to the various shades of brown, let alone the beauty of the skin itself, this is something that really angers me.

Secondly, political correctness is decidedly absent in Dominican society. Everyone here is known by their nickname, and this often relates to their physical appearance. With the exception of my friend Orejas (ears), it is the skin colour that is the basis for this. One good friend is particularly dark, so he is known as Morenito (little brown man), whilst his taller cousin alternates between Moreno (brown man) and Prieto (darkie). Sometimes they are jokingly referred to as Haitiano. It is absolutely the norm here to call out to someone using their skin colour as an identifier. Coming from a multi-cultural society where we are busy trying to forget that skin colour exists, this came as a complete culture shock. I am now desensitised to people calling out “Rubio” (blonde) in the cities, in an attempt to attract my attention and sell me something. I also get called Americano¸ as people assume that all blondes are foreigners, and therefore American. This geographical ignorance is not surprising, given the lack of travel people here undertake, the hegemonic influence of the US, and the shocking state of the education system. The mentality here is that there exists their little island (with the cousins living in the western bit, which we don’t like to talk about), with another island somewhere colder, which is called New York, and there is everywhere else, which is broadly homogenous and uninteresting. I did try to explain the fact that I was Scottish, which is not English, and certainly not American, but I don’t think Dominicans understand the complexities of events of July 4^th 1776, let alone the west Lothian question. Some of them have clicked that I get annoyed at being called Americano¸ so they delight in doing so at every opportunity.

Another interesting observation is that the mountain villages where I live buck the usual trend. The richer Dominicans are, the whiter they are. My birthday party, or rather the one with all the rich people that I gate-crashed, was rather pale. This is because these rich families are exactly the same rich families that came over from Spain centuries ago, and who have refused to share their money or their genes with the rest of the population. However, the mountain villages are very different, particularly in the more remote places where the gene pool is more of a puddle. There they are full of blue eyed, blonde citizens, who look far more like a Gringo than I do. Of course, given the above point, these are normally nicknamed Rubio, Americano, Gringito etc. They counter every assumption that is given about the Dominican Republic and race, as they are white, poor, rural, powerless yet as Dominican as they come. I am not sure exactly why these mountain populations are so white, but genetic isolation is certainly what has kept them that way. I suppose it is just one of those fascinating things that show up in a society if you stare hard enough at it.