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Justicia Global is hosting forums on the relationship between the the people of Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
The first was held on January 25 at the plaza of the National Pantheon in Santo Domingo and dealt with our island's history. The second, on January 27, was called "Cuando la discriminación es la ley" ["When discrimination is made law"]. Participants learned about the roots of racism in the Dominican Republic from an anthropological perspective.
A continuation of this discussion will take place February 2, focusing on the unconstitutional nature of the new article recently passed in Dominican migration law.
On January 25 we celebrated the eve of the 193rd anniversary of the birth of Juan Pablo Duarte, the founder of the Dominican independence movement. Justicia Global initiated the celebration of the Month of the Homeland -- we say, our homeland is all of humanity -- with a series of reflections on history and current events regarding:
- The manipulation of information by the Dominican media regarding Dominican-Haitian conflict;
- The unification of the island by the Haitian administration of Boyer (1822-1844);
- Duarte's political ideals and principles regarding the right to self-determination, sovereignty, and justice;
- The war of restoration that took place here from 1863-1865, making the Dominican Republic free of Spanish colonial rule;
- The current Dominican-Haitian conflict in the context of a larger "culture of domination."
"Cuando la Discriminación es la ley" ["When discrimination is made law"] is the tenth gathering of Analysis of Current Events hosted by Justicia Global. The title refers to the modification of the Dominican migration law that strips the right of Dominican nationality from children of undocumented foreigners, even if the children are born on Dominican soil. This law most severely affects Haitian children in the DR and contradicts the Dominican constitution as well as the universal declaration of human rights.
Desireé del Rosario and Fátima Portorreal
will speak on this issue from the legal and anthropological angles,
respectively.
In these times of xenophobia and racism on the part of Dominicans toward Haitians, Justicia Global sees the necessity of educating ourselves about the situation happening in our country. Daily, racist acts and hate crimes are committed against Haitians with little response from the law.
Our media and Supreme Court present these acts as a "natural consequence" of the "Haitian problem" -- as if Haitians deserved to be discriminated against, and even beaten and killed, for being born Haitian.
Now that we're gaining a more solid educational base regarding historical and current events, we can critically analyze the lies being spread in our country about the Haitian situation. Recognizing and fighting our own tendancies to be xenophobic and racist, we can ally ourselves with our Haitian sisters and brothers and celebrate the Month of the Homeland as José Martí imagined it: with our homeland made up of all of humanity.
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