Black in Latin America (2011) User Reviews

Henry Louis Gates travels to six countries in search of the black culture, as he learns and displays the roots of each heritage.

[sbahen4 · 10/10 · 26 October 2014]

For many, learning about our heritage is a blessing, but for others it comes in the form of an insult. Now in days if you call someone a different ethnicity other than what they truly are they might take offense to it. But in the Documentary "Black in Latin America" by Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr, the overall argument is whether or not you are black not only by your skin tone but also by identifying your heritage. Other arguments that Gates focused on was slavery and racism. Henry Gates traveled to six different countries in search of the black culture within these countries. When people mention African American it's always rooted back to Africa and the U.S. but many are ignorant to the black history, including all the countries that make up the Caribbean and South America. Haiti and the Dominican Republic both share the same island of Hispaniola; the difference is within the origins of their heritage. Dominicans speak Spanish, whereas Haitians speak Creole. The Dominican Republic embraced its European heritage; the Dominican Republic is a rainbow of blacks, browns, and tans but they all would be considered black in the U.S. they would argue that they are Indio and that the mother land for them is Spain. The people there are proud to be a part of a mix race society and are especially proud of their heritage. The Dominican heritage dates back to 15th century when Bartholomew Columbus founded Santo Domingo in 1497. The city was the first seed of the Spanish colonial rule in all of the Americas. Santo Domingo is the oldest European city in the new Americas, the first to import African slaves. Hundreds of African slaves worked in the very first sugar plantation in Negus, but the Santo Domingo sugar industry did not last. Eventually the center of sugar production shifted to Brazil. To survive the colonist had to shift to cattle ranching, this is when the racial identity of the Dominicans began to evolve. Cattle ranching soon became the dominant occupation, slaves had to become ranchers, which resulted in very little difference between the master and slave, both would ride horses and both wore machetes. Slavery from a plantation society and slavery on a cattle ranching society were less antagonistic (Pons 2011). Many of us know about the hatred Dominicans and Haitians share for one another, but not all know why, it all started with Rafael Trujillo's anti-Haitians. Trujillo turned on the Haitian migrants, claiming they were encroaching on the so-called purity of the Dominican motherhood. In Oct. 1937, he issued an order for his troops to kill all the Haitians in the northwest part of the country. His victims included Haitian migrants, Dominicans of Haitian descent, and Dominican-Haitian families. Approximate 15,000 Haitians lay dead in the aptly named Massacre River (Gates 2011). As for the country of Haiti, their heritage originates back to the French very first settlement in Cap-Haïtien; the French took advantage of the weakness of the Spanish in Santo Domingo and found their own colony in the west. The island was formally divided in 1697; Cap-Haïtien became the commercial hub for the French side. It also became the main port of entry for the growing trade in African slaves. A staggering 774,000 slaves were imported during the slave trade, 300,000 more than the entire U.S. Sugar made Haiti the richest colony in the Entire New World, "it was the jewel in France's crown" (Gate 2011). "The Dominican Elite simply rejected almost completely, the African component of the culture. The Haitians and specifically the Haitian Elite accepted the African origins to the point where our African origins are part of the national culture" (Alexandre 2011). The pride they have for their forefathers and heritage is what characterized the Haitian Nation as a nation. Even when people say "come on, your poor", they know that they are rich in their own ways. "We are rich spiritually" (Beauvoir 2011). Most Haitians officially are Roman Catholics, but in the village of Trou-Du-Nord, the African-based faith Vodou is what most practice. Vodou gave the slaves solace, comfort, strength, organization, and leadership qualities that helped the Haitian people realize their greatest achievement. It had only took the slave to win their freedom, forcing the French to abolish slavery, but not without a cause. During 1825-1947, Haiti paid France more than $1 billion, bankrupting its treasury; one form of slavery replaced another. The Dominican Republic and Haiti both shared the similarity of despotic ruler, for Haiti François "Papa Doc" Duvalier stole millions in foreign aid, while his militia oversaw a reign of terror. American government backed him, just as they did to General Trujillo, because he was a loyal ally against communism. Mexico and the Dominican Republic share the similarity of not being black, not in heritage but by color, Mexicans consider themselves Moreno. Mexican displays their African heritage in the dance of Fandango and the settlement of Yanga, being the very first town founded by a free black people. Peru and Brazil also have a connection with both having similar inhabitants, Afro-Peruvians and Afro-Brazilians. Today 7.5 million people of African descent live in Brazil and the city of Lima, Peru was considered a black city because it was 30-40% black. One of the interviews that really caught my attention was that of Professor Walamyra Alboquerque, she stated that the biggest problem in Brazil had to deal with the population of color. Many believed for Brazil to become a civilized country, it had to have a process of whitening, which leads to the government investing in European immigration to the country. This indicates how the government felt overwhelmed because they were becoming the minority. This also displays racism, because they did not want the colored people to over populate them.