Divided island: How Haiti and the DR became two worlds

Summary

This video script explores the stark contrast between Haiti and the Dominican Republic, two nations sharing the island of Hispaniola. It delves into the historical roots of their disparities, from colonial exploitation by France and Spain to the present-day effects of racism and policy. The narrative follows the journey of Haitian merchants and the challenges they face at the border, highlighting the ongoing impact of past injustices and current discriminatory practices.

Takeaways

• 🌍 The border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic (DR) represents a stark divide in living conditions, with Haitians facing significantly higher infant mortality rates, poverty, and shorter life expectancies compared to their Dominican neighbors.
• 🛶 Haitian merchants, predominantly women, undertake a challenging boat journey to reach the Dominican market for informal trade, highlighting the difficulties of land travel due to geographical barriers.
• 🌅 The border market was established to provide equal opportunities for vendors from both nations, but in practice, Haitians face discrimination and delays, allowing Dominicans to secure better market spots.
• 🏛 Historically, the island was split between French and Spanish colonial powers, with the French exploiting resources and people, leading to a legacy of resentment and a lack of sustainable development.
• 📜 The Haitian Revolution resulted in the world's first black republic, but it was born with severe disadvantages, including land degradation, international isolation, and a crippling debt imposed by France.
• 🏛️ The Spanish approach to colonization was less exploitative, leading to a more racially mixed and integrated society in what is now the Dominican Republic, with a more sustainable economy and political system.
• 📉 Post-independence, Haiti has struggled with a legacy of corruption and poor governance, exacerbated by external factors such as embargoes and a history of predatory international policies.
• 📊 Recent changes in Dominican immigration policy have targeted Haitian descendants, even those born in the DR, leading to mass deportations and statelessness, reflecting ongoing anti-Haitian sentiment and racism.
• 🛂 The documentary captures instances of racial profiling and discrimination at border checkpoints, where Haitian individuals are singled out for additional scrutiny.
• 🌳 The environmental impact of colonial exploitation is evident in the contrasting landscapes of the DR and Haiti, with lush jungles on the Dominican side and barren, eroding hills on the Haitian side.
• 🛑 The script emphasizes the ongoing impact of historical and current racist policies on Haiti's development, illustrating how these policies shape the present-day lives of Haitians.

Q & A

What is the significance of the border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic?

The border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic is significant because it divides two countries with starkly different living conditions and opportunities, reflecting a history of colonial exploitation and modern-day socio-economic disparities.

Why are Haitian merchants, mostly women, taking a nighttime boat ride to the border?

Haitian merchants take a nighttime boat ride to the border to reach a Dominican market where they can buy and sell goods, as the mountain range makes the land journey almost impossible and represents the only viable way for them to engage in international trade.

What complaint do Haitians have about the border market setup?

Haitians complain that they are often delayed at the border by guards, which allows Dominicans to set up their stalls first and get the best spots in the market, creating an unfair advantage.

How did the island's history with France and Spain shape the current conditions in Haiti and the Dominican Republic?

The island's history with France and Spain shaped the current conditions by establishing different colonial approaches. France exploited the land and people for economic gain, leading to a legacy of poverty and environmental degradation in Haiti. Spain, on the other hand, integrated more with the local population, leading to a more racially mixed and sustainable economy in the Dominican Republic.

What was the impact of Haiti's declaration of independence on its development?

Haiti's declaration of independence as the first black, former slave republic in the world led to international isolation, a crippling debt imposed by France, and a lack of societal and governmental framework, which collectively hampered its development.

How has racism affected the lives of Haitians in the Dominican Republic?

Racism has led to discriminatory policies and practices in the Dominican Republic, including the revocation of citizenship for those of Haitian descent, forced deportations, and racial profiling at security checkpoints.

What is the 'Regularization Program' mentioned in the script?

The 'Regularization Program' is a policy in the Dominican Republic that targets individuals of Haitian descent, including citizens, for rounding up and deporting them, often under the guise of immigration regulation.

Why was the Dominican Republic's 2010 constitutional change significant?

The 2010 constitutional change in the Dominican Republic was significant because it redefined citizenship to only be granted to those born on Dominican soil to legal residents, effectively rendering many Dominicans of Haitian descent stateless.

How has the environmental history of Haiti contributed to its current state?

Haiti's environmental history, marked by aggressive exploitation of land during the colonial period, has led to soil degradation and deforestation, contributing to the country's economic struggles and vulnerability to natural disasters.

What role did the European Union and the UN development program play in the creation of the northern market town?

The European Union and the UN development program funded the creation of the northern market town with the intention of providing a space for equal trade opportunities between communities from both Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

What is the broader message of the script regarding the impact of policy on a nation's development?

The script conveys that centuries of racist policies from various global powers have significantly hindered Haiti's progress, illustrating how external forces can shape a nation's present and future.

Outlines

00:00

🌎 The Divided Island: Haiti and the Dominican Republic

This paragraph introduces the stark contrast between Haiti and the Dominican Republic, two countries sharing the island of Hispaniola. It discusses the significant disparities in infant mortality, poverty, and life expectancy. The narrator embarks on a journey to understand the historical and political factors that have led to such divergence. The focus is on the informal international trade conducted by Haitian women who cross the border to sell goods in the Dominican market, highlighting the challenges they face, including discrimination and delays at the border. The paragraph sets the stage for exploring the historical roots of the current situation, dating back to colonial times when the island was split between France and Spain.

05:01

🏛 Colonial Legacies and the Birth of Two Nations

This section delves into the historical background that shaped the destinies of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. It contrasts the French exploitation of Saint-Domingue (Haiti) with the Spanish approach to Santo Domingo. The French colony's focus on economic production through aggressive harvesting and slave labor led to environmental degradation and social unrest, culminating in a rebellion and Haiti's declaration as the first black republic. The Spanish, on the other hand, integrated with the indigenous population, leading to a more racially mixed and sustainable society. The paragraph also touches on the challenges Haiti faced post-independence, including international isolation, a crippling debt imposed by France, and the impact of these historical events on the present-day conditions in Haiti.

10:48

🛃 The Border Crackdown and Modern Racism

This paragraph examines the current state of affairs at the border and within the Dominican Republic, where anti-Haitian sentiment has been codified into law and policy. It describes the 'Regularization Program' as a euphemism for a policy targeting Haitian descendants for deportation. The Dominican Republic's rewritten constitution and subsequent court rulings have led to the statelessness of over 200,000 individuals. The paragraph also discusses the visible manifestations of this policy, including security checkpoints and the selective scrutiny of passengers, particularly those of Haitian descent. It concludes with a personal account of witnessing potential racial profiling at a military checkpoint, illustrating the ongoing impact of historical racism on the lives of Haitians in the Dominican Republic.

Keywords

💡Haiti

Haiti is a Caribbean country that shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic. It is known for its turbulent history, including a revolution that led to its independence from France in 1804, making it the first black republic. In the video, Haiti is depicted as politically volatile and impoverished, with its citizens facing significant challenges, such as a higher infant mortality rate and economic disparity compared to the Dominican Republic.

💡Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic is the eastern two-thirds of the island of Hispaniola and is shown in the video as being more stable and economically prosperous compared to Haiti. It has a history of different colonial approaches and policies that have shaped its current state, including a more integrated society with a mix of racial backgrounds and a more sustainable economic and political system.

💡Colonialism

Colonialism refers to the policy or practice of acquiring full or partial political control over another country, occupying it with settlers, and exploiting it economically. In the video, the different colonial approaches of France and Spain on the island of Hispaniola are highlighted, with France exploiting the land and people for economic gain, leading to lasting negative impacts on Haiti, while Spain's approach led to a more integrated society in the Dominican Republic.

💡Independence

Independence in the context of the video refers to Haiti's declaration of independence from France, which was a significant event marking the birth of the first black republic in the world. However, this independence came with challenges, including isolation from the international community and a crippling debt imposed by France, which greatly affected Haiti's development.

💡Racism

Racism is the belief in the inherent superiority of one race over another, which has been a persistent issue throughout history and is shown to be very much alive in the video. It is evident in the discriminatory treatment of Haitians by the Dominican Republic, including policies that have led to the statelessness and deportation of people of Haitian descent.

💡Border

The border in the video represents the physical and symbolic divide between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. It is the site of significant economic and social disparities, with the video highlighting the informal international trade and the discriminatory practices that Haitians face when trying to cross the border for commerce.

💡Economic Disparities

Economic disparities refer to the differences in wealth and living standards between different groups or regions. In the video, the stark contrast between the poverty in Haiti and the relative wealth in the Dominican Republic is emphasized, illustrating the impact of historical events and policies on the current economic situation of both countries.

💡Discrimination

Discrimination is the unfair treatment of a person or group based on their identity, such as race or nationality. The video describes the discrimination faced by Haitians at the border, where they are delayed by border guards, allowing Dominicans to set up their market stalls first, reflecting a broader pattern of unequal treatment.

💡Immigration Policy

Immigration policy refers to the regulations and practices that a country employs to control the movement of people across its borders. In the video, the Dominican Republic's immigration policy is criticized for targeting individuals of Haitian descent, leading to a policy of deportation and the creation of statelessness for many people.

💡Statelessness

Statelessness is the condition of not having citizenship in any country, which can result from various circumstances, including changes in nationality laws. The video discusses how a change in the Dominican Republic's constitution and subsequent court rulings have led to the statelessness of thousands of people, primarily of Haitian descent, who were previously considered Dominican citizens.

💡Racial Integration

Racial integration refers to the process of bringing together people of different racial backgrounds into a unified society. The video contrasts the racial integration in the Dominican Republic, where the Spanish colonizers intermarried with the indigenous population, with the racial divisions and exploitation in Haiti under French colonial rule, which has contributed to the different social dynamics in the two countries.

Highlights

The stark contrast between Haiti and the Dominican Republic despite sharing the same island, with Haiti being politically volatile and impoverished, and the Dominican Republic being stable and relatively wealthy.

The border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic symbolizes the divide in living conditions, with Haitian babies being 2.5 times more likely to die and a significant economic disparity.

Haitian merchants, predominantly women, undertake a perilous nighttime boat ride to reach the Dominican market for informal international trade.

The physical barrier of the mountain range forces Haitians to rely on boats for trade, highlighting the geographical challenges faced.

The chaotic and unorganized boat journey reflects the decades-long struggle of Haitian merchants to engage in trade.

The border market, intended to provide equal opportunities for vendors from both nations, reveals a reality of inequality and discrimination.

Haitian vendors face unnecessary delays at the border, allowing Dominicans to secure better market spots, illustrating systemic bias.

The historical roots of the island's division between France and Spain, and their differing colonial approaches, set the stage for the current disparities.

The French exploitation of Saint-Domingue (Haiti) led to environmental degradation and a resentful population, culminating in a slave rebellion.

The Spanish approach to Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) involved integration with the indigenous population and a more sustainable economy.

Haiti's declaration of independence as the first black republic was met with international isolation and a crippling debt imposed by France.

The historical context helps explain the challenges faced by Haiti, including the impact of dictators and corrupt politicians on its development.

Contemporary racism in the Dominican Republic is evident in recent immigration policies targeting Haitian descent individuals, even citizens.

The 2010 Dominican Constitution and subsequent court rulings have led to the statelessness of over 200,000 Dominican citizens of Haitian descent.

The 'Regularization Program' is a policy of ethnic targeting, leading to mass deportations and voluntary exile to Haiti.

The visible manifestations of racism in the Dominican Republic include security checkpoints and discriminatory treatment of Haitians.

The environmental impact of colonial exploitation is evident in the contrasting landscapes of the Dominican Republic and Haiti.

The northern market town exhibits similar discriminatory dynamics as the southern market, with overt bribes and physical abuse by border guards.

The story of the Haiti-Dominican Republic border is a narrative of policy-driven disparities rooted in centuries of racist practices.

The impact of historical and current policies is deeply embedded in the lives of Haitians, shaping their present reality.

Sponsorship acknowledgment for the 'Borders' series and the practical use of lululemon ABC pants during the journey.

Transcripts

Let's pause here.

I'm driving on the road that separates Haiti from the Dominican Republic.

Right here.

It's the border that divides two very different countries.

If you're born in Haiti, you're 2.5 times more likely to die

as a baby than if you're born in the DR.

You'll be almost ten times poorer and

you can expect to have a much shorter life.

I came here to find out how the two

countries that share this one island can be so different, with a politically

volatile and impoverished Haiti on one side and the stable and relatively rich

Dominican Republic on the other.

How did this line produce two totally different worlds?

My journey starts here, at this beach village in southern Haiti, where Haitian

merchants, most of them women, are preparing for a nighttime boat ride.

The women boarding this boat have one goal: to make it to the border where they will

be let into a Dominican market, to buy and sell goods before returning to their villages.

It's international trade at its most informal. We're taking these boats

because the next door mountain range makes the land journey almost impossible.

These worn-out wooden boats have been making this exact journey twice per week

for decades and yet the process remains chaotic and unorganized as if it's

happening for the first time.

All of this energy, time, and effort all to transport

a handful of goods that, in most countries, would be shipped in bulk

inside one of these.

We make this seven-hour journey to the border town arriving around, 4 am.

The sun rises and we walk to the border market. This market was established right on the border

as a partnership between the two nations, to give vendors from both sides

a place to buy and sell on equal footing.

As we approach the border I quickly realize that's not what's happening here.

So I'm looking across the border right now,

into the market and you can see that Dominicans are already setting up.

This is one of the big complaints of the Haitians: they're stuck on this side

waiting to cross the border and the border guards are just delaying it and

meanwhile the Dominicans are able to set up and get the best spots.

These Haitians come from miles away on this grueling boat journey, that I know now firsthand

is very grueling, and they get to the border and the guards stop them for no reason.

They're supposed to open it up for everyone at the same time.

The guards keep the Haitian women from crossing, not letting anyone know how

long it will be. The tension grows and then finally, hours after the Dominicans

were allowed to enter, the guards open up the bridge.

They buy and sell for the day, before returning to the boats to make the journey home.

The grueling boat journey, the senseless discrimination, it embodies

the asymmetry that exists on this island. Watching it happen, it's impossible not

to ask how it got like this.

There are a few key things that explain how this

island produced two very different countries, but if you want to get at the

very root of it you have to go back to when this island was owned by two

European powers: France and Spain. This island is actually the first place that

Christopher Columbus set up a colony in the new world on his first voyage back

in like 1490. France wanted a piece of this island because it was rich in

resources like sugar and coffee, so they fought a war with the Spanish and they

ended up splitting the island in two: one side would be the Spanish colony of

Santo Domingo and the other side would be the French colony, with the same name,

Saint-Domingue, just in French. And that is the most important part of understanding

this whole thing, is how these imperial powers treated their colonial posessions.

The French exploited the land. They brought in tons of slaves and

they were interested in making Saint-Domingue solely an economic producer.

They destroyed the soil from aggressively harvesting the same crop year after

year, and they created a group of very resentful, overworked, and abused slaves

that eventually rebelled.

The Spanish had a different approach. After establishing

domination on this island by massacring the indigenous population, they didn't

exploit it like the French did.

Instead they went to places like Mexico and Peru, to look for gold.

So they didn't bring nearly as many slaves onto this island,

and as a result they weren't nearly as profitable a colony.

Instead, the Spanish integrated with the remaining indigenous population,

by recognizing the native leader's authority and intermarrying with the locals.

The result was a smaller and more racially mixed population,

with a sustainable economy and a political system,

something totally absent from France's colony.

This becomes really important in the early 1800s, when independence comes around.

Haiti declares independence, fights off the French, and basically

declares itself the first black, former slave republic in the world.

They do so with very little framework for a society and for a government and they also do so

with land that has been exploited, year after year, with the same crop which

basically destroys the fertility of the land.

And to add to all of that, because

they were this first black Republic, the world essentially isolated them.

The United States didn't want to recognize the independence of a black nation.

They thought it might become a slave empire and seek revenge.

The French showed up on Haitian shores soon after independence, and said you owe

us a debt for all of the assets that you stole from us when you became independent,

all these economic assets, you owe us that debt and you have to pay

it over the next thirty years. This crippling debt Haiti did pay back over

years, but it really hampered their development.

This history doesn't exonerate the dictators and corrupt politicians that have plagued Haiti's

development since its independence, but it helps explain them.

Suffocating embargoes and the independence debt, as well as the lack of any tradition or

investment in governmental institutions, guaranteed Haiti's failure from the

moment it was born, and a racist world made sure of it.

That racism isn't just

embedded into Haiti's history, it is in fact very alive today.

As I drive up the border, by coincidence my driver is also a Dominican border patrol official.

We have hours in the car, where he slowly and cautiously tells me about how

immigration policy has changed in the Dominican Republic in recent years.

"Regularization Program".

That's a euphemism. He's talking about a

policy of targeting anyone of Haitian descent, even citizens, rounding them up

and deporting them. There's always been anti-Haitian

sentiment in the Dominican Republic, usually resulting in racist violence,

but since 2010, that sentiment has been seeping into legislation. The Dominican

Constitution that was drafted in 1929, says that anyone born in the country is

automatically a citizen, even if your parents were undocumented immigrants.

This is the same in places like the United States, but the DR rewrote its

constitution in 2010, to only give citizenship to those born on DR soil, to legal residents.

Then, in 2013 the high court in the DR ruled that this new

definition would be applied retroactively. All the way back to

1929, meaning any citizen who had been born in the DR to undocumented parents

would have their citizenship revoked.

More than 200,000 Dominican citizens,

were suddenly stateless.

It is clearly an illegal act, it is an immoral act, it is a racist act by the

Dominican government. And it's happening because these people are black.

Dominican law said that if these stateless people wanted to stay in the

DR, they would have to go to a government office and put their name on this

foreigner registry. The government gave these people one year to either get

their name on the registry or face deportation.

Over 55,000 have been officially deported since the June 2015 deadline.

The UN estimates that 128,000 people have voluntarily fled to Haiti,

a country many of them have never lived in. Some came here to this camp on the

border, where they've been living in limbo for years.

The moment I cross into the DR, I start to see what this crackdown looks like.

On a 75km bus ride, we pass eight security checkpoints in which security

personnel board the bus, to eye who was on it, and in some cases check papers.

But each time we stop, they seem to only check the papers of the same few passengers.

That's my translator, Pascale.

He's an American citizen, but everywhere we go in the DR,

security forces keep asking him for his passport.

Halfway through the journey, we pull off the road

into a facility where a few young military guys

are sitting around. And our driver brings this woman and her two children over to

the military guys. She's speaking in perfect Dominican Spanish to them,

claiming that her children are Dominican and that the driver brought us to this

checkpoint to turn her in because she's black.

None of this seems to matter,

she doesn't have her papers and her skin color seems to be all the guards need to see.

Haiti's land and people were abused when it was a colony of slaves.

The world then shunned it, with embargoes and independence debts when it was a new

nation, and today Haitians in the DR experience racism that is overt enough

to be enshrined in law.

As we drive up this very curvy road, I have the DR to my right and Haiti to my left.

Back when the French were here, this was the richest colony on earth,

but that came at a price.

Not only to abused slaves, but also to the

land that they worked. Clear cutting and single crop planting continued after the

French left, but instead of being used to make fancy French furniture, the trees

were burned to cook food.

This explains what I'm seeing when

on my right there's lush jungle.

and on my left there's bare and eroding hillsides.

Zoom out a little bit and it's very clear.

I follow the border road all the way north, until I hit another market town. I wanted

to see if the same discriminatory dynamics played out up here as they did down south.

This market was built with money from the European Union,

and the UN development program,

with the specific intention of creating a space where communities

from both sides could come and buy and sell on equal footing.

Rolling through the market, and once again like we saw in the southern market,

the Dominicans are first setting up.

I walk to the border and find this

huge group of people at this gap in the fence, paying a border guard to get in early.

The dynamic is the same as down south, only with a few more overt bribes

and border guards who seem to have no problem hitting Haitians with a stick.

After hours of waiting for guards to open the gate for everyone,

the Haitians are finally let in.

This is a story about a border that separates two vastly different countries,

but it's moreso a story about policy:

how centuries of racist policies, from

the French, from the U.S., from the world, from the DR, can hold a nation back from progressing.

Haiti, this first black republic, has experienced some of the most

predatory and racist policy from outside forces.

For Haitians this story isn't just their history.

It's their present.

It's the stage on which they live their lives.

So, I want to say a big thank you to lululemon,

who is a sponsor for Borders.

They sent me these ABC pants,

which are these really versatile, flexible pants.

They're super sturdy,

and they're meant to be basically used for hiking and for activewear,

but also around the house when I'm kind of just hanging out,

I've been using them for both as I've been making Borders.

I love them.

Thank you lululemon for sending me these pants,

but more importantly thank you for sponsoring Borders

and making this happen.

If you want to try out some lululemon ABC pants,

You could get a pair of your own.

You should definitely check that out.