Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Derramamiento De Sangre En El Caribe : Una Guerra Racial En La Isla De Española, Jennifer F. Dalenta

Honors Theses

The tensions between the Dominican Republic and Haiti have been longstanding. Not only are the nations divided by a physical border, but there are much larger cultural, racial, and political schisms that separate them. In 1930, when Rafael Trujillo assumed the presidency in the Dominican Republic, he did not hesitate to publicize his anti-Haitian sentiments. His effort to promote “Dominicanness” created a strong distinction between the Hispanic, Catholic Dominicans and the African, Voodoo worshipping Haitians. These growing tensions exploded into violence in 1937 when Trujillo organized the Massacre of Parsley, also known as the Cutting. During this period, nearly 20,000 …