Do you think of Dominicans as Latin American or Afro-Caribbean? (speaking, cons)

[jor630]

Dominican is a nationality that covers many races and ethnic backgrounds. I have Dominican friends of sole chinese decent.

[♥♥PRINC3Ss♥♥]

A lot of chinese migrated to Dominican Republic and Cuba, I also know a few.

I know many white looking Dominicans and mixed Dominicans. I've always seen them as latinos regardless of their skin tone.

[Trimac20]

Originally Posted by SuperMario

There is no distinction between being Afro-Latino and being Latin American. You can be an Afro-Latino, while still being Latin American. I would have chosen both those options. It is unfair to label the WHOLE country as Afro-Latino when in fact there are many pred-European Dominicans. For those of you who love to use the One Drop Rule to label everyone black, well the average Dominican is a mulatto with slight Euro dominance, so in essence they are as much white as they are black.

The interior north of the country resembles Puerto Rico, that is the people are on average more European. While the East is home to darker more Afro influenced people.

So I choose both.

That's what I thought. Hispanic/Latino is not a race. Americans just think that all Latinos look like Mexicans or Mesitos. If you're from any of the Spanish speaking countries in the Americas you are Latino. A black Cuban has far more in common culturally with his white neighbour than a Jamaican or an African American. Culture/language has far more practical significance than 'race.'

[Edu983]

Originally Posted by virulentpeach

Dominican Republic I mean.

They are a Latin American country, but culturally and racially share much with other parts of the Caribbean as opposed to places like Mexico and Guatemala.

How do you view them?

Dominican Republic is an American country. The U.S. is the one that is Anglo-American. America is already a Latin word.

[mikemike84]

dominicans are both afro-carribeans that are latinos. i would say afro-carribean is more specific.

[wordlife]

Whenever I hear Afro Caribbean, it's always in relation to the anglophone countries (as well as the francophone countries/colonies). I think that all three can apply in this case.

[UrbanLuis]

Originally Posted by virulentpeach

Dominican Republic I mean.

They are a Latin American country, but culturally and racially share much with other parts of the Caribbean as opposed to places like Mexico and Guatemala.

How do you view them?

Actually, i would say the average middle class Guatemalan has much more in common with a middle class Dominican then a Haitien or a Jamaican would. First off the obvious, they share the same language. Secondly for the most part they share the same religious traditions(predominantly Catholicism brought from Spain). Also Dominican music is tremedously popular in Central America. Many centralamericans identify stronger with Dominican music then they do with Cuban or puerto rican music(Salsa is more popular in South America). A Dominican and Guatemalan would watch much of the same t.v shows and receive much of the same mainstream media. Guatemala like The Domincan Rep. are major sugar cane producing countries, they have a similar farming and ranching tradition. Not just in These two countries but pretty much its thay way through out the spanish speaking americas. what it comes down to is not race or racial mixture, but cultural similarities, And I strongly beleive Dominicans Have more in Common with their latin/spanish speakiing counterparts then they do with other parts of the enlgish or french Carribean.

[Deezus]

Originally Posted by UrbanLuis

Also Dominican music is tremedously popular in Central America. Many centralamericans identify stronger with Dominican music then they do with Cuban or puerto rican music(Salsa is more popular in South America). A Dominican and Guatemalan would watch much of the same t.v shows and receive much of the same mainstream media. Guatemala like The Domincan Rep. are major sugar cane producing countries, they have a similar farming and ranching tradition. Not just in These two countries but pretty much its thay way through out the spanish speaking americas. what it comes down to is not race or racial mixture, but cultural similarities, And I strongly beleive Dominicans Have more in Common with their latin/spanish speakiing counterparts then they do with other parts of the enlgish or french Carribean.

I agree that someone in Guatemala would have more cultural ties or similarities in some ways to the Dominican Republic than a place like Jamaica or Martinique or Barbados.

However, I've found salsa to be as if not more popular than merengue in much of Central America. And granted, Central America is a varied region made up of seven countries---but where I've been salsa has been pretty popular. Especially in Panama, which has it's own famous salsa stars, but also in Nicaragua and Costa Rica and among the middle or upper classes in Guatemala. Along with the prevalence these days of often Puerto Rican or Dominican Reggaeton among much of the youth.

[ReineDeCoeur]

Dominicans are Caribbean Hispanics/Latinos and seem to have more in common with other Hispanic/Latinos. Their heritage is mainly Afro/Euro and quite Western. Religious diversity is also less than some other Caribbean islands.

Perhaps one may not even assert shared racial heritage with the rest of the Caribbean in that not only are Dominicans generally a Euro/Afro mix; but that the majority of the English/French islands have people who are predominantly of African descent, plus East Indians, Chinese, Syrians, Lebanese etc. that have a distinct presence. Where my family is from is predominantly South Asian (East Indian) & African heritage, plus the other groups above. The Spanish-speaking islands are very far from the mixture of Eastern & Western, definitely sharing more with each other and other Latin American nations.

[DoubleXAs]

Why is there a distinction for Afro-latino, but not one for Native-latino? Most of LA has native american blood, so if we're going to seperate Afro-latino's, might as well do it for everyone else.