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May 24, 2012
Jeff Jacoby: The peace process battered Israel's reputation
Michael Muskal: 'Pro-choice' position hits record low, according to poll
Chris Farrell: Are We in a Tech Bubble?
The Kosher Gourmet by Penelope Wall: PHILLY CHEESE STEAKS --- hold the steak!
May 23, 2012
Tony Pugh: More private colleges offering tuition discounts
Mary Beth Franklin: How to Choose the Right Annuity for You
Tina Susman: The wig wasn't enough: Man gets 13 years for posing as his dead mom
The Kosher Gourmet by Emma Christensen:A simple way to do fish right
May 22, 2012
Warren Richey: Can US group challenge overseas surveillance act? Supreme Court to decide
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The Kosher Gourmet by Megan Gordon: Enjoy a celebration of the most rich and layered flavors: Black bean, sweet potato and quinoa chili
May 21, 2012
Mark Clayton: Cybersecurity: How US utilities passed up chance to protect their networks
Howard LaFranchi: NATO summit: Who will foot the bill for long-term Afghanistan security?
Chris Farrell : Earn Dividends in Emerging Markets with This WisdomTree ETF
Stephen Whiteside, Ph.D. : Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: Social anxiety disorder --- or just shy?
Guy Jackson : Victim's father regrets death of Lockerbie bomber
The Kosher Gourmet by Mario Batali: Famed chef's veal shoulder farsumagru: A festive meat course for late spring
May 18, 2012
Rabbi Berel Wein: Striving: The People of the Book's Book for (All of) the People
Steven Goldberg: 5 Great Stock Picks and the Exchange-Traded Fund that Owns Them
Mary Pickett, M.D.: Ask the Harvard Experts: Don't be forced into gluten-free lifestyle based merely on a doctor's false-positive test
The Kosher Gourmet by Carolyn Malcoun: DIY healthy lunchbox treats: HOMEMADE FRUIT BARS for kids and brown-bagging adults alike
May 17, 2012
Warren Richey: Teacher fired for being unwed and pregnant can sue religious school, court rules
Josh Mitnick: Netanyahu's 'centrist' coalition is already proving it's anything but
Steven Goldberg: Earn Dividends in Emerging Markets with This WisdomTree ETF
Amina Khan: Research links coffee to lower death rates
The Kosher Gourmet by Faith Duran : Cheesy Potato Breakfast Casserole with Cheddar and Sun-Dried Tomatoes
May 16, 2012
Carmen Terzic, M.D., Ph.D. : Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: A variety of exercises can help improve balance
Melissa Healy: National strategy on Alzheimer's disease aims to halt it by 2025
The Kosher Gourmet by Joyce White : GOODNESS GRACIOUS: GREENS! 4 winning recipes that are no longer just for down-home folks (Includes expert tips & techniques)
May 15, 2012
Kristen Chick: Obama administration resumes arms sales to Bahrain despite serious unresolved human rights issues. Activists feel abandoned
Pat Mertz Esswein: Homes are now affordable again and mortgage rates are low. What you need to know before you buy
Kathy Kristof: Our Practical Investor Fights Inflation with These 6 Investments
Sue Hubbard, M.D.: The Kid's Doctor: Lactose intolerant young child? Check again
The Kosher Gourmet by Kathy Hunt: Spread a Little Excitement with EXOTIC CONDIMENTS (4 RECIPES)
May 14, 2012
Lisa Gerstner: How to Protect Your Identity, Finances If You Lose Your Phone
Harvard Health Letters: Heart disease and dementia
The Kosher Gourmet by Megan Gordon: MANGO COCONUT OAT MORNING MUFFINS are a bright but hearty delight
May 11, 2012
Jessica L. Anderson: Get the Best Deal on a Used Car
Jett Stone: Forget face-lifts and fake knees. Scientists have seen the fountain of youth --- and it's broccoli
The Kosher Gourmet by Chef Mario Batali: The famed chef's vegetable dish that tastes true to the season: FAVAS AND SUGAR SNAP PEAS WITH POTATOES AND TARRAGON
May 10, 2012
Sergei L. Loiko: Putin sends warning to U.S., NATO in Victory Day speech at Red Square
Mary Rourke: How being a 'mentch' got Vidal Sasoon his start and fighting in Israel's War of Independence provided him with confidence and a strong sense of his own identity
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The Kosher Gourmet by Betty Rosbottom: Gleaming with its golden, crimson, and snowy white hues, this silken smooth and creamy STRAWBERRY ORANGE TRIFLE looks impressive, but is easy to prepare
May 9, 2012
Sharon Palmer, R.D. How you can reduce your risk -- or delay -- chronic diseases associated with aging
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Jewish World Review
March 13, 2008
6 Adar II 5768
Disorder on Another Border: The Latin Migration Becomes Universal
By
Suzanne Fields
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
PUERTO PLATA, Dominican Republic All politics are local, as every successful politician can tell you. Like life itself, all politics are universal, too. The farther you get from the local, the more universal everything seems.
The Latin immigration phenomenon, for example, is writ large in a small way here. Even as Haitians slip across the border to seek a better life in the Dominican Republic, many Dominicans are leaving to search for better times in the United States, legal or not.
Eliot Spitzer's adventures with $5,000-a-night call girls smack of corruption, abuse of power and perversity (as well as incredible stupidity), but as scandal it's small potatoes here in the Dominican Republic, where the police are busy cracking down on child prostitution rings. The fight like the one between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton would be a luxury in a country where blacks and women can be employed for a pittance.
The color of skin, alas, is pervasive, with shades ranging from white through various shades of cinnamon, brown and black. Dominica was founded by the Spanish, but most Dominicans trace their ancestry to black slaves from Africa, a few native Indians and European settlers, and often call themselves "Indio" to hide their African heritage. The hardest hit by racial stigma are the darkest blacks.
Prejudice falls heaviest on the newest immigrants from Haiti, with which the Dominican Republic shares the island of Hispaniola. Most of the Haitians here were born here, but the border is wild and remote, and increasing numbers of Haitians, seeking low-paying work in sugar cane fields, slip in illegally. Backbreaking work at low pay is better than no work and no pay. Consequently, the citizenship issue is often blurred.
Until recently children born of Haitian parents were granted citizenship, just as children born of immigrants in the United States are American citizens. Children of diplomats were denied citizenship because their parents were considered "in transit," and recently the Dominican Supreme Court ruled that children born of Haitian workers are "in transit," too. Many perfectly legal citizens began to have "problems" with their Dominican birth certificates.
Sonia Pierre, a dark-skinned woman born of Haitian parents in the Dominican Republic, founded the Movement for Dominican-Haitian Women and crusaded for others who suffered prejudice in housing, education and citizenship. "Like Robert Kennedy, I live in a time of racism, discrimination and violence," she said when she went to Washington to accept the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award in 2006. "In my country, Dominican children of Haitian descent suffer discrimination from the moment they are born." Her human rights advocacy goes back three decades. When she was only 13 years old, she was arrested for heading a protest march against the exploitation of sugar cane cutters.
Not everyone sees her as "Saint Sonia"; the Dominican foreign minister accuses her of "smearing" the nation's reputation by deepening and exacerbating racial divisions. Haitians are invariably blamed for crimes against tourists, sometimes legitimately, sometimes not. It's hard to tell who the criminals are when the police can't catch them in the act, or soon after.
When our rented house was burgled in the middle of the night and the thief took only a laptop computer and a pair of tennis shoes, the landlord, a man of a vanilla shade, blamed "a Haitian." Whoever he was, the burglar chose well: The laptop would move quickly at a flea market, and we found his discarded shoes a few yards from the house. He was eager to put on the stolen running shoes. Eerily, he left behind a large machete. It was just as well, perhaps, that we all slept through the burglary.
The racial divisions in this small country are palpable, and if blonde is not considered the only source of beauty, fair has its privileges. "On TV, the maids are always black and the models are always white," Sonia Pierre told the New York Times. When several beautiful black Dominican children visited with the children of our American friends, they doted on the fair-skinned blonde child as if she were a princess.
Last week, the Dominican-born writer Junot Diaz won the U.S. National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction with "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao," which tells another kind of story of identity divisions. He depicts a second-generation Dominican family in New Jersey, juxtaposing their experiences in America with life in the "mother country." Junot Diaz is famous locally for his short story capturing what's happening now with an ironic, self-deprecating, self-help title: "How to Date a Browngirl, Blackgirl, Whitegirl, or Halfie."
Such advice may be local, but it sounds universal.
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Suzanne Fields Archives
© 2006, Creators Syndicate, Suzanne Fields
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