Uptown Revisited

Shouts to Led, Leopold and T.S. (inside joke) aka Tony P.

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A special thank you to Carla (visit her great blog) and Mr. Bader. I appreciate the help and the opportunity.

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The Manhattan Times is a bilingual newspaper that serves the Washington Heights and Inwood communities.

I’ve gotten a great response from it so far. A special thank you again to everyone who helped look over this piece and the paper for publishing it.

Below is the piece I sent in before it was edited.

“Wary of History, but proud of D.R. response to Haitian earthquake,”

By: Claudio E. Cabrera

It was over a month ago when one of the worst earthquakes in history struck the poorest country in the western hemisphere, Haiti. An estimated 250,000 people died in this tragedy and over 300,000 were injured.

This was a saddening turn of events in a country that hasn’t been able to catch a break since they became the first Black republic. They’ve gone through centuries of discrimination, occupation, a dictatorship, and natural disasters.

Despite the sad state of affairs in Haiti, the global response in the wake of this tragedy has been nothing short of tremendous; from countries providing Haiti with soldiers and doctors; to the world pulling together to contribute record amounts of aid to their recovery efforts. But the response that I was curious to see was the one closest to home, the Dominican response.

As a Dominican American and resident of the Washington Heights and Inwood sections of Manhattan (largest concentration of Dominicans in United States), I was worried about many friends who may have lost family members in this tragedy. But at the same time, I was worried about how my community would react to the earthquake that devastated a region of Hispaniola that many Dominicans don’t care for.

I was worried because throughout the years, hanging out at local barbershops and bodegas, I’ve heard the disdain for Haitians that mostly had to due with their complexion and increased migration to the Dominican Republic. I’ve also witnessed it when I traveled to visit relatives and saw the poor treatment Haitians received firsthand.

When you look at our collective histories, both sides have committed their share of atrocities onto one another. But within the last century, we’ve taken advantage of, deported, and committed mass murders against Haitians.

The hateful words and actions of previous Dominican Presidents like Rafael Trujillo, who ordered his army to kill Haitians (30,000) in the 1937 Parsley Massacre; and the claims of Joaquin Balaguer in 1994 that “if Pena Gomez (his opponent) won the election, he will merge Haiti and DR and darken the country,” helped widen the divide between both groups; a divide mostly rooted in racial issues.

In the Dominican Republic, many Dominicans view themselves as the whites of Hispaniola because of their lighter skin. Many don’t embrace their African heritage; a heritage that comprises approximately eighty percent of their bloodline.

In that election year of 1994, Balaguer also passed out pamphlets claiming that Gomez was really Haitian to further his claims. Gomez, who was born to Haitian parents, was adopted by a Dominican family when his parents fled after Trujillo ordered the deportation and murders of all Haitians.

Historically, when you look at the relationship between DR and Haiti, it’s no different than the US relationship with Mexico. Poor Haitians look at the Dominican Republic as a means to a better life.

When you look around the Dominican Republic, you see a lot of what the Haitians are responsible for: new hotels, government buildings, and beautiful homes built by their cheap labor.

The same people who clean houses, cook, wash and raise many Dominican children. The same people who cut sugarcane in 100 degree weather and contribute to the country’s economy more than many want to believe.

Dominicans often complain about a loss of jobs as do many Americans. However, the jobs that Haitians take – as do Mexicans – are ones that Americans and Dominicans refuse to do; jobs they feel are beneath them.

Despite all these differences, at least domestically, I’ve seen something I didn’t expect at such a grand level – an outpouring of sadness and eagerness to help from fellow Dominicans – even those I’ve heard speak negatively about their neighbors.

I’ve seen Dominicans in my neighborhood travel to Flatbush (in Brooklyn) and Cambria Heights (in Queens), predominantly Haitian areas, to provide support. In my neighborhood, various fund raisers and clothing drives have been held as well.

I must say that I’m not only surprised, but proud.

Despite the outpouring of support, there have been rumors that some Haitians were denied entry across the border to DR, despite repatriation of illegal Haitians being suspended by the Dominican government.

If rumors of Haitians being turned away are true, the actions of the Dominican government don’t match their words. It wouldn’t be shocking as I heard many in the neighborhood say post-earthquake, that now the Dominican Republic would “lose its Hispanic culture” due to the large influx of Haitians.

But for the most part, let’s focus on facts.

The Dominican government has assisted in every way they could. They’ve sent doctors, soldiers, and citizens from Santo Domingo all the way to the Haitian border to contribute in these relief efforts.

Even my friend, who is Haitian and a teacher in a predominantly Dominican school in New York City, told me how he feared the reactions of his Dominican students to the earthquake when he asked them to contribute.

The response was nothing but positive.

It’s sad that it may have taken an earthquake that has already claimed over 200,000 lives to bring us together. That it may have taken this to realize that those people who live on the other part of the island are humans just like us.

Hopefully, this show of solidarity isn’t just temporary and we can assist in not only helping to rebuild a fractured Haiti, but our fractured marriage as well.

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After I wrote about this topic for the NY Amsterdam News, guys like Errol Louis at the NY Daily News and writers at the Times and NY Sun wrote about it the following week.

I was kind of jealous because they were on such a larger scale, but me writing that article brought it to their attention, which in turn resulted to years of debate and this change. Though I may not be pleased with the full result, at least they acknowledged there was a problem.

NYTimes Editorial: When Prisoners Phone Home.

My Award-Winning Article: Punishing phone call tax for families of incarcerated.

After almost five years of fighting over this unjust act by MCI and the prison system, the high courts in the state rejected the suits of family members who wanted to recoup funds for the unfair charges.

They rejected it 5 to 1 which struck me as ludicrous.

But despite these poor families and inmates not getting all the money they’ve lost, I’m glad that they brought the lawsuit because now MCI and these prisons can’t abuse the system any longer.

These exorbitant rates caused severe depression in many inmates and empty pockets in the families who yearned to speak with their incarcerated sons or daughters.

I’m glad NY State saw this injustice that was occurring and decided to fix it.

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‘What do you do for a living?’

We as humans love to make assumptions and do so off simple stuff such as appearance, living space, vehicle, and occupation. Once a person finds out what you do, many begin to immediately classify you as a certain type of person.

‘Oh your a banker? You must have money and be greedy. Live downtown?’

‘Oh your a journalist? You must be broke and not concerned with making money. Do you even have a job right now?’

About a year ago, I remember one specific situation.

I was at a bar and saw one friend interacting with a woman. They were clicking for about an hour and before the night was over the woman asked him what he did for a living. From my vantage point, this woman was prepared to give my friend her number until she found out his occupation.

He told me once he told her what he did, her ‘shoulders slumped.’

‘I work for the sanitation department for about six years now.’

Not that the money matters, but my friend makes a solid amount, has great benefits and lives by himself in a nice neighborhood. Aside from that, he’s a pretty good dude; and she knew that; but his occupation and her lack of enthusiasm over it trumped that.

Now I know that a great way to initially learn about a person is through their occupation. There is no denying that; I mean we spend the majority of our week there.

But at the same time, what ever happened to our conversational skills? What ever happened to introducing yourself to a person and asking a variety of things? Asking where they’re from, background, passions, hobbies, favorite eateries, etc.

What ever happened to that?

In this instance, the lady and my friend spoke about a bunch of things for an hour minus occupations. But there are too many times when that becomes the starter for a conversation. Everything is right to the point nowadays. Everything.

What people fail to understand is that there may be reasons as to why a person works here or there; and those aren’t the reasons most people would think of.

Ever thought that maybe the guy who works as a waiter may just be doing so because he lost his job as a banker?

The woman who works as a financial analyst may just be doing so because it helps her pay for her mother’s medical bills or brother’s tuition?

Its time that people stop picking up a book and forwarding to the last page. Nine times out of ten, you aren’t only missing out on a great story, but a great person.

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