by JEMIMA PIERRE
“In the Dominican Republic the cause is the consequence: you are Black because you are Haitian; you are Haitian because you are Black.”
On December 2, 2011, the Supreme Court of the Dominican Republic upheld a racist law denying citizenship to the children of Haitian immigrants born in the country. Two days later, Sonia Pierre, the indefatigable activist for the human rights of those Dominicans of Haitian descent denied citizenship under the law, died suddenly at the age of 48. The Dominican anti-Haitianism that Sonia Pierre fought her entire life has outlived her, and it will continue inflicting damage on a long-hated segment of the Dominican population: its Black citizens.
Born in the “batey” (the impoverished rural settlements for the mostly Haitian sugar cane cutters for the Dominican sugar industry) to Haitian parents, Ms. Pierre experienced the humiliation that accompanied the social, economic, and legal barriers of Haitian immigrants and Dominicans of Haitian descent in the Dominican Republic. She began her fight early—she was arrested at the age of 13 for leading a strike of sugar cane workers—and has since been the most outspoken critic of the unrelenting xenophobia, racism, and sexism faced by Dominico-Haitians. She has worked incessantly to guarantee citizenship rights for children born on Dominican soil, regardless of parentage, and her work, recognized around the world, was often derided in her own country.
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