Anti-Haitian stereotypes in three Dominican daily newspapers: a content analysis

ABSTRACT

Anti-Haitian attitudes are widely acknowledged to exist in the Dominican Republic, but it has not been clear whether these are driven by anti-Black, anti-immigrant, or specifically anti-Haitian stereotypes. We conduct a quantitative content analysis of a disproportionally stratified probability sample from the universe of all articles containing the search term ‘Haiti’ that appeared in the online versions of the three main Dominican daily newspapers, El Listín Diario, Hoy, and El Caribe from 2013 to 2015. In each article, we counted references to anti-Black stereotypes, anti-immigrant stereotypes (regardless of race), and stereotypes of criminal violence that are common to both anti-Black as well as anti-immigrant stereotypes. We also distinguish specifically anti-Haitian stereotypes based on the Dominican Republic’s historical experience of Haitian invasion and occupation, portraying Haitians as attackers or invaders. We find the strongest stereotype consistency bias in the domain of crime and violence. This finding is consistent with the predominance of either anti-Black bias or anti-immigrant bias, evidence for which differs from one newspaper to another. There is surprisingly little to no evidence of the predominance of stereotypes that are particular to Haitian-Dominican relations. We discuss the implications of our findings for mainstream and revisionist approaches to Dominican history and sociology.

KEYWORDS:

• Anti-Black stereotypes
• anti-Haitian stereotypes
• anti-immigrant stereotypes
• content analysis
• Dominican Republic
• media
• racial attitudes

Acknowledgements

The research was funded by a Research Excellence Program grant from the Office of the Vice President for Research of the University of Connecticut (UConn). The assistance of the Centro para la Observación Migratoria y el Desarrollo Social en el Caribe (OBMICA) and its Director, Bridget Wooding, was essential to the recruitment and management of our Santo Domingo-based team of coders. Yogeiry García, Jean Carlos Garrido, Yennifer Medrano, Scarlett Rodríguez, and Indhira Suero Acosta carried out the detailed project work from which we draw our study data. UConn graduate students Jihan Asher, Andrea Miranda Pastrana, and Ashley Walters helped with project database management at various stages. Thanks are also due for the comments provided by the scholars, journalists, and non-governmental and intergovernmental organization representatives who attended our presentation of preliminary research findings at the Friedrich Ebert Stichtung Foundation of Santo Domingo on 15 March 2019. Lastly, we are deeply indebted to the three anonymous reviewers and to our LACES Editor, Leon Zamosc, for their insights and corrections.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. English translation: ‘The police yesterday captured two Haitian children aged 11 and 15 in Las Matas de Farfán for allegedly having participated in the murder of a 72-year-old woman, who was hanged last Sunday inside the business she owned, an act for which a 20 year-old has been detained,’ https://listindiario.com/la-republica/2014/05/17/322272/apresan-a-dos-haitianos-por-muerte-de-una-mujer-en-sjm.

2. English translation: ‘They proclaimed that this is not only because of the role played by the UN and its different dependencies “in the Dominican Republic’s problem of massive and illegal entry into its territory of Haitian citizens escaping from the critical economic situation of their country, but because this migratory crime originates in Haiti’s condition as a failed state”,’ https://listindiario.com/la-republica/2014/07/17/330082/notables-piden-a-onu-que-asuma-responsabilidad-frente-a-haiti.

3. English translation: ‘Reverend Paulino Moya Thinks that Martelly Came to “Put the Country on its Knees”,’ http://elcaribe.com.do/2015/10/16/reverendo-paulino-moya-cree-martelly-vino-ldquoponer-rodillasrdquo-pais/.

4. English translation: ‘Virulent reactions of a nationalist stripe from various Dominican sectors, particularly senior officials – current and past – tried to ignore the right of Haitian leaders to take the measures they deem adequate to protect their population or their producers, [and] to denigrate them by treating them, and with them the Haitian people in general, as ingrates, provoked similar reactions in Haiti,’ https://hoy.com.do/torpezas-bilaterales/.

5. English translation: ‘Vinicito Accuses Colombian Ex-senator Piedad Córdoba of being Interventionist for Opposing Wall,’ https://hoy.com.do/vinicito-acusa-de-injerencista-a-exsenadora-colombiana-piedad-cordoba-por-oponerse-a-muro/.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Thomas Craemer

Thomas Craemer is an Associate Professor at the University of Connecticut’s Department of Public Policy. He obtained a political science doctorate from the University of Tuebingen, Germany, in 2001, and a PhD from Stony Brook University, New York, in 2005. His research focuses on implicit racial attitudes and race-related policies.

Samuel Martínez

Samuel Martínez is a Cuban-born cultural anthropologist and Professor of Anthropology and Latin American Studies at the University of Connecticut, where he also directs El Instituto (the Institute of Latina/o, Caribbean and Latin American Studies).