“The last time something like this happened was Nazi Germany, and yet people are like, shrugging about it,”
– Junot Diaz
NBC news ran a story that is all about connecting the past with the future and understanding the effects that Dominican migration and statehood has on Dominicans that migrated out of the country. The diaspora is coming together to have a global conversation on what it means to be Dominican. According to Dominican-American prized author Junot Diaz what is happening in the DR can be compared with Nazi Germany, it is a form of ethnic cleansing that he, and many others believe to brought upon by the desire to lighten the DR by sending darker skin tones. characterized as a Haitian trait, “back” to Haiti. Given how we see repetitious traits in history this is important to historians as there is an element of similarity in the forced migration of populations in countries not just in the Caribbean but across the globe that is forcing new immigration policies.
This is an important aspect of documenting the diaspora involvement in the politics of the country, but it also provides an angle that says Dominicans are not racist towards Haitians and it is actually Haiati’s fault for allowing its people to migrate across the border without specific paper work. It provides the tools to answer historic questions such as global migration and global anti-immigration sentiments. The important factor of thinking of the totality of migration both in and out is not lost on scholars. In an article written by Thomas K. Morrison and Richard Sinkin they lament, “For the DR, a number of implications in government policy and planning are identified that take into account the factor of migration. (819),” the effects of that migration will shape everything that happens in the country policy wise. The written laws of the country are always changing because people are always moving.
The Dominican Republic cannot do everything on its own; it is still a third-world country.” He stated that he has compassion for the Haitian migrants in the Dominican Republic, because they are “not that different” from the immigrants who have come to the U.S. in search of better opportunities. ”
-Junot Diaz
Here we see the factors that impact immigration coming to light and a commonality between those who came and those who have left. It is important to have those narratives when an issue such as this arises. It is a quote that seeks to provide a base for sympathy for people seeking a better lives for their families, no matter where they are. The treatment of Dominicans that have immigrated out of the country to other parts of the world have experienced their own particular set of troubles that should link all immigrants together.