Language is a tool of resistance and movement building that is always shifting to include people from diverse communities and backgrounds.
The Dominican Republic and Haiti share an island in the Caribbean, and there are many racial, ethnic, and cultural similarities between the two nations. Though most Dominicans in the DR identify as mixed-race, the overwhelming majority of Dominicans, like Haitians, are Black by American racial standards (Black Excellence). About half of the population of the gentrifying neighborhood of Washington Heights, Manhattan, where In the Heights is set, is Dominican (U.S. Census Bureau). Washington Heights comprises one of the largest immigrant communities from the Dominican Republic within the U.S. (Furman Center). Unfortunately, In the Heights wildly misrepresents the Dominicans living in this culturally significant neighborhood, continuing a trend where Afro-Latinos are ignored on screen.
The conscious ambiguity concerning the definition of the “Hispanic” was a fundamental part of its institutionalization.
As an unaccompanied minor who traveled to the U.S. to seek refuge, Sergio shares the story of his journey – and how we can support other youths forced to make the same decision.
