Blackness as a barrier to citizenship and education: situating the example of Dilcia Yean and Violeta Bosico

Abstract

Pervasive anti-Haitian bias in the Dominican Republic has created a three-pronged barrier for the black population’s inclusion into the Dominican perception of national identity, citizenship and public education system. First, blacks born in the Dominican Republic are not typically considered to be truly Dominican. Rather, they are commonly thought to be Haitian. Second, this biased concept of Dominican identity and citizenship often makes it difficult for blacks to obtain a birth certificate needed to prove their status as Dominican citizens. Third, this undue burden of documentation results in restricted access to public schooling. Each of these issues is at play in the tangled international court battle of two black Dominican girls, Dilcia Yean and Violeta Bosico, who in 1998 sought to force the Dominican government to grant them birth certificates, and in turn, an education.