Same Races, Different Faces In
             "Black vs. White" is not a story only seen in the United States of America. It is a problem which has, and still continues to plague many sections of the world. This problem, in many instances, goes beyond a stereotypical belief that the battle is fought due to cultural differences. What does this mean? Factors which unite such as religion, culture, and political beliefs, play no actual part in unity in this scenario. Cultural differences do play a certain part, but does not take 'center stage.' Now, what happens when you add a third "color" in there? In the United States people of color are many times classified as a group, minorities. In other countries, colors play parts rather than a stringent line of division. A country which can bring this problem into a closer scrutiny is the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic is a small country which shares an island, in the Caribbean, with Haiti. 95 percent of the Dominican Republic is Roman Catholic, the other five is made up of Santeria, Episcopal, and Voodoo. Three color groups which people fall into, in the Dominican Republic are white, tan, and black.
             The book, La Presencia Negra en SantoDomingo by Carlos Andujar Persinal, gives accounts about certain incidents, customs, and beliefs that cause rifts among the different color groups in the Dominican Republic. According to this reading, the hierarchy that exists due to color consists of the whites on top, followed by the tan, and at the bottom the blacks. In the Dominican Republic, white Dominicans control 73.5 percent of the country, while the tan control just a 'bit' more than the blacks. If religion, most political views, and culture are very similar what causes this dilemma? In Perfil de Dos Naciones en la Espanola, by Jean Ghasmann Bissainthe, this same question is presented. Small groups from the color groups were asked to give their opinions on the other groups. The an...