Dominican-Haitian Crisis: Beyond the Surface

Miami, FL – Joining Miami Workers Center and Florida Immigrant Coalition, will be Dominican writer Junot Díaz, Haitian-American Writer, Edwidge Danticat, Florida International University Law Professor, Edilberto Roman, to divulge in the background, roots, and implications of the ‘ethnic cleanse’ happening in the Dominican Republic.

As the media continues to produce little and unrealistic details about what is transpiring in the Dominican Republic, the panelists hope to shed a light on the more pressing concerns around the economic, racial, and the reality of its effects on the Dominican-Haitian population.

From this perspective, the Miami Workers Center has created this political education forum to provide space to discuss the intentional and oppressive issues, which have not have not been considered or presented via mass media. We understand we cannot advance our mission without taking into consideration the impact of global policies in defining social, political, and economic conditions within the United States. Through the forum and subsequent events, we seek to support the plight of Haitians and Dominican-Haitians that are currently experiencing the violation of their basic human rights

“ As a Dominican living in the United States, I urge the international community to take a strong stand against the abusive and unfair treatment of Dominicans of Haitians decent in the Dominican Republic and against the reactionary laws used by the Dominican government and the Dominican elite to justify such atrocities, ” says Marcia Olivo, Director of Programs at the Miami Workers Center.

There will also be discussion on the correlation to the Black Lives Matter Movement and how women and children will be disproportionately affected by the deportation. Women and children will continue to be the main victims of the systemic violence being struck on the Haitian community in the Dominican Republic.