"Indio" written on Black and mulatto citizens: "this is a racist country" (Dominican Republic, AP report, 2013)
Record: the document says itPattern: documents line upLens: our readingOpen: not yet provenDisputed: argued, often by a hostile witness
Year: 2013 · Places: Ayiti, Caribbean, Africa
SUMMARY"Indio" written on Black and mulatto citizens: "this is a racist country" (Dominican Republic, AP report, 2013) [Connections: Latin America & Caribbean, Nov 5, 2026]
RECORDAP reported that official documents listing race or skin color, such as the cédula, "clasifican a los negros y los mulatos con una 'I', de indio," with variants "indio-claro," "indio-oscuro" and "indio lavado," and rarely "negro." Cordero Michel: "Pocos países usan el color de la piel en los documentos de identificación, pero éste es un país racista." He traced the "indio" versus "negro" split to hostility toward Haiti during the 1822–1844 period of unified rule of Ayiti. The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (2013) wrote that the "denominaciones 'indio-claro' e 'indio-oscuro', que aún persisten, no reflejan la realidad étnica."
PATTERNHere the state used "indio" to move people away from "negro." It is the mirror of the US pattern, but the same act: an official choosing the color word
DISPUTEDTaíno activists (next card) defend "indio" as their only remaining paper link to Indigenous identity, while the UN committee and Black Dominican advocates call it a denial of African ancestry. Both readings are on the record
LENS (WW9)Whether the word is "indio" or "negro," the people did not choose it; the paper did
OPENWhether Trujillo-era officials wrote down why they chose "indio" needs deep research
SOURCETelemetro/AP, "Dominicana: negros buscan promover orgullo," 11 Oct 2013. Primary: CERD concluding observations on the Dominican Republic, 2013.