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Showing posts from April, 2019

Indio Demystified: Do we use it to deny our blackness?

In minds of many it would seem that Dominicans use an evasive term to Negro/Moreno called "Indio" which in the United States circles has become a bit of a justapoxing story. An island of very black Afro-descendants who say they are native-americans (Indios). This couldn't be further from the truth. I came to this realization one morning in Los Minas, Santo Domingo. Talking to my grandmother and when asking her about her heritage she said one of her lines was "Guajiro, gente de raza India" (Native-looking of the indian race). So I couldn't help but ask "Is this the same as being called indio" she said NO! "color indio, y raza india son dos cosas diferente" (Indian color and Indian race are two different things) The Origin of the term Indio: Indio at the begining of colonial times was used as a racial term, and over time it evolved into only being attached to color, when this happened exactly is not well documented however there are...