add site
services
publishers
database
health videos
toolbar
stats
live show
health store
more stuff
JOIN/LOGIN
| advertise add site services publishers database health videos
| | about toolbar stats live show health store more stuff JOIN/LOGIN |
Dental Implants Dominican Republic | Implant Dentist Dominican Republic... scientificdentalclinic.co... | Yoga in Dominican Republic : Dominican Republic Yoga yogafinder.com | Individuals – African-American, Hispanic/Latino, American Indian... caretoactnc.com | American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, American Academy of Pain... viveksharmamd.com |
A Dominican American (also Dominican-York)[2] is any American who has origins in the Dominican Republic. (Not to be mistaken for Dominicans from the Commonwealth of Dominica). Immigration records of Dominicans in the United States date from the late 1800s, and New York City has had a Dominican community since the 1930s. From the 1960s onward, after the fall of the Rafael Trujillo military regime, large waves of migration have thoroughly transnationalized the Dominican Republic, metaphorically blurring its frontier with the United States. In 2006, there were approximately 1.2 million people of Dominican descent in the US, both native and foreign-born.[1]
HistorySince the early 1960s, economic problems and political turmoil in the Dominican Republic have led to a vast migration of Dominicans to the U.S., mainly to East coast cities, particularly New York City and other places in New York; North Jersey ; South Jersey ; South Florida (Miami and Fort Lauderdale); Providence, Rhode Island; and Lawrence and Boston, Massachusetts. Smaller waves of Dominicans have gone to the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Houston, Texas; Washington, D.C.; Kansas City, Missouri; and New Orleans, Louisiana metropolitan areas. Dominican Americans have settled in these areas largely because of the already existing and growing Latino community found in these places, having come on the heels of a similar migration of Puerto Ricans. DemographicsAlmost half of all the Dominican Americans today have arrived since the 1990s. New York City's Washington Heights neighborhood, on the northwestern tip of Manhattan, is so densely populated by Dominican Americans that it is sometimes referred to as Quisqueya Heights,[citation needed] after Quisqueya, the Taino name for the island Dominican Republic is located on (modern day Hispaniola). Dominican Americans are now the fifth-largest Hispanic group in the United States, after the Mexican American majority, Puerto Rican Americans, Cuban Americans, and Salvadoran Americans.[3] As of 2006, the largest concentrations of Dominican Americans are in New York (659,962), New Jersey (167,689), Florida (136,891), Massachusetts (83,700), Pennsylvania (36,091), Rhode Island (30,876), and Connecticut (17,213) — the seven U.S. states with 10,000 or more Dominican Americans. The Census Bureau estimated the nationwide Dominican American population at 1,217,225 in 2006.[4] Since 1980, the Census Bureau has asked U.S. residents to classify their race separately from their Hispanic or Latino origin, if any. In 1990, 29.2% of Dominican Americans responded that they were white, while 30% considered themselves black. 39.8% of the total, composing a plurality, chose the "other" category.[5] The prevalence of the "other race" category probably reflects the large number of people of mixed African and European ancestry in the Dominican Republic, where 73% of the population are of mixed African and European descent, commonly known as mulato.[6] Many are triracial, however, having also Taíno (Native American) ancestry.[citation needed] DistributionThe top 25 US communities with the highest percentages of people claiming Dominican ancestry are:[7]
Of places with 500 or more residents born in the Dominican Republic, the ten with the highest percentages are:[8]
Adjustment and developmentA significant number of Dominican Americans are young, first generation immigrants without a higher education, since many hailed from the Dominican rural countryside. Second generation Dominican Americans are overwhelmingly more educated than their first generation counterparts, as reflected by their higher incomes and employment in professional or skilled occupations. Over 21% of all second-generation Dominican Americans have college degrees, slightly below the national average (24%) but significantly higher than U.S.-born Mexican Americans (13%) and U.S.-born Puerto Rican Americans (12%).[9] Participation in U.S. PoliticsThe United States House of Representatives does not have a Dominican American member. However, over two dozen Dominican Americans are elected councilmembers, county legislators, and state legislators throughout the United States.[citation needed] They hold office in New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and Puerto Rico.[10] The electoral participation of Dominicans in the United States may improve as a result of the 1994 approval of dual citizenship by the Dominican legislature, which makes it easier for migrants to become U.S. citizens without relinquishing their Dominican nationality. A 1997 Dominican law, which took effect in 2004, allows Dominicans living abroad to retain their Dominican citizenship and voting rights, even if they become citizens of another country.[citation needed] Traditionally, Dominicans living in the United States are passionately involved in politics "back home", but unlike other Hispanic national groups, such as Cuban Americans and Mexican Americans, Dominican Americans are not as inclined to take an active part in U.S. politics, partly because many dream of eventually returning to the island.[11] Dominican American cultureMusic is at the heart of Dominican American culture.[citation needed] Dominican music includes above all merengue and bachata. Bachata, as well as reggaeton, has become popular among many Dominican American youth, as have house, salsa, rock, hip hop, and other genres. Almost 90% of all Dominican Americans are Roman Catholic.[citation needed] Dominican food typically features white rice, legumes (beans, peas, etc), yucca, plantains, mangú, beef, mofongo, moro, and sancocho.[citation needed]
CrimeThe Dominicans Don't Play gang have been involved in many acts of violence throughout the United States[12] and Spain,[13] particularly in New York City.[14] The DDP rival gang[15] known as the Trinitarios which has its origins in the New York Prison system who currently operate as a drug trafficking ring according to the United States Department of Justice.[16] There have been cases of dominican victims who were not gang members.[17] There has also been cases of Dominican sports players who have had their signing bonus' stolen.[18] Notable Dominican AmericansDominicans and Dominican Americans have made great strides in the field of baseball, the top sport in the Dominican Republic. Sammy Sosa, Moisés Alou, Alex Rodriguez, Alfonso Soriano, Pedro Martínez, Vladimir Guerrero, David Ortiz, Miguel Tejada, Albert Pujols, Manny Ramírez, and Hall of Fame member Juan Marichal are just a few of the many famous current or former Dominican baseball players. Baseball isn't the only sport with Dominican American figures. The National Basketball Association (NBA) has Charlie Villanueva, born and raised in Elmhurst, Queens, New York; and Francisco Garcia and Al Horford, Dominican immigrants both. Felipe López was a star at Rice High School and St. John's University, both in New York, and played several seasons in the NBA. Luis Flores attended Manhattan College and later played one season in the NBA before going to Europe. In the National Football League (NFL) there is Luis Castillo of the San Diego Chargers and Tutan Reyes of the New York Football Giants. Dominican Americans have also contributed major literary works on their experiences in the U.S. and the Dominican Republic. Junot Diaz is the author of Drown and The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, which won him the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in April 2008 and made him the first Dominican American and the second Latino in U.S. history to win the Pulitzer Prize.[19] [20] Julia Alvarez is the nationally-recognized author of In the Time of the Butterflies and How the García Girls Lost Their Accents. Nelly Rosario, born in the Dominican Republic and raised in New York City, also won critical acclaim for her debut novel Song of the Water Saints.[21] Oscar de la Renta is one of the most recognized names in the fashion industry. Dominican Americans have increasingly made a presence in the financial industry. Cid Wilson was ranked #1 Wall Street financial analyst in the Specialty Retailing category by Forbes in 2006.[22][23] Among Dominican American politicians are former New York City Council Member and Commissioner of Immigrant Affairs for the City of New York Guillermo Linares; New York State Assemblyman Adriano Espaillat; New York State Assemblyman Jose Peralta; New York City Council Member Diana Reyna; Rhode Island State Senator Juan Pichardo; Rhode Island State Representative Grace Diaz; Passaic, New Jersey Mayor Dr. Alex D. Blanco; Trenton, New Jersey Councilman Manuel Segura; Allentown, Pennsylvania Councilman Julio Guridy; Massachusetts State Representative William Lantigua; first Dominican American New York County Supreme Court Judge Rolando T. Acosta; and many more. There is a history of Dominican Americans serving in state-level gubernatorial cabinet positions or positions requiring Senatorial confirmation. Dr. Rosa Perez-Perdomo was Secretary of Health for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, from 2005 to 2008.[24] Dr. Eduardo J. Sanchez was Commissioner of Health for the state of Texas from 2001 to 2006.[25] New York Secretary of State Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez is of both Puerto Rican and Dominican descent and has served in her post since March 2007.[26] In March 2009, New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine nominated Camelia Valdes as Passaic County Prosecutor, thus making her the first Dominican American to become a head Prosecutor or District Attorney in U.S. history.[27] She was sworn-in on August 2009 by Gov. Corzine.[28] President Barack Obama made his first major Dominican American appointment on March 13, 2009 when he nominated Thomas E. Perez to be Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights.[29] Perez was the Secretary of Labor, Licensing, & Regulation for the State of Maryland before his nomination by President Obama. He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on October 6, 2009. María Montez was an actress in 1940s Hollywood. Zoe Saldana is an actress born in New Jersey to a Dominican father and Puerto Rican mother. Michelle Rodriguez, born of a Dominican mother and a Puerto Rican father, is well known for her roles in the television series Lost and the movies The Fast and the Furious, S.W.A.T., and Resident Evil. Merlin Santana was a well-known actor from New York City whose parents are Dominican. His most notable role was as Romeo on The Steve Harvey Show. He died in November 2002. Fashion, modeling, and beauty pageants
LiteratureMotion picture and television
Music
Politics
SportBaseball
Basketball
Boxing
Other sports
Other notable personalities
Notes and references
External links
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ↑ top of page ↑ | about thumbshots |
