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CHAPTER 1
La Trinitaria
The Elevation of Whiteness and Normalization of a Pigmentocracy in Dominican Society
Authors of Dominican textbooks face the daunting task of presenting the complex story of the country's national identity to young readers. Materials used in the country's primary schools attempt to construct the narrative building blocks of Dominican history, culture, and national identity. To the fundamental inquiry of "who are we as a nation of people?" students recieve a school-sanctioned explanation. Textbook authors decide who will be the leading characters in this story of national identity and how these central figures will be portrayed to students. In the Dominican Republic, the foundational lessons of what it means to be Dominican are partly rooted in biographies of the country's founding fathers or, as we characterize them, great men. The biographies analyzed in this chapter teach schoolchildren in the Dominican Republic that these national heroes represent, ideologically, what it means to be a patriotic and loyal Dominican and set a standard that Dominicans should strive to emulate.
The ascension of the founding fathers of the Dominican Republic to the status of great men lays the groundwork for the formation and legitimization of the pigmentocracy racial structure and idea of the social dominance of whiteness that pervades the country's social strata. The biographies of these leaders create a folklore by which Dominicans can rationalize why the country's former colonizer, Haiti — with its pervasive black African vestiges — represents negative attributes such as aggression, encroachment, and occupation. They also provide a logic by which the country's sizable African-descended population can situate their own black ancestry within the broader context of loyalty to the nation. This is accomplished by the pervasive and ubiquitous inculcation of Dominicans into a pigmentocracy narrative. These stories also form the basis for socially constructed ideas of the social dominance of whiteness, what it means to be patriotic and loyal to the Dominican nation, and the criteria for citizenship.
We analyze school-based biographical discourse surrounding the Dominican Republic's most revered national heroes. In particular, we examine the three men who make up La Trinitaria, a secret society organized in 1838 to foster independence from Haiti and the establishment of the Dominican Republic as a sovereign nation. The biographies examined in this chapter are of Juan Pablo Duarte, Ramón Matías Mella, and Francisco del Rosario Sánchez. We illustrate how Duarte, Mella, and Sánchez are framed as great men, in similar fashion to the great man theory popularized by the nineteenth-century Scottish writer and social scientist Thomas Carlyle. We argue that the elevation of these founding fathers to hero status in the history of the nation's birth is a critical component of the pigmentocracy narrative that undergirds the Haitian Other master script.
History's Great Men and the Telling of a Nation's Past
Thomas Carlyle put forth his great man theory of history and leadership in his 1840 book On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History, a collection of six public lectures he gave in May 1840. Carlyle categorizes heroes and presents examples of each throughout history. Carlyle discusses the hero as divinity, prophet, priest, man of letters, and king. In the opening pages of the book, Carlyle explains why great men are the key to understanding the history of a nation:
They were the leaders of men, these great ones; the modelers, patterns, and in a wide sense creators, of whatsoever the general mass of men contrived to do or to attain; all things that we see standing accomplished in the world are properly the outer material result, the practical realization and embodiment, of Thoughts that dwelt in the Great Men sent into the world: the soul of the whole world's history, it may justly be considered, were the history of these. Too clearly it is a topic we shall do no justice to in this place!
One comfort is, that Great Men, taken up in any way, are profitable company. We cannot look, however imperfectly, upon a great man, without gaining something by him. He is the living light-fountain, which it is good and pleasant to be near. The light which enlightens, which has enlightened the darkness of the world: and this not as a kindled lamp only, but rather as a natural luminary shining by the gift of Heaven; a flowing light-fountain, as I say, of native original insight, of manhood and heroic nobleness; — in whose radiance all souls feel that it is well with them. On any terms whatsoever, you will not grudge to wander in such neighborhood for a while.
The utility of Carlyle's great man theory for our analysis is conditioned by our recognition that Herbert Spencer, in the 1870s, countered Carlyle's emphasis on the impact of great men by arguing great men are products of their societies. Nevertheless, recent scholarship applies Carlyle's great man theory within the context of Latin American and Caribbean politics for the specific purpose of conceptualizing the indelible impact of caudillos (military strongmen) on the evolution of the state and civil society. We employ the great man theory for that same purpose. Carlyle's approach to understanding history through the stories of leading historical figures serves as a revelatory perspective to understanding the full weight of the Tobogán biography series. The primary objective of the texts, and for the publication house generally, is to instill a strong sense of national pride in young readers by framing what knowledge is needed to be "good" Dominicans. The objectives section of the Tobogán website reads: "Visión que privilegia la exaltación de nuestro pasado histórico, el rescate de nuestro [sic] mejores valores culturales, la defensa de la niñez, el uso racional de nuestros recursos naturales no renovables, identificarse, querer y valorar los 48,000 kilómetros cuadrados, que configuran eso que se denomina nación dominicana. ... Desarollar el valor nacional en el niño, es uno de los objetivos prioritarios que asume Tobogán como tarea." (Vision that prioritizes excitement about our historical past, recovery of our best cultural values, the defense of childhood, the sensible use of our nonrenewable natural resources, to identify, love and value the 48,000 square kilometers that are called the Dominican nation. ... Developing national pride in the child is one of Tobogán's primary objectives.)
When the biographies of Duarte, Sánchez, and Mella are analyzed through the lens of Carlyle's great man framework, the resonance of their stories takes on a new depth. The author, Dominican historian Roberto Cassá, draws an informal template for the designation "hero." Cassá's descriptions of family and ethnic background, originality of endeavor, positive judgments of personal character, and educational accomplishments echo Carlyle's premise. To understand La Trinitaria is to understand oneself as a Dominican. Duarte, as the most important figure, sets the foundational standard of dominicanidad with a Spanish family background. He demonstrated intelligence, self-sacrifice, and a desire to liberate the country from Haiti. Sánchez represents hard work, a desire to reflect Dominican cultural aspirations, and, maybe most importantly, how one's black African ancestry can be positively moderated. Mella provides an example of courage and a willingness to make difficult decisions for the benefit of the country, while simultaneously reminding readers that even heroes — and Dominicans — may not be perfect.
Carlyle placed exceeding emphasis on the "look" of a hero as physical evidence of greatness. The cover art of each Tobogán biography and the text's illustrations show the shared approach to defining heroes. In the introduction to a later edition of Carlyle's work, Goldberg writes, "Physiognomy lay at the heart of his interest in portraiture and it furnishes a guide to his approach to the pictures he offered of his heroes. It is, in many ways, the animating principle of his treatment of the subject of his 1840 lectures. For this reason the illustrations included in this volume not only reflect the importance Carlyle attached to pictorial reference but also have an intimate bearing on the text itself."
The portrait of Duarte must reflect the kind of hero depicted in his biography. The cover illustration shows him as a well-dressed, European-descended, thoughtful man. Sánchez is drawn to reflect his black African ancestry and his refined dress and carriage. Mella, with a skin tone somewhere between Duarte and Sánchez, is in military uniform.
Carlyle's great man theory, underpinned by the dual elements of unassailable personal greatness and its corresponding "look" of heroism, provides a framework for understanding the weight of the message about Dominican national identity and history set forth in the biographies. The theory reveals the tremendously powerful combination of prose and portrait in the biographies of national heroes that paint a picture of Dominican identity for students. The intersection of race, skin hues, and social dominance, which problematize the issue of national identity in this context, is what the Tobogán hero biographies attempt to unravel. Cassá's template for La Trinitaria subtly situates color, class, belonging, and social mobility as vital pieces to stories of La Trinitaria and builds the foundation for understanding the Dominican nation in a new way, which reflects Simmons's notion of "reconstructing" racial identity in contemporary Dominican society.
Great Men and the Function of Social Dominance
Social dominance theory argues that human social systems tend to organize themselves as group-based hierarchies. Dominant groups at the top of the social structure enjoy a disproportionate share of positive social value whereas subordinate groups suffer from a disproportionate share of negative social value. Social dominance theorists argue that dominants should consequently feel a greater sense of entitlement and prerogative over the nation and the organs of the state. Elites have a vested interest in maintaining their hegemony. In a country such as the Dominican Republic, where the vast majority of people have some degree of black African ancestry, elites have navigated the challenge of simultaneously elevating whiteness while denigrating and moderating blackness.
This process of reconstructing and unburying an African past in Dominican racial and national identity presents potential perils in navigating black racial identity in Hispaniola. A key premise is to recognize that the vast majority of Dominicans have some black African ancestry and many Dominicans' skin phenotype is similar in hue to that of many Haitians. This shared black African ancestry could potentially lead many Dominicans to adopt a sense of linked fate, group consciousness, and solidarity with Haitians. The social construction of racial and national identity in the Dominican Republic has historically faced the challenge of explaining why blackness as represented by Haitian-ness is inferior, whereas blackness as represented by Dominican-ness is qualitatively superior. This is the where the pigmentocracy narrative is critical. That narrative creates the necessary social construct to foment the idea that the black African ancestry of Dominicans has been positively moderated by the infusion of white European and indigenous (Taíno) bloodlines and is therefore racially distinct from the black African ancestry of Haitians. Dominicans with brown and black skin hues (which includes most of the population) are inculcated to subscribe to the pigmentocracy narrative and believe that they are something closer on the skin hue scale to whiteness (being indio). Depicting the country as a racial pigmentocracy, a logic exists to rationalize the identity and importance of the individual members of La Trinitaria — as well as rank them in order of historical significance. From this, Dominicans can connect themselves to the founding fathers and socially construct a sense of belonging and patriotism to the Dominican nation. Conversely, Haitians, although they share black African ancestry, are deemed to lack the positive moderation of mixed-raceness and, therefore, are excluded from the same.
Dominican National Hero Biographies
The biographies of the country's founding fathers employ an extreme emphasis on the men's personal character and "greatness" to establish and legitimize their hero status. This highly structured focus reveals how social dominance theory and the pigmentocracy concept undergird the Haitian Other master script. By using social dominance theory and the pigmentocracy construct as a lens to analyze the biographies of La Trinitaria, one can see the specific and unique path into Dominican identity that each member of La Trinitaria represents. Juan Pablo Duarte represents whiteness, social dominance, and the prototypical patriot (figure 1.1). The Duarte biography emphasizes his Spanish background, his position as the son of a well-off businessman, and his above-average intelligence. He was also a patriot who was made uneasy with the Haitian occupation given how much he had to lose at the hands of the invading Haitian forces.
Social dominance theory and the pigmentocracy concept further guide our understanding of how people having mixed black African and white European ancestry are placed in the middle of the racial hierarchy. This social status is portrayed by Sánchez and Mella, both of whose skin phenotypes reflect their mixed black African and white European ancestry. Sánchez is portrayed as a person with whom many Dominicans can identify because of his mixed race appearance, Spanish ancestry, and the fact he came from a rather modest background. Sánchez is not portrayed as the perfect patriot. Instead, he is shown as an idealized citizen who, through his own desires and a close alignment to whiteness (as embodied by his professional and social alliance to Duarte), made himself into a patriot. Mella (figure 1.2) is also of mixed black African and white European ancestry — but less discernibly so than Sánchez. Sánchez is an inspirational figure in a key moment of national crisis who provides a vivid snapshot of Dominican valor and dedication to national sovereignty (figure 1.3). Duarte's biography is the most overt in its attempt to foment the idea of greatness and social dominance. For Sánchez and Mella, five common elements are central to the stories of these men as national heroes: (1) explanations of family and ethnic background, (2) assertions of originality of endeavor, (3) positive judgments of personal character, (4) educational accomplishments, and (5) alignment with the white patriotic Dominican elite (specifically, Duarte). Sánchez and Mella are human symbols with whom most Dominicans can identify in attempting to reconcile their black African ancestry with the supposed inferiority of the black African ancestry of Haitians. All three biographies tighten the threads of nation and identity that connect the three men to each other and to their right to bear the title "hero." Duarte, Sánchez, and Mella are heroes for different reasons, but their stories of heroism are built with similar tools.
Juan Pablo Duarte: The Greatest Dominican Hero
As the founding member of La Trinitaria, Duarte is commonly referred to as the father of the Dominican Republic. Schools, museums, streets, and bridges throughout the country carry his name, attesting to his importance in Dominican history. Our task is to uncover how Duarte's biography explains why he deserves to be called the father of his country. We posit what the narrative recipe is for presenting a national hero in a Dominican schoolbook. Descriptions of his family, originality/innovative nature, character, and education are present in the Duarte text and establish a structure that also frames the descriptions of Sánchez and Mella. The same holds true for a number of other historical figures that are part of the same biography series. Duarte is shown to represent what Dominican society simultaneously aspires to be, thinks itself to be, and wants to project to others — the embodiment of idealized patriotism and a prototypical citizen that reflects the essence of all that is positive about the Dominican Republic. He has a Spanish family background, he is the original founding member of La Trinitaria, his virtue and moral compass are described in superlative terms, and his academic training and evident intelligence are a key part of his overall greatness as the hallmark of Dominican identity. His phenotype is characteristic of whiteness. The extremely laudatory tone of Duarte's portrayal is established early in the text in the chapter titled "The Greatness of Duarte." "La capacidad innovadora de Duarte se explica porque fue un ser superior, dotado de una constitución moral inquebrantable, que se propuso sacrificarlo todo en aras de su ideal y no transigió con soluciones mediatizadas." (The innovative ability of Duarte is explained by his being a superior being, gifted with an unbreakable moral constitution; he intended to sacrifice everything for the sake of his ideals and not tolerate constrained solutions.)
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Excerpted from "Unmastering the Script"
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