On Thursday, I walked into the room 4/108, where the Dominican Student’s Association was holding a game of Dominioes, open for anyone to join. This wide, spacious room was very ideal for a social event like this. It was comfortably warm thanks to the radiator that sat below the window on the left of the classroom. Over dozens of chairs spanned across the room, making it suitable for large groups. Two wide, rectangular chalkboards hung on the wall at the very front of the room and one chalkboard hung at the very back. The lighting from the bright white classroom lights was softened by the natural light radiating from the large windows. As I settled down comfortably, the seven members of the club were discussing how to organize the desks for the upcoming games. This group was female dominated group with only three male members. All of the students were very racially ambiguous which is unsurprising as Dominicans tend to have mixed racial background. I also noticed most of the members in the group were tan or caramel skinned with kinky/curly hair. Only about 3 members of the group at this time, a woman and two men, were very light skinned. These factors may or may not affect how the group approached the topic of anti-blackness in Dominican culture or Dominican national identity. At that moment it seemed as if such topics would be the furthest things from the students minds as they settled down after setting up the desks.
Despite the members phenotypic diversity they treated each other as if they had been friends for years. Almost like family. Members spent about 10 minutes laughing and exchanging hearty hugs with one another. I saw one of the male members lean over and hug a female member that had her head down on the desk. I saw another member snuggle herself onto another woman’s lap. This displayed a deep bond between the members. The conversations within the group sounded very familiar to someone like myself. I overheard the students chatting about the prices of marijuana and pondering on what they may eat for lunch. Not uncommon for college students at all. But even the tones of their voices were very familiar. The accents of the men especially were lined with typical New York aggression and machoness. Common New York slang terms like “Dub” , “Deadass”, “‘Preciate you”, “Yeooo” were thrown around quite a bit. Surprisingly, very little Spanish was spoken among the members at this time. The lightest woman of the group wrote on the board “Day Of Dominoes” as the smell of meat started wafting around the room and some of the members dug into their meals. One of the other female members took a pause from her meal to politely introduce herself to a male student named Saul that walked in. She asked him about his name and whether he would like to join. Even though he declined to play at the time, she welcomed him to watch. When another one of the members reentered the room with a Black student that didn’t appear to be either Hispanic or part of the group, the member politely introduce the group to what seemed to be his friend. The group responded with relaxed enthusiasm, showing how casual yet willing they are in accepting nonmembers and different students. This indicated to me that the group wasn’t strict at all in defining who could or couldn’t be a member. Perhaps having heritage from such a mixed country such as the Dominican Republic makes them more welcoming toward students who may come from a different background.
Dominoes is a fun and intense game I would typically see played at family reunions or in a social setting at school during lunch. When the games started, the atmosphere of the room was almost a mix of both. Dominican classics like “Suavemente” served as background music as two competitive games of Dominoes were played on two seperate tables that were postioned next to one another. The members would take a few seconds, passionately singing the lyrics of the music, closing their eyes and swaying around. I could tell these songs evoked feelings of nostalgia within the members and were considered classic songs within their subculture. Casual conversation around makeup, food, and classes came from the female majority dominoes game on the left side of the class. The maIe side was louder, with a man in a red bomber jacket often making exclamations like “Cono!” before eventually declaring he won. Members briefly teased one another in Spanish. Very interestingly, as the members and players joked around with one another, I heard term ‘Nigga” fly around very often. This term is referred to as a slur when used by anyone that is not Black however it is well known and accepted in New York City for Hispanics especially to use the word. It’s possible that the members of the club identify as Afro-Latino and therefore see themselves as Black. From this perspective, they would see no issue with using the word because they consider themselves Black. It’s also possible that they use the word so carelessly (even in the presence of other Black people), because it is so normalized on the East coast for different minority groups to use it. It may not occur to them that it could be seen as highly offensive. This would be a great topic to discuss with the group as it could give further insight into how they identify and how they approach racial issues within their community.
The students continued to play the game, allowing any student that joined in to either participate or watch. Each group played about 2-3 rounds of the game. Towards the end of the club meeting the players eventually drifted from playing Dominoes and started goofing off with one another instead. It got much louder in the room around this time as the group fell into hysterics multiple times. Around this time, one of the members warmly introduced herself to me and asked about my presence. We got into a relaxed conversation about our majors and the semester. Within 4 minutes, another student joined in on the conversation and I would later learn that she was the VP of DSA. When I told her that I thought of Dominicans as being apart of the African diaspora she exploded with agreement and relief. She was aware of the conversation regarding Dominican identity and felt as if it was a double edged sword for them at times. “People get mad when we don’t identify as Black but also don’t accept us when we do”. She seemed passionate about the subject. Passionate enough that she told me about potentially hosting a group conversation concerning the relationship between Dominicans and Haitians. These two groups have historically had a strained relationship since the 17th century. Xenophobia in Dominican Republic against Haitians is inextricably linked with sentiments of anti-blackness in the area (Lara 470). Both her and I agreed that it would be progressive and positive to have a balanced conversation with educated individuals from both groups. In our discussion, she seemed to be fearful at the conversation possibly going awry but when I suggested that the group hold a fun event prior to the discussion to ease tension she was very hopeful.
Reflecting back on the experience, I wish I would have actively participated in the activity instead of just observing. I feel like this would’ve given me greater insight into the subcultures specific mannerisms. Like when group members teased each other in Spanish, I couldn’t make out what was said and what the words meant. Based off the body language of the members I could tell it was all in good faith because these banters would just end it smiles and laughs. So there is an element in communication that I feel I didn’t effectively grasp here. Fortunately, the air of camaraderie throughout the event was enough to give me an idea of what was happening.
My experience sitting in DSA’s Day of Dominoes was extremely positive. As a non-Dominican Black woman, I never felt unwelcome at any point. Quite the opposite actually. I felt like I was amongst a group of friends in a cafeteria, hearing typical New York colloquialisms being expressed and loud jokes. They reminded me of the Dominicans I would encounter throughout my childhood in Brooklyn by the way they spoke and acte amongst each other. Despite this strong sense of community within the group.There was no hesitation in allowing and inviting other nonmembers to join the group activity. In fact, the group was more excited than anything else. Their eagerness to play with anyone came from a genuine desire to have others participate in their cultural group activities. Although antiblackness and racial inequality are still prominent issues in many Dominican communities, the members of DSA have no problem with inclusion. These students are more interested in sharing their culture with those who are interested and respectful and maintaining a sense of friendship in the club.
