1. The Dominican American Experience By: Elizabeth Ezirike, Tina Kulangara, and Aysha Mahmood

2. The Start of Immigration The start of Dominican immigration started in the 1960’s when the dictator of the Dominican Republic, Rafael Trujillo, was becoming cruel and started to ignore the people of his country. This caused a number of activists, scared civilians, and protestors to migrate to America, in search of finding a better democratic and political system. The next big wave of immigration was in the 1980’s. Approximately 250,000 people migrated during that time and more than half of them were illegal immigrants. These were people who took a yola, a big boat that carried a large number of people, through the dangerous Mona Passage to get to Puerto Rico. Since Puerto Rico was considered “US Territory,” they didn’t have to have official documents or papers to fly from Puerto Rico to the United States.

3. American vs. Dominican Once Dominicans started migrating to America, the two cultures started to clash. Dominicans found Americans to be more liberated and free-spirited than themselves, while Americans found Dominicans to be just illegal immigrants who are unable to adapt to their country. At the beginning, the two cultures clashed, but during time, the two have merged together and have learned how to appreciate each other. Alex Rodriguez is a perfect example of this. Baseball is considered America’s pastime, and Alex Rodriguez helped to keep that baseball legend going. Even though he’s half Dominican, he is accepted, and even praised by many Americans.

4. Dominican Culture Dominicans have influenced the American culture in various ways. Since most Dominicans are Christians and Good Friday is an important holiday in their country, they bring some of that culture to America. As well as good Friday, Dominicans celebrate Carnival, a traditional parade celebrating their culture. Even though the big parades in the Dominican Republic, Dominicans still dress up in traditional clothes and eat special foods, such as “la bandera” and “bizcocho” on this special day. Dominican immigration has caused Spanish to be the second most spoken language in America. They also are the second largest Hispanic group in New York and growing.