[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:08.46,0:00:12.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When historians talk about \Nthe atrocities of the 20th century,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:12.01,0:00:17.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we often think of those that took place\Nduring and between the two World Wars.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:17.50,0:00:20.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Along with the Armenian genocide \Nin modern-day Turkey,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:20.54,0:00:22.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the Rape of Nanking in China,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:22.65,0:00:24.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and Kristallnacht in Germany,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:24.75,0:00:27.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,another horrific ethnic cleansing campaign
Dialogue: 0,0:00:27.52,0:00:32.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,occurred on an island between \Nthe Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:32.76,0:00:35.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The roots of this conflict \Ngo back to 1492,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:35.75,0:00:39.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when Christopher Columbus stumbled \Nonto the Caribbean island
Dialogue: 0,0:00:39.43,0:00:46.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that would come to be named Hispaniola,\Nlaunching a wave of European colonization.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:46.04,0:00:50.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The island’s Taíno natives were decimated \Nby violence and disease
Dialogue: 0,0:00:50.66,0:00:54.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the Europeans imported large numbers\Nof enslaved Africans
Dialogue: 0,0:00:54.54,0:00:58.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to toil in profitable sugar plantations.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:58.04,0:01:01.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,By 1777, the island had become divided
Dialogue: 0,0:01:01.34,0:01:05.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,between a French-controlled West \Nand a Spanish-controlled East.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:05.99,0:01:11.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A mass slave revolt won Haiti \Nits independence from France in 1804
Dialogue: 0,0:01:11.40,0:01:14.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and it became the world’s \Nfirst black republic.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:14.32,0:01:16.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But the new nation paid dearly,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:16.52,0:01:21.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,shut out of the world economy and \Nsaddled with debt by its former masters.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:21.63,0:01:24.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Meanwhile, the Dominican Republic \Nwould declare independence
Dialogue: 0,0:01:24.96,0:01:28.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,by first overthrowing Haitian rule \Nof eastern Hispaniola
Dialogue: 0,0:01:28.76,0:01:32.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and later Spanish \Nand American colonialism.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:32.12,0:01:36.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Despite the long and collaborative history\Nshared by these two countries,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:36.19,0:01:39.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,many Dominican elites saw Haiti \Nas a racial threat
Dialogue: 0,0:01:39.98,0:01:46.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that imperiled political and commercial\Nrelations with white western nations.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:46.15,0:01:48.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In the years following World War I,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:48.00,0:01:51.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the United States occupied \Nboth parts of the island.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:51.36,0:01:54.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It did so to secure its power \Nin the Western hemisphere
Dialogue: 0,0:01:54.83,0:01:59.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,by destroying local opposition \Nand installing US-friendly governments.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:59.31,0:02:02.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The brutal and racist nature \Nof the US occupation,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:02.86,0:02:06.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,particularly along the remote\NDominican-Haitian border,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:06.21,0:02:10.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,laid the foundation for bigger atrocities \Nafter its withdrawal.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:10.87,0:02:15.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In 1930, liberal Dominican president \NHoracio Vásquez
Dialogue: 0,0:02:15.01,0:02:19.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was overthrown by the chief of his army, \NRafael Trujillo.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:19.28,0:02:22.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Despite being a quarter Haitian himself,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:22.01,0:02:25.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Trujillo saw the presence of a bicultural \NHaitian and Dominican borderland
Dialogue: 0,0:02:25.99,0:02:28.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as both a threat to his power
Dialogue: 0,0:02:28.02,0:02:32.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and an escape route \Nfor political revolutionaries.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:32.16,0:02:35.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In a chilling speech on October 2, 1937,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:35.74,0:02:39.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he left no doubt about his intentions \Nfor the region.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:39.39,0:02:43.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Claiming to be protecting Dominican\Nfarmers from theft and incursion,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:43.49,0:02:48.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Trujillo announced the killing \Nof 300 Haitians along the border
Dialogue: 0,0:02:48.12,0:02:53.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and promised that this so-called "remedy" \Nwould continue.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:53.18,0:02:55.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Over the next few weeks, \Nthe Dominican military,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:55.88,0:02:57.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,acting on Trujillo’s orders,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:57.95,0:03:01.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,murdered thousands of Haitian men \Nand women,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:01.54,0:03:04.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and even their Dominican-born children.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:04.40,0:03:07.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The military targeted black Haitians,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:07.27,0:03:11.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,even though many Dominicans themselves \Nwere also dark-skinned.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:11.47,0:03:14.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Some accounts say that to distinguish\Nthe residents
Dialogue: 0,0:03:14.17,0:03:16.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of one country from the other,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:16.16,0:03:21.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the killers forced their victims \Nto say the Spanish word for parsley.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:21.34,0:03:25.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Dominicans pronounce it perejil, \Nwith a trilled Spanish "r."
Dialogue: 0,0:03:25.47,0:03:30.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The primary Haitian language, however,\Nis Kreyol, which doesn’t use a trilled r.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:30.73,0:03:33.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So if people struggled to say perejil,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:33.35,0:03:37.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they were judged to be Haitian \Nand immediately killed.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:37.48,0:03:40.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Yet recent scholarship suggests \Nthat tests like this
Dialogue: 0,0:03:40.62,0:03:44.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,weren’t the sole factor used to determine\Nwho would be murdered,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:44.42,0:03:48.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,especially because many of the border \Nresidents were bilingual.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:48.43,0:03:52.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The Dominican government censored\Nany news of the massacre,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:52.05,0:03:54.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,while bodies were thrown in ravines,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:54.24,0:03:55.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,dumped in rivers,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:55.52,0:03:58.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or burned to dispose of the evidence.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:58.30,0:04:02.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is why no one knows exactly \Nhow many people were murdered,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:02.23,0:04:07.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,though contemporary estimates \Nrange from about 4,000 to 15,000.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:07.55,0:04:11.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Yet the extent of the carnage \Nwas clear to many observers.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:11.34,0:04:14.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,As the US Ambassador to \Nthe Dominican Republic at the time noted,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:14.93,0:04:19.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,“The entire northwest of the frontier\Non the Dajabón side
Dialogue: 0,0:04:19.11,0:04:22.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is absolutely devoid of Haitians.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:22.14,0:04:28.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Those not slain either fled across the\Nfrontier or are still hiding in the bush.”
Dialogue: 0,0:04:28.45,0:04:30.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The government tried \Nto disclaim responsibility
Dialogue: 0,0:04:30.83,0:04:33.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and blame the killings \Non vigilante civilians,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:33.88,0:04:37.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but Trujillo was condemned \Ninternationally.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:37.04,0:04:38.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Eventually, the Dominican government
Dialogue: 0,0:04:38.88,0:04:44.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was forced to pay only $525,000 \Nin reparations to Haiti,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:44.51,0:04:46.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but due to corrupt bureaucracy,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:46.36,0:04:51.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,barely any of these funds reached \Nsurvivors or their families.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:51.17,0:04:53.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Neither Trujillo nor anyone \Nin his government
Dialogue: 0,0:04:53.88,0:04:58.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was ever punished for this crime \Nagainst humanity.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:58.11,0:05:01.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The legacy of the massacre remains \Na source of tension
Dialogue: 0,0:05:01.12,0:05:02.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,between the two countries.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:02.76,0:05:07.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Activists on both sides of the border \Nhave tried to heal the wounds of the past.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:07.46,0:05:10.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But the Dominican state has done little, \Nif anything,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:10.30,0:05:14.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to officially commemorate \Nthe massacre or its victims.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:14.02,0:05:18.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Meanwhile, the memory of the Haitian\Nmassacre remains a chilling reminder
Dialogue: 0,0:05:18.91,0:05:22.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of how power-hungry leaders\Ncan manipulate people
Dialogue: 0,0:05:22.17,0:05:24.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,into turning against \Ntheir lifelong neighbors.