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Jose Rosario

Jose Rosario

Jose Manuel Rosario is a Senior at Duke University’s Trinity College of Arts and Sciences, where he is pursuing a degree in Public Policy Studies with a concentration in poverty, race, and social exclusion. He is the recipient of the David M. Rubenstein Scholarship, a competitive merit scholarship at Duke that supports first-generation students. In his studies, Jose is focusing on the intersections of public policy, communities of color, and low-income individuals in the United States while also furthering his knowledge of the inequalities faced by disadvantaged communities internationally. His interest in society’s inequities stems from his background as the son of two Dominican parents who migrated to New York City. Jose’s thesis titled, Anti Haitianismo and Sentencia 168: An Analysis of Anti-Haitian Stereotypes in Three Dominican Newspapers, was influenced by this background.

Honors Thesis:

Anti-Haitianismo and Sentencia 168:  An Analysis of Anti-Haitian Stereotypes in Three Dominican Newspapers

Faculty Advisor: Professor Sarah B. Bermeo

Abstract: Anti-Haitianismo, a term used to refer to prejudice or social discrimination against Haitians in the Dominican Republic exists in Dominican media. However, the extent to which it was used by Dominican media in connection to Sentencia 168, the Constitutional Court’s judgment which established that only persons born in the Dominican Republic to Dominican parents or legal residents are considered citizens, was not clear. This thesis utilizes three national Dominican newspapers, Listín Diario, Hoy, and El Caribe, across two different time periods to conduct a quantitative content analysis that explores the extent to which there was a change in the use of anti-Haitianismo by Dominican media before and after Sentencia 168. The results of this 600-article analysis across three sources and between two time periods (2011-2013 and 2013-2015) indicated that media coverage was significantly more negative right before the court ruling. This finding has important implications for both the connection between politics and media coverage, as well as the broader framing of Haitians in the Dominican Republic.