Although October 2, 1937 was a Saturday and schools were closed, the Dominican Republic administered a deadly language assessment to unsuspecting Haitians on their side of the island. This test, “El Corte,” mandated by a fully Hitlerized Rafael Troujillo, was epic but short. Passing required the proper enunciation of a single word: parsley–in Spanish. Those who failed were promptly slaughtered. Many authors have written about the Parsley Massacre, among them Edwidge Danticat, René Philoctète, and Rita Dove.
Try taking Troujillo’s language test now. Say “Perejil.” Did you remember to trill the “r” the way a native Spanish speaker would: Perrrrrrrejil. If you did, you might have lived to see another day. Maybe. If your skin is “light,” you would have been fine.
By the way, if you’re reading this post at the Dominican Beauty Salon that does your hair so well, don’t get upset and run into the street with shampoo dripping down–blinding you. You can get hurt. Be still and know Troujillo’s regime took the lives of countless Dominicans, too. In the Time of the Butterflies, a deeply moving book by Dominican author Julia Alvarez, draws readers into the lives of three sisters who stood up against the regime.
VoicesfromHaiti honors the 20,000+ Haitians whose blood spilled on Dominican soil and turned the Massacre River red and thick 75 years ago.
¡Enough already!