In October 1937 Dominican president Rafael Leonidas Trujillo made agreements with the Haitian president Stenio Vincent during meetings they had, stating that he would permit Haitians to cross the border. Then he changed his mind and again wanted control of the border. It was decided that if a person could not pronounce the letter r in “perejil”, the Spanish word for parsley ( the R is difficult for Haitians to pronounce), they would be killed. Over 12,000 to 25,000 Haitian men,women and children were massacred in the Dominican Republic as well as some “darker” Dominican citizens. Some estimates place this figure much higher. Rafael Leonidas Trujillo used the the Dominican school system and the media to teach native Dominicans they were “white,” and were to be proud to be descendants of the Spanish conquistadores. Trujillo began a program, “Dominicanización of the Fronterá” favoring European immigration to help to “whiten” the population. Trujillo declared Merengue the national music of the Dominican Republic, and had the music and dance modeled after the European Waltz, to make his country appear more European, at least on the surface. Under his rule Blacks native to the Dominican Republic were deemed to be inferior, even considered as sub-human beings, therefore anything that had, or seemed African, was not acceptable. Praise was given to those born of European descent, and this would become the concept towards which future generations would look to as an example for their identity. It was the European model, not the prevalent African model of identity, which would eventually be desired, and this is what has come to be reflected in the Dominican Republic today. You will find mixed and Black Dominicans who call themselves Indio, and they say that their color is dark because they come from the Taino Indians. RAFAEL LEONIDAS TRUJILLO HIMSELF WAS MIXED AFRICAN. HIS GRANDMOTHER WAS HAITIAN… HE WAS WELL KNOWN TO WEAR MAKEUP TO LIGHTEN HIS SKIN….SELF HATRED AT ITS BEST.