The Other Black Republic: Segregated Statecraft and the Dual Nature of US-Dominican Diplomacy

This chapter considers Astwood’s aspirations for the Dominican Republic within the context of the United States’ racial imaginary of Haiti and the whole island of Hispaniola, and it documents his struggle to assert his political authority. As consul, Astwood faced discrimination against his color and the United States’ racist disregard for the Dominican Republic. This chapter shows that, due to these dynamics, US-Dominican relations depended upon both official and unofficial diplomacy bifurcated along racial lines. This form of segregated statecraft reveals the dialectic relationship between the building of US empire and the defense of Black political authority. Rather than accepting his subordinate post, Astwood pursued a reciprocity treaty and strategically manipulated racist US stereotypes about the island through discursive performances of righteous indignation. Such performances enabled him to gain legitimacy and assert his authority among three groups of powerbrokers: US State Department officials, American capitalists, and Dominican government officials.