Today we celebrate the meeting of many cultures! Happy “Día de la Raza”!

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Today, Friday the 12th of October 2012, the Dominican Republic as well as many other Hispanic countries around the world celebrate “Día de la Raza”, Identity/Race Day – a celebration in commemoration of the meeting of different cultures, which happened first when Christopher Columbus “discovered” the Americas in 1492!

October the 12th is a special date, which has been celebrated by hispanics for many years; although all of these countries have a rich and very interesting history, some are in fact quiet similar (especially for the countries found in the Caribbean) – greatly attributed to Christopher Columbus’ discovery in 1492, who in his mission of getting to India, actually ended up in the wonderful lands of the Americas.

Without a doubt, Christopher Columbus’ discovery made a great difference to the cultural identity, as well as beliefs and traditions to many countries, in a sense, the historic path of the Dominican Republic, and the paths of numerous other countries in the Americas were altered. Even though, “Día de la Raza” goes by other names in other countries; such as “National Spanish Day” or “Day for Respect of Cultural Diversity”, just like this last name indicates, it is a day in which we all celebrate the inter-relationship and fusion of our Aborigeneous, African and Spanish ancestors, based on a need of true respect which has been developed today for the many  cultures in the world.

In the Dominican Republic, however, we particularly tend to conmemorate our Taíno Indians, the first to have lived on the island, who were first encountered by the Spanish colonizers, and who were sadly exterminated the race due to hard labor. Nevertheless the Taino Indians, were indeed a great part of our (Dominicans as well as other Caribbean countries) – a beautiful mixture of three different cultures – our very own identity!

Happy Dominican and Hispanic Identity/Race Day!