Dominican Republic’s Culture of Ministry: KKK Troupe in Carnival Was Criticizing Racist Past

Mar 4, 2014
2:36 PM

In response to a troupe dressed in KKK outfits at the Dominican Republic’s Carnival in Santo Domingo this Sunday, the country’s Ministry of Culture said that the troupe was speaking out against the KKK’s past and was not celebrating the organization, according to a statement published today in Spanish.

KKKDR

Here is a translation of what El Caribe reported:

“The reality is that the troupe, with such action, disapproved the unseemly practices of the Ku Klux Klan,” the ministry said in a statement, which also added that eyewitnesses can attest that the action was not viewed in a positive manner.

The statement reported that members of the troupe explained that the intention was to “recreate a past (not necessarily a Dominican one, as it is known) to which humanity must never return to.”

In this regard, the State agency said that an act would never allow to represent the negative views that the Ku Klux Klan represents, because the essence of that organization contradicts the rules of peaceful coexistence and racially discriminates against the Black population.

“Based on the truth of what happened, the Ministry of Culture reiterates its commitment to our identity and democratic values ​​that underpin our daily actions, as being that of a democratic state,” the statement noted.

The photo, published both in Dominican outlets as well as in El Nuevo Herald, shows troupe members in KKK outfits and a sign showing the Ministry of Culture’s logo and a label that reads, “Klu Klux Klan.”

The statement does confirm that the troupe’s participation was approved by the Ministry of Culture, but did not address why such an image lacked little context about the troupe’s intention. Reports from the Dominican Republic say that this was all a misinterpretation.