I have never known the relationship between Haiti and the Dominican Republic to be great. There was, from the first time I visited the DR at 16 years old, a palpable tension between “Dominicans” and “Haitians.” I put Dominicans and Haitians in quotes because no one was able to give me an explanation of what actually made someone Dominican or Haitian that was even remotely definite. It wasn’t, I was told, based on citizenship or where someone was born. Rather, they said, you could just tell. There was something in what they did for a living, in where they lived, and, most importantly, in their skin color, that determined where they belonged. Lighter, more caramel colored skin meant Dominican. Dark skin meant Haitian.

I could go on for hours about how flawed and inherently racist this method of differentiation is, but that doesn’t change the fact that it exists. It doesn’t change the reality that in the Dominican Republic, just like in many other countries all around the world, light skin is a marker of status.

While working in the DR for the past 8 years with both Dominicans and Haitians, I’ve seen mostly kindness and community, but there have been many moments when some little thing, like a compliment about a camper’s light skin or straight hair, reminds me that, as frustrating as it is, whiteness means something.

As it stands right now, the government of the Dominican Republic is threatening to act on a law passed earlier this year that allows them to deport those deemed to be of Haitian origin to Haiti. Already an intensely problematic idea, the concept of deporting thousands of people is further complicated when it’s taken into account that “Haitian-ness” is being defined not by place of birth or citizenship, but by arbitrary markers such as skin color.

One of the most commonly voiced arguments that I’ve heard in support of the law is that the DR opened its borders post-earthquake, but is no longer able to sustain the population or continued influx. While I am sure that there are many who came over after the 2010 earthquake, there are just as many, if not more, that have been in the DR for generations. These people, often doing the hard physical labor on the southern sugar bateyes, have become not just Dominican by birth and culture, but have also become key to the DR’s most famous cash crop.

The sugar in your favorite sweets, in your sodas, and in your coffee very well might have been grown, harvested, and processed by the hands of those stripped of citizenship based on the color of their skin and are now at risk of deportation. If you drink Caribbean rum, it is almost certain that you are consuming a product of Dominican/Haitian labor. So this isn’t a problem you can just avoid. The current situation on the island of Hispaniola is a real issue not just to them, but to anyone who consumes products of an industry built on the backs of Haitians who are now being told that they are not just second class citizens, but illegal aliens who every day face the possibility of being deported somewhere they may have never even visited.

So far, the Dominican Government has been mostly talk with little action. The imposed deadline passed without mass expulsions, but that doesn’t mean that it couldn’t still happen. It also doesn’t mean that just because they weren’t deported, those typified as Haitian can relax. Without a path to citizenship, and with continued threats of violence, they live in an anxiety-ridden limbo.

This August, I am going to the Dominican Republic and Haiti to visit some amazing communities and organizations that are doing great work in the social good space. I will be sharing my experience, including walking over the border into Haiti, with a small and intimate group of likeminded travelers as well as with my readers. What is going on right now between the DR and Haiti is, as I am sure you agree, extraordinarily frustrating. I hope that by putting attention on some of the inspiring things Haitians and Dominicans are currently doing, we can remind people that there is an attainable peaceful future. If you want to see it for yourself, join me.

Also: If you are an educator interested in leadership development, you should also check out Roots & Shoots’ free online course, starting next week. They do a really remarkable job incorporating current events and issues into classrooms in a way that encourages compassion and action from students of all ages.