This article sets out to examine the question: how do social science textbooks used in the Dominican public schools portray national identity and ethnicity to its students? This article examines how the popular contemporary Dominican perspective on "blackness" plays a fundamental role in the current Dominican social science public school curriculum. The article begins with an historical overview of race and ethnicity in the Dominican Republic and insight into how the relationship between the Dominican Republic and Haiti has shaped both countries' concept of race, culture and ethnic identity in very different ways. The theoretical paradigm of the project is guided by constructivism and by and critical race theory. The methodological process of data collection and analysis is also outlined. Data sources include: interviews, participant observation, personal experience field notes and document collection. Various illustrations and activities from social science textbooks used in Grades 2, 3 and 5 are the basis for the results section. The results of this investigation are presented in three themes regarding the Domincian perspective of "blackness" and how it is portrayed as a part of national identity and ethnicity. These themes are: (1) blackness represents less desirable social status; (2) blackness can be prevented through generational "blancamiento" (whitening); and (3) blackness is represented by negative and exaggerated stereotypes.