Political and Migration Issues Affecting Puerto Ricans in the United States
Puerto Ricans have a very distinct and complicated history. Their history is unlike any other immigrants who migrated at the United States at any time. Their island became a focus of the United States in 1898, when they won the island as booty in the Spanish-American war. Puerto Ricans residing in the United States have always had the dilemma of having to straddle both the American and Puerto Rican cultures and Spanish and English languages. In my opinion, Puerto Ricans have never had it easy living in the United States. So when I ask my grandparents, and other older generation Puerto Ricans why they decided to migrate from what I thought was "paradise" to the United States, they all give me the same answer. They wanted a better future for their families. They all felt that once they lived in the United States, opportunity would be knocking at the door.
As exemplified in the novel, Memoirs of Bernando Vega: A Contribution to the History of the Puerto Rican Community in New York, Puerto Ricans struggled just as much in the mainland as they did on the island. Because of the relationship between the United States and Puerto Rico, one would think that Puerto Ricans would have had many advantages over other immigrants, especially after passing of the Jones Act of 1917, which granted Puerto Ricans a partial citizenship status. However, that was not the case either. Puerto Ricans still dealt with discrimination, a great deal of setbacks and downfalls, as well as issues of forced assimilation. Their high hopes of becoming successful in the United States usually came to an end after about a month or so of living in the United States when they realized it w...
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...sly and were more involved politically. The difference is also due to the times in which these political groups were active, and the level of compliance Puerto Ricans had with the American political system, and improvements to individual organizations. Still there were many improvements made, and the same could not have been accomplished without Vega’s older generation of politicians.
Still the efforts continue. It is now up the future generation of young Puerto Ricans to help unite their people, and their community advance. The politics of the Puerto Rican people has evolved from class politics, to ethnic politics, to what is now identity politics. In the beginning they struggled to be heard and represented in their small communities, and now we must continue to fight to have a voice and representation, not just in our community, but in the government as well.
The English immigrants are given a brief introduction as the first ethnic group to settle in America. The group has defined the culture and society throughout centuries of American history. The African Americans are viewed as a minority group that were introduced into the country as slaves. The author depicts the struggle endured by African Americans with special emphasis on the Civil War and the Civil Rights movement. The entry of Asian Americans evoked suspicion from other ethnic groups that started with the settlement of the Chinese. The Asian community faced several challenges such as the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, and the mistreatment of Americans of Japanese origin during World War II. The Chicanos were the largest group of Hispanic peoples to settle in the United States. They were perceived as a minority group. Initially they were inhabitants of Mexico, but after the Westward expansion found themselves being foreigners in their native land (...
This book was published in 1981 with an immense elaboration of media hype. This is a story of a young Mexican American who felt disgusted with being pointed out as a minority and was unhappy with affirmative action programs although he had gained advantages from them. He acknowledged the gap that was created between him and his parents as the penalty immigrants ought to pay to develop and grow into American culture. And he confessed that he was bewildered to see other Hispanic teachers and students determined to preserve their ethnicity and traditions by asking for such issues to be dealt with as departments of Chicano studies and minority literature classes. A lot of critics criticized him as a defector of his heritage, but there are a few who believed him to be a sober vote in opposition to the political intemperance of the 1960s and 1970s.
People who are different and ready for a change can be scary,society is one of the first people scared. Society pushes away people who are different from the norms. This happened in a time overlooked by many people. This was the time the young lords spent in New york. Kids and teenagers banded together to make as much as a difference as possible. Many tried to make a non-violent movement and were still shot down and told to silence their movement. Many middle aged Puerto Ricans raised in the United States disagreed with the action plan of the Young Lords,they believed the young lords were just causing trouble in each city they arrived in. They refuse to allow the idea of change into their mind as well as the minds of their children. They didn’t want the fight to make things worse for Puerto Rico’s freedom.
Wright left the South when he decided he could no longer withstand the poverty he had long dwelled in because he was an useless African American in the eyes of the racist, white men. Little did he know that this decision he made in order to run away from poverty would become the impetus to his success as a writer later on in life. In Wright’s autobiography, his sense of hunger derived from poverty represents both the injustice African Americans had to face back then, and also what overcoming that hunger means to his own kind. The Tortilla Curtain and Black Boy are two of the many books which illustrate the discrimination going on in our unjust societies. Through the words of T. C. Boyle and Richard Wright, the difficulties illegal Mexican immigrants and African Americans had and still have to face are portrayed.
For us to clearly understand the Young Lords, it must be understood how the Puerto Rican Community came to be in New York City and other American cities such as Newark and Chicago. With the Spanish American War of 1898 came added difficulty for the population of Puerto Rico. Recently acquired by the United States, citizens of Puerto Rico were actually citizens of nowhere until granted statutory citizenship to the United States in 1917. Yet three years earlier, on 12 March 1914 the citizens of Puerto Rico opposing this imposition of American citizenship sent a "Memorandum to the President and Congress of the United States" stating, " We firmly and loyally oppose our being declared, against our express will or without our express content, citizens of any other than our own beloved country which God granted to us as an inalienable gift and incoercible right."[5]
Things to know: 1984 was a book written about life under a totalitarian regime from an average citizen’s point of view. This book envisions the theme of an all knowing government with strong control over its citizens. This book tells the story of Winston Smith, a worker of the Ministry of Truth, who is in charge of editing the truth to fit the government’s policies and claims. It shows the future of a government bleeding with brute force and propaganda. This story begins and ends in the continent of Oceania one of the three supercontinents of the world. Oceania has three classes the Inner Party, the Outer Party and the lowest of all, the Proles (proletarian). Oceania’s government is the Party or Ingsoc (English Socialism
Puerto Ricans will have more opportunities as a state and it would bring more federal help for PR. As a state, Puerto Rico will rise from the poverty since they are below the poverty line and American statehood could be the answer to many of the problems the Island is facing. Zach Patton, author of ¨Does Puerto Rico really want to be the next state?¨ writes, ¨Puerto Rico 's economy is in crisis. The territory of 3.7 million residents is now in the seventh year of a persistent downturn, a recession that 's much deeper--and broader--than the one on the mainland...Roughly 45 percent of Puerto Ricans live in poverty, three times the national rate. More than a third of the territory 's residents are on food stamps. Unemployment last year topped 15 percent¨. Proving that Puerto Rico could be beneficial not only financially but in many other aspects in which both Puerto Ricans and Americans can
In this story, the reader can see exactly how, many Puerto Ricans feel when living on other grounds. Throughout this time, the boy that Rodriguez presents us realizes he has his culture and that he wants to preserve it as much as he can. “Because I’m Puerto Rican”. I ain’t no American. And I’m not a Yankee flag-waver”
In the early 20th century, many Puerto Ricans immigrated to America. They came here searching for the American Dream. Instead, they found many hardships, as shown in Pedro Pietri's “Puerto Rican Obituary.” In “Puerto Rican Obituary,” the speaker demonstrates economic problems, discrimination, and the cultural difference.
Puerto Rican migration was greatly influenced by both the United States and its own government. Even though Puerto Rico’s government made and executed its own migration
La autora Puertoriqueña Rosario Ferré sin duda pertence a ese grupo the escritores que critícan la sociedad en la que les tocó vivír en sus creaciónes literárias. Ferré nació en Ponce, Puerto Rico la ciudad mas grande y poderosa del sur de la isla. Su familia es una de las mas importante economicamente y politicamente poderosa. Su padre fue gobernador de la isla durante los años del 1968 al 1972. Como todas las mujeres en esa época se casó y comenzó una familia, destinada a una vida como dama elegante y ociosa. Pero se dió cuenta que su vida pertenecía a la literatura. Ella rompió un taboo y molde cultural, que convertía a las mujeres de clase media alta, en muñecas. Esa generación de mujeres exigiendo cambios en la sociedad se encontraban en el medio de la revolución femenina. Cualquier mujer que quisiera cambiar su vida o trabajar era considerada extraña o loca. Esta opreción se convirtió en su inspiración. Ferré nos comunica a travez de esta novela, la realidad de la mujer puertoriqueña a mediados de siglo. En La Bella Durmiente, Rosario Ferré muestra la mujer como sujeto y objeto. Esta obra es un manisfiesto de los derechos de la mujer y del inconformismo femenino que eventualmente lleva a la mujer a rechazar la realidad. Analizare y demonstrare por medio de este ensayo, los papeles que le toca jugar (a la mujer) en esta sociedad, la corrupcion moral y social que le rodea y su reacción ante todo esto resultando en un trágico final.
When Mexicans and Puerto Ricans moved to Chicago in the late 1900s, they encountered many issues without any help. Cases of domestic violence and lack of education and jobs emerged in the Latino community. Latino immigrants populated the Pilsen neighborhood and didn't have many services or resources available for them when they needed assistance. After no signs of improvement were apparent, 15 women stood up and decided to make a change of their own. Mujeres Latinas En Accion formed to help Latina women and their families by providing services, fighting for the better of Latinas and giving help to those who need it.
1984 is a dystopian novel set inn Airstrip One, which used to be Britian. Oceania is always at war with another superpower, and their main goal is to achieve the most power throughout their world. The main character is Winston Smith, a man who works for the party and is supposed to change history to match what the party has told him. Winston lives in a society where he is constantly listened to and watched by telescreens and microphones to make sure he is enthusiastic about hate, and to make sure he doesn’t commit any crimes. Everywhere Winston goes he always sees posters that say, “Big Brother is Watching You.” Big Brother is the party leader that may or may not be real. The official language of Oceania, the country where Airstrip one is located, is Newspeak. Newspeak is the only language in Oceania that lessens it’s words each year so that it is harder for people to commit thoughtcrime. Winston is a dedicated worker, but often thinks about rebellion against Big Brother. Winston idolizes a man named O'Brien that he thinks is part of the Brotherhood, a terrorist group who constantly sabotages the party. Winston begins to like a woman named Juli...
The United States played an important role in the evolution of Puerto Rican culture, more specifically music. While Puerto Rican culture remains distinct from that of American culture, its historical progression is forever tied with that of the United States. This is evident in the evolution of Puerto Rican music. It is also evident in the experience of Puerto Rican musicians both on the island and in the Diaspora. U.S rule was in part responsible for Puerto Rican migration both within the island and off the island. This is so due to the political and economic relationship between Puerto Rico and the United States. As a result new genres, or styles of Puerto Rican music were created. The U.S also controlled how the music of the island would be communicated to the rest of the world. This effected the way Puerto Ricans expressed their identity through music.
Throughout the experiences I have been through, such as meeting proud Latin kids in school and reading about the experiences of other Latinos, I am proud to say that I am Puerto Rican. I will teach the future generation about our culture, including traditions and customs. My children may not have the opportunity to read about well-known Latinos in school, but I will make sure they learn about prominent scholars, such as Jose Marti and Rigoberta Menchu. Also, speaking Spanish is very important because our culture is based on the language. After all, one day the official language of Puerto Rico might change to English. However, we can't forget our roots, or where we came from. Even though I was born in America, I am Puerto Rican.