The Identity of a Puerto Rican
Sidney W. Mintz describes the Caribbean as "a scattering of some fifty inhabited units spanning nearly 2, 500 miles of sea between Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and the north coast of South America, constitute the oldest colonial sphere of Western European overseas expansion... these territories were dominated and navigated and explored, their aborigines had been thrust into the consciousness of European monarchs, philosophers, and scientists" (17). The islands in the Caribbean might have some common historical patterns of conquest, slavery and the development of multi-cultural societies but each island has its own history, culture and identity. As part of the Caribbean, Puerto Rico can identify with some of the other Hispanic colonies but in reality the issues of ethnicity, race and nationality are unique in Puerto Rico. In the essay, "Ethnic Conflict and Levels of Identity in the Caribbean: Deconstructing a Myth" Ralph R. Premdas writes, "Ethnic identity emerges from collective group consciousness that imparts a sense of belonging derived from membership in a community bound putatively by common descent and culture... Identity as belonging can be acquired through memberships as various communities bound by one or more social attributes such as race, language, religion, culture, region, etc" (24). The question for Puerto Rico is what is the identity of the people if the island has experienced 400 years of Spanish colonialism and 100 years of US sovereignty? How has and still is American colonial intervention affected or affects Puerto Rican culture? The Puerto Rican national identity has been challenged every since Columbus arrived on the island. To better understand the issues and the changes in id...
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...uerto Ricanness by providing a counterexample of what Puerto Ricanness is not" (152). It is clearly seen today that many Puerto Ricans are proud to be Puerto Rican even those living in the mainland. Yes, their lives have been altered but their uniqueness and pride will always be there because they will always be Puerto Rican. The addition of US culture on the island adds to Puerto Rico’s makeup. Yet division amongst the Puerto Ricans exist due to the status question of the island. These divisions makes it hard for Puerto Ricans to be identify as one.
Bibliography
Carrion, Juan Manuel. ed.and Nationality in the Caribbean. Puerto Rico: University of Puerto Rico. 1997
Gonzalez, Jose Luis. Puerto Rico: The Four-Storey Country. New York: Markus Wiener Publishing, Inc. 1993
Morris, Nancy. Puerto Rico:Culture, Politics, and Identity. Connecticut: Praeger. 1995
societies to reexamine their view of the Caribbean. In this paper the following topics in The
Puerto Rico is the neighbor to the south of Florida. There is a growing population of Puerto Ricans in the United States. There is also a large United States interest in Puerto Rico. It is important to understand the culture of our neighbor should the United States wish to continue a positive relationship as well as globalization. Understanding the superstitions and the proper business etiquette in Puerto Rico can serve as a glimpse into the culture of the island.
2. Eighner’s approach to refutation is seen when he talks about the dangers of dumpster diving, “I do not want to paint too romantic a picture. Dumpster diving
The intention of this essay is to demonstrate to a vision rational, concordant political leader to the Puerto Rican, American and worldwide reality. It responds to the necessity that to the statehood it is necessary to imagine it and to expose it with all the evidence available, since many Puerto Ricans, including many political leaders, do not know like defending it or exposing it before the peculiar ones or our adversaries.
Guerra, Lillian. Popular Expression and National Identity in Puerto Rico: The Struggle for self, Community, and Nation, chs. 2-3 (Gainesville: U Press of Florida, 1998) 45-121.
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”
Puerto Rico is a Commonwealth of the United States which makes it easy for natives to travel back and forth. Puerto Ricans first began to arrive in the United States to fill the work void left but those who went on to fight in World War I. Operation Bootstrap was a series of projects that attempted to turn Puerto Rico; a known agricultural economy to one that would concentrate on industrialization and tourism. Puerto Rico enticed many U.S companies with tax exemptions and differential rental rates on industrialized properties and so the shift in the economy had commenced. The shift however did not help the high unemployment rate on the island. Rather than having to deal with the droves of people seeking work they noticed the active recruitment of Puerto Rican workers by U.S. employers. The government began to encourage the departure of Puerto Ricans to the U.S. by requesting the Federal Aviation Administration to lower the airfares between Puerto Rico and the United States. This was an attempt to ch...
...r own personal identity and how others view them. They are caught between to very different cultures and consequently often don't know how to find a way to balance the two. As Latino-Americans move farther away from their roots and struggle to find some common ground between the two cultures the polar duality in their identity will continue to be an extremely common theme in Latino writing.
which is a predominantly Hispanic area of the city. I myself am also a Roman
Eighner writes, “Long before I began Dumpster diving I was impressed with Dumpsters, enough so that I wrote the Merriam research service to discover what I could about the world “Dumpster”. I learned from them that “Dumpster” is a proprietary word belonging to the Dempsey Dumpster company.” He was so fascinated with Dumpsters, that he learned the definition, which is a fact. A definition can be adjusted; however, it is not completely revised. Definitions are definite. Eighner states, “Eating from the Dumpsters involves three principles: using the senses and common sense to evaluate the condition of the found materials, knowing the Dumpsters of a given area and checking them regularly, and seeking always to answer the question, ‘Why was this discarded?’” He uses his senses to analyze the condition of the things he finds logically. Dumpster diving requires the ability to critically think about what can and can not be eaten. Eighner writes, “Although very rare with modern canning methods, botulism is a possibility. But botulism is almost certainly fatal and often the first symptom is death.” He uses knowledge to understand what the expectations of some foods, especially canned foods, should be. While Eighner uses all three persuasive appeals in his writing, ethos is the most
Before Puerto Rican migration to the U.S. expanded in the fifties not much was known about Puerto Rican history in the states. The Memoirs of Bernardo Vega would be the first book to offer insight into a missing piece o...
Gilbert followed Geebs’ small tail as it darted in and out of the underground passages into a large room that smelled of freshly baked bread. He stopped suddenly. Right in front of him were his parents. He took his wand out, tapped on the lock of the cage and uttered…
In Puerto Rican Obituary, the Puerto Rican people from New York City struggle to attain
Every day , Puerto Rico is slowly adapting into the American way of life and is gradually losing what is left of their culture. Perhaps this is because Puerto Rico is a commonwealth of the United States. The poem “ Coca Cola and Coco Frio” by Martin Espada is a great example of someone who encounters the Americanized culture of Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico is struggling to preserve their own identity.
Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution took years and years of research. Throughout these years he found different people who were also interested in this phenomena and had them join him in the study. Before Charles conducted his research he looked back in time to other scientists who wrote about this theory. Aristotle, a Greek philosopher, believed there were natural laws in how the world came to be. “He believed that there were “higher” species and also “lower” species, and the lower ones gave rise to the higher” (Rosenberger 3). He believed against the usual myths about how the universe came to be and had similar ideas to Darwin. In 1831, Charles was asked by Capt. Robert Fitz-Roy to set sail on the H. M. S. Beagle, which sailed around the world. “Charles was to record information about the geology,...