Puerto Rican

Puerto Rican can refer to anyone who was born in or whose ancestors are from Puerto Rico. It can also refer to something from Puerto Rico, such as "Puerto Rican rums" or Puerto Rican beaches. It should be noted that even though "Puerto Rico" is a territory and not an incorporated State of the U.S., all constitutional rights, privileges and immunities provided by the Constitution of the United States of America were extended to the island and its residents by the Jones Act of 1917. Since 1917, Puerto Rican citizens born prior to 1899 were naturalized citizens and anyone born after 1898 were declared natural born citizens of the United States; unless the Puerto Rican by sworn statement wished to remain subject of Spain within 6 months of the effective date of the 1917 Jones Act. Puerto Rico was part of the Spanish Empire for four centuries before any U.S. assimilation. The island had been extended a limited autonomous government from Spain just 3 months prior its invasion by U.S. forces.

Meaning of Puerto Rican

Most people on Puerto Rico tend to agree that the "Puerto Rican" identity is generally a combination of Spanish, Taíno, and African similar to Cuba, Panama, Venezuela, the north coast of Colombia and the Dominican Republic.

In other parts of the Spanish-speaking world, depending on the presence of native indigenous populations that existed prior to European colonization and subsequent introduction of Sub-Saharan West African slave trade and the immigrations from Europe, Puerto Rico's census in 2000, reflects that the population is said to be (81%) of European (Spanish) descent according to U.S. census records. Broad U.S. census categories have disallowed the mixed ancestry of most Puerto Ricans to be officially acknowledged. According to a 2003 study, funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation, Puerto Rican ancestry was measured through both paternal and matrilineal ancestry. The study found that in relation to matrilineal ancestry as revealed by mtDNA, 62% of all Puerto Ricans were shown to have a female Amerindian ancestor, 27% to have a female African ancestor and 12% to have a female European ancestor. Conversely, patrilineal input as indicated by the Y chromosome, showed that 75% of all Puerto Ricans possessed a male European ancestor, 20% had a male African ancestor and less than 5% were shown to have had a male Amerindian ancestor. These combinations in turn vary as Puerto Ricans can be of any variety of combined ancestries, while only 1/10 Puerto Ricans can probably claim exclusive European ancestry, while other Puerto Ricans probably can vary from being predominantly European to predominantly Taino or African with few, if any, Puerto Ricans being exclusively of Taíno Indian descent.

Modern Puerto Rico

The Puerto Rico of today has evolved, as have all other former Spanish colonies, its own social customs, cultural matrix, historically-rooted traditions and its own unique pronunciation, vocabulary, and idiomatic expressions within the Spanish language.

While Spanish is the main language, many words and phrases come from the African and Taíno influences of the island, and one only has to visit Puerto Rico to see there influences everywhere from the food to the local customs, most noticeable in the music and the Puerto Rican's who make it.

But it is undeniable that as a result of the Spanish-American War in 1898 and the eventual transfer from Spanish Colony to U.S. sovereignty (1898-1952) to Commonwealth (1952-present), the majority of the people of Puerto Rico feels pride in their nationality as "Puerto Ricans", regardless of the individual's particular racial, ethnic, political or economic background.

Puerto Rican Identity and Heritage

Some Puerto Ricans also refer to themselves as "Boricua." This term comes from the word "Boriken" (Borínquen) which was what the Taíno Indians, the native people who inhabited the island of Puerto Rico at the time of the European colonization, called the island of Puerto Rico. However, as in other parts of the North & South American continents and the Caribbean, the native peoples soon diminished in number due to exploitation, warfare, suicide and to their lack of immunity to the diseases that the European settlers brought with them. Measles, chicken pox, mumps, influenza and even the common cold proved fatal for the Taínos in Puerto Rico and surrounding Caribbean islands.

So much was this the case that by the early 1500s, very few Taínos existed on the island and the Spanish (like the French, the English, the Dutch and the Portuguese) in their efforts to establish colonies on the island quickly began to import Sub-Saharan African slaves as the Portuguese had already done in other American colonies.

In the 16th century a significant part of Puerto Rican culture began when large numbers of African slaves began to be imported along with sugar cane from the Canary Islands. Of the Spanish colonists, thousands of settlers from the Canary Islands emigrated to Puerto Rico especially during the 18th and 19th centuries where whole villages and towns were founded by Canarian immigrants that their descendants formed the majority of the Spanish population. Later, waves of Corsican immigrants settled in Puerto Rico along with, French, Dutch, Chinese and German immigrants. In recent times, Puerto Rico has been the destination for immigrants from Cuba, the Dominican Republic, South America and Spain. So many immigrants have settled in Puerto Rico to vastly outnumber the Taíno population originally recorded on the island to the extent that figures claiming Taíno ancestry among present day islanders are greatly exaggerated. While Taíno culture survives in place names and words borrowed and incorporated into Spanish, on the whole, Puerto Rican culture is largely European and African in it's origin.

Continued evolution of the Puerto Rican Identity

In 1791, the slaves in Saint Dominique (Haiti), revolted against their white French masters. Many of the French escaped to Puerto Rico via the Dominican Republic and settled in the west coast of the island, especially in Mayagüez. Racial mixing, even before abolition, was more common in Puerto Rico than in Cuba or English colonies. This trend continued after 1873 when the abolition of slavery in Puerto Rico occurred (note that the date for the abolition of slavery is the date when all slaves were granted freedom, but, before that day and starting on 1837, the freedom of blacks could always be bought at the time of baptism). In the mid 19th century Spain revived the Royal Decree of Graces of 1815 which permitted the immigration of Italians (principally from Corsica), Germans and Irish to the island. In addition, Chinese started arriving at the island, as rail-road workers, during the 1840s to 1850s. These groups settled mainly in the southern cities of Puerto Rico. The main idea behind Spain's new immigration policy was to keep the local population from asking for its independence by permitting people whom they believed would be loyal to the Spanish Crown to live in the island. This trend continued after 1898, when Puerto Rico was invaded by the United States after the Spanish-American War, with the migration of Germans and Lebanese. More recent arrivals include inhabitants from nearby islands, including Dominicans and a substantial population of Cuban immigrants after 1959. There is a percentage of U.S. residents from the U.S mainland who live mainly in the San Juan Metro area but these represent less than 1% of the population.

Relation to Cuba

Puerto Rico today is part of the Latin American family of nations since Puerto Rico's history, customs, religion, language and colonial past are shared with the rest of Latin America. It is said that Cuba and Puerto Rico are from "one bird of two wings". Both share many similarities. The most visible is the flag of both countries which is the same design but with inverted colors. Cuba and Puerto Rico were also the last two colonies of the Spanish crown in the Americas until 1898.

Puerto Ricans in the Mainland

Most Puerto Ricans who moved to the United States mainland were jíbaros. Jíbaro means a Puerto Rican "hillbilly." Many were poor, uneducated and rural laborers. They left Puerto Rico looking for jobs during the mid-1940s and 1950s, see also the "La Gran Migracion". Although, several have been in the U.S since the early 1900s many migrated to the United States for a better life. Since then, however, the U.S. has given Puerto Rico numerous help and assistance with roads, public housing, sewers, and is now a well developed ^*state.

Most Puerto Rican migrants settled in New York City, Philadelphia, urban New Jersey, Chicago, northern Ohio, and Florida. In addition, since Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens, they could easily travel from Puerto Rico to the mainland or back, some to live and others just to visit. Many came to New York because despite the cold weather, different architecture, and a completely different geographical setting, they still thought of it as a nice place. The media in Puerto Rico portrayed New York as a place that was free from poverty, discrimination, or prejudice. As soon as they arrived in New York, however, many Puerto Ricans found out that they were wrong. Some faced discrimination, and were often laughed at at first. Curiosity attracted Puerto Ricans as well. Other Puerto Ricans came to the mainland because they knew there was an already established Hispanic community with Spanish language newspapers, television, clubs, foods, etc..

Furthermore, many Puerto Ricans continued migrating to the mainland during the 1950s and 1960s when racial relations in the country were very intense. Like most immigrant groups their predecessors, many moved into poorest areas of the major cities. Many lived in over-crowed tenements buildings. During that time Puerto Ricans experienced discrimination and racism because of some of their dark features and language barrier. Many were denied employment oppurtunities and housing into wealthier neighborhoods because they spoke "Spanish". Hence, trapping many of them in a cycle of poverty,drugs and crime.

Although, Puerto Ricans have faced many social ills they still managed to obtained higher levels of education and have moved up the social-economic ladder. Many have become doctors, lawyers, judges, bankers, etc. (i.e. Dr. Antonia Novello, Hon.Edwin Torres). Many have also moved out of the ghetto and into the suburbs. Also, some have endured greatly in entertainment and sports; Fat Joe, Daddy Yankee, N.O.R.E., Lloyd Banks, Marc Anthony, Jennifer Lopez, Jimmy Smits, Roberto Clemente, Bernie Williams, Carlos Beltran, Luiz Guzman, etc..

There are some Puerto Rican neighborhoods in New York; Sunset Park and Bushwick, Brooklyn. The south Bronx, the Lower East Side of downtown Manhattan, NY and primarily Spanish Harlem, in northern upper-eastern corner of Manhattan, New York that may have been poverty stricken, but most were far from being depressed. Puerto Rican people would listen to salsa music and cook typical Puerto Rican foods or grow plants at home to spend their spare time. Old men played dominoes in front of Puerto Rican bars. Families sat on stoops and talked and laughed. Advertisements on buses and billboards were both in English and Spanish or, sometimes, just in Spanish. And Puerto Rican flags were everywhere; hanging from windows, fluttering from car antennas and painted on brick walls. There were always only a few Puerto Rican owned businesses because the neighborhoods were usually in high crime areas and Puerto Ricans didn’t have enough money to pay for insurance if their stores were broken into. Also, there was competition coming from the big chain stores.

Even though 85% of Puerto Ricans are Catholic there is a strong Protestant community. These are mainly Pentecostal or Seventh Day Adventist. Many of these churches were called "storefront" churches due to their informality. There is also a mix between spiritualism and Catholicism. This is evidenced by botanical stores, present around Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rican food is mainly rice and beans with some sort of meat. It also features pasteles, plantanos, sofrito, and gandules. In addtition, Puerto Rican food varies depending on what part of the island one were to visit (i.e. Loiza, Aguada, Ponce, Fajardo.).

Feelings among Puerto Ricans in the U.S.

Many Puerto Ricans who are born from Puerto Rican parents and live in New York City are called "nuyoricans" because they maintain their hispanic heritage and identify being ^* Puerto Rican than American, even though they were born in the United States. This may have evolved because of the social conditions in New York City during the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s. See also "Nuyorican Poet's Cafe" and "Loisaida".

Asked about whether she felt Puerto Rican or not by a popular men's magazine, New York native model and rap singer Gloria Velez declared that although "(she) and her parents" were born in New York City and Long Island and her grandparents were from Puerto Rico, she is still 100 percent "Puerto Rican". Also, there are many of those who are half Puerto Rican that have publicly stated their pride in being Puerto Ricans, such is the case of N.O.R.E., Freddie Prinze, Tony Orlando, Jimmy Nievez, Sammy Davis, Jr., Lloyd Banks, Freddie Prinze, Jr., and Geraldo Rivera. This is a feeling shared by most (if not all) Puerto Ricans born outside Puerto Rico. Wilfred Benitez is another famous person who was not born in Puerto Rico but feels proud of being Puerto Rican. Many others are proud to be American citizens as well.

Nowadays many Puerto Ricans are proud to be "American" citizens and many have served (and are serving) in all of branches the United States armed forces. Furthermore, many have also died fighting in all of the United States wars since World War II.

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