Racism in Puerto Rco

Racism in Puerto Rico:

Does it Exist?

Josiah Sainsbury

March 24, 2017

Dr. Qetsiayh Yisrael

Sociology 101

     This paper is on racism in Puerto Rico, and whether it exists or not. There are two things you should note before reading this paper: 1.) I am terrible at writing, and there may be some repetitiveness or grammatical errors in this paper, so pleas bear with me; and 2.) Of the three options that were available to me to choose in writing this paragraph, I have chosen to write this paper without any copying and pasting, and am claiming this paper as 100% mine. A bibliography to the sites I used in my research for this paper is attached to this paper. Before going into details on how racism is viewed and displayed in Puerto Rico, one should know about the ethnic groups in Puerto Rico, and how much of the population each group makes up.

     Puerto Rico currently has a population of approximately 3,682,589 people. Of these 3,682,589, 75.8% identify as White, 12.4% identify as Black/African, 8.5% identify as Other (which includes but is not limited to American Indian, Alaskan Native, Native Hawaiian, and other Pacific Islanders), and the remaining 3.3% identify as Mixed Race. All groups, however, claim to be Puerto Ricans. One thing to take into consideration are that while 73% of people have a high school education or higher, 45.5% of individuals are below poverty level. As is obvious by these statistics, one can easily see that there are very diverse people groups in Puerto Rico; it is easy to see that racism most likely exists in Puerto Rico, and many Puerto Ricans agree. Nevertheless, there are some Puerto Ricans who genuinely believe that racism is non-existent. These are the views that I will be discussing in this paper; after each has been discussed, I will conclude with my personal view on the matter.

     One thing I noticed in my research on whether racism exists in Puerto Rico or not is that the articles I read by Puerto Ricans all had one part that they agreed on, even if they had completely different views on the matter. That “part” was the fact that a lot of Puerto Ricans will bring the topic of racism up, but to make it known that there is no racism in Puerto Rico. Many Puerto Ricans believe that Puerto Rico is “racist free” and that there is no racism anywhere on the island. They think that they have achieved a complete non-racist society, and are much better than their neighbors in the United States.

     However, many Puerto Ricans do believe there is racism in Puerto Rico, but very little of it. I have read several articles on the matter, and most all agree that, while it is subtle, it is there. From the information that I have gathered, there is a class division between the White Puerto Ricans and the Black Puerto Ricans. One article put it this way: When was the last time a Black Puerto Rican held an important political position, or had a high paying job? The answer that most gave him was that they agreed. Now, while this may seem like this causes a large racial divide and can stir up hatred in communities, most Black Puerto Ricans get along just fine with White Puerto Ricans. They all know they have a role to play and are all content with where they sit on the social/economic ladder of their individual communities.

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     In one article I read that supported the idea of racism being in Puerto Rico, but only a small amount, he explained how some Puerto Ricans come across as racist to those of us living in the United States. One thing to keep in mind is the term “Gringo”. According to legend, when U.S. soldiers the Mexican’s land, the soldiers were dressed in green. Because of this, and because the Mexicans knew little to no English, whenever the U.S. came to invade, the Mexicans would yell at them “Green Go”. Over the years, the term “Gringo” developed, and became a name used to refer to all people from the United States. In spite of this, the term “Gringo” is not meant to be used as an insult; many Puerto Ricans use it because it is easier to say that “Estadounidense” (United Statian), which is the politically correct term in Spanish.

     One other thing to understand is that the term “American” tends to bother many Puerto Ricans. This is because many people of the United States will call themselves Americans, which is not the politically correct term for them. The United States is a PART of America – hence the name United States of America – and it is NOT America itself. The proper term for a person of in the United Sates would be “United Statian”, or “Estadounidense” in Spanish. After, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean Islands, Central America, and South America are no less American than we in the United Sates are.

      Another cause of separation in Puerto Rico is the acceptance of Illegal immigrants to Puerto Rico from the Dominican Republic. A large number Puerto Ricans get upset about the amount of Dominicans that move to Puerto Rico for a better life, and are even more upset that the governor of Puerto Rico allowed all undocumented immigrants from the Dominican can legally get a driver’s license in Puerto Rico. Yet many Puerto Ricans think of those from the Dominican as their brothers and sisters, and welcome them with open arms. Dominicans have the ability to get jobs and, from what I have read, do not experience any discrimination against them for their race.

     Something that supports the idea of Puerto Rico being racist free comes from one article who told a story about his coworker. She was from Boston, Massachusetts, and was an African-American woman in her fifties who had lived in Puerto Rico for about eight years. As she neared retirement age, she was considering moving back to the United States to be closer to family. The only reason she was still in Puerto Rico was because she did not want to experience racism and discrimination again. In her years in Puerto Rico, she claims no have never been the victim of racism or discrimination at all! She did, however, take a three-day trip to Florida, where she heard people yelling at her and cussing at her simply because of her skin color; it had her on the verge of tears. Personally, this saddens me because this woman lived in Puerto Rico and had gone eight years without any racism in her life, but when returning to her country, she couldn’t go three days without experiencing tons of it.

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    I believe that part of the denial of racism in Puerto Rico comes from the Black Puerto Ricans claiming there is no racism. Black Puerto Ricans will say there is no racism, but will not attend universities or colleges because “it isn’t for them”. They say there is no racism, but they know the best jobs are reserved for the White Puerto Ricans, and accept that they are just lower on the totem pole. Black Puerto Ricans say there is no racism, but will often put themselves down as white on self -identification forms. Another fallacy in the belief that racism is not existent in Puerto Rico is the claim of “We are all Puerto Ricans, no matter what color, so we have no racism here.” I agree with this in that, yes, they are all Puerto Rican no matter what their color is, but that does not mean racism is non-existent in Puerto Rico.