Puerto Rican identity and stereotypes in mainland America

Liza and Angela are Puerto Rican girls living in the Bronx, New York. They live with their families. Angela lives with her mother and father, two little brothers, and grandmother. Liza lives with her mother and sister. Both women are in their early twenties looking to move out of the city somewhere sunny. They are sick of the ‘ghetto’ and have dreams of making it in their respective careers. Angela wants to be a nurse and Liza wants to be an actress. They’re best friends and amidst everything they must deal with the crisis in Puerto Rico and everything that came with it. Thesis: Puerto Ricans have long existed in the United States as United States citizens. Since March 2, 1917, those living in the commonwealth of Puerto Rico were considered Americans. (LeMay and Barkan) However, that is not what people see today. When people look at Puerto Ricans, they see illegals, Mexicans, people that cannot speak English. This is not the case for many Puerto Ricans that live in the mainland United States and some that live in Puerto Rico. This essay is meant to show what Puerto Ricans are really like and how Hurricane Maria has impacted the way they see other Americans and the American government. The first image that has become synonymous with anyone that speaks Spanish in the United States is illegal. Puerto Ricans like Angela and Liza must deal with the fact that people who see them see them as illegals or those who cannot speak English. Angela’s interview shows her frustration with the stereotype and her need to distance herself from her Puerto Rican ancestry. However, in her interview, she also says she is thankful for learning Spanish as this helps her get an advantage in nursing. The question of “What’s it like for you being Puerto Rican?”, provided an answer that it was difficult. “It’s hard. People assume I’m Mexican and that I can’t speak English.” Another question centered on anger and what she does when she’s angry. She answered: “Of course, I get angry. Wouldn’t you? I try to keep a standard American accent when I speak and use an expanded vocabulary, so people won’t assume I’m foreign.” This answer revealed her ideas of other’s perceptions of her. The follow up question brought up whether she feels like an American when she does that. The answer provided a brief anecdote. “Interestingly, no. I still feel secluded. In fact, I was on an airplane talking to this black American man and he assumed I was Indian and told me he only made that assumption after talking to me because I looked ‘Mexican’ to him before.” The final question: “What is normal day for you?” helped bring in what was known about her, that she is a normal person, living a normal life, but with tinges of culture mixed in to it. “Doing my schoolwork, taking care of my mom (she’s sick). I also tend to do most of the chores in my house. My dad doesn’t think a man should do housework.” As these answers emerged from Angela’s brief interview, it was easy to see the difficulty of feeling American. Although Angela is a U.S. citizen, she speaks perfect English, and she is graduating from college next year, she is perceived as foreign-born. It is very important to understand what Puerto Ricans experience on an every-day basis because they are Americans, but are often treated like illegals or second-class citizens when they should not be. The next phase of the interview and the reason why Puerto Ricans were selected for this essay is because of the Hurricane Maria aftermath. For over a month, the United States government would not help Puerto Ricans and for weeks Americans were ignorant of their suffering. This brought a shift to a touchier subject. How she felt about Hurricane Maria. “It was awful. The first week, I felt completely alone. My favorite celebrities were all ignoring the suffering of Puerto Rico, talking about that stupid, ‘Take a Knee’ movement. I felt completely alone. I really wanted to repeat that. I had never felt so alone in my life. When people did not care about Puerto Rico, it felt like they did not care for me.” She described negative feelings and so the follow up question centered on how she dealt with those negative feelings. “I cried. I cried a lot. That was what I did first. Then I became proactive. I donated to charities, I spread information about Puerto Rico online and in person and I made sure articles covering Hurricane Maria got out. Many other Puerto Ricans online joined me as did Liza. We knew that if we did nothing, no one would care. We had to make people care.” Liza continued the interview by explaining how she went to march for Puerto Rico in the Bronx and went to these events held by Puerto Ricans where people can donate food, clothing, and money. She was so involved, and she told me that Liza became involved as well, strengthening their friendship. While Liza declined to do a formal interview, getting to know her brought a better understanding of her and her heritage. Liza, unlike Angela is in a one-parent household. She grew up in abject poverty with her dad leaving her mother when she was ten years old. She has bleached blonde hair (platinum) and wears circle lenses. She’s into anime and loves to cosplay. She hopes to one day go to California to be a star. The thing that stood out about Liza is her need to distance herself from being Puerto Rican as much as possible. In fact, she was not quick to help the Puerto Rican cause at first, maintaining an attitude of aloofness about the whole thing. Liza stated, she only started caring because her favorite actress, Gina Rodriguez, began campaigning for Puerto Rico. “After showing Lassner how to shake his hips and giving DeGeneres a good laugh, the host awarded Rodriguez another $10,000, this time for Hurricane Maria relief in Puerto Rico.” (Wanshel) Gina Rodriguez is a Puerto Rican actress who has a hit show on the CW network. She is one of the earlier entertainers to help Puerto Rico. When Marc Anthony, Jennifer Lopez, and countless others (Creator of Hamilton play) followed suit, it gave Liza a sense of empowerment and worth, that she decided to help Angela out in spreading the word. At first, she said it was hard. People did not wish to believe Puerto Ricans needed help. Even if they did, some did not believe they were citizens and some were making fun of their debt, saying they should pay for the fixing of their island themselves. Florida became a welcome destination for those fleeing the commonwealth before and after the hurricane. “Florida has become the preferred destination for Puerto Ricans since a massive debt crisis hit the island in 2006. The economic decline spurred a historic exodus from the island.” (Sesin) On top of negative sentiment from fellow Americans, the American government was not helping with FEMA doing nothing for weeks (Fox and Coto) and the electric grid repair given to a two-person company named Whitefish Energy Holdings LLC. The company, which saw its no-bid $300 million contract with the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority canceled last month amid criticism, said Monday it was suspending work because it was owed $83 million. Under the terms of the canceled deal, Whitefish was supposed to continue work until Nov. 30. The tiny Montana-based company is under investigation after securing a sole-source contract with the PREPA to restore power on the island, which lost 80 percent of its electric grid after a pair of hurricanes in September. (Natter) Still, that did not deter Liza and Angela from continuing to raise awareness for their cause. They persevered and were able to raise awareness and impart compassion to the people they reached about Puerto Rico. Speaking to Angela one last time, she said something that left an indelible mark. She said: “I may not be treated like an American sometimes, but that does not mean I don’t love my country.