The Identity of a Puerto Rican Essays -- American History Hispanic Ess

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... ...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