So I’ve got this class presentation about ethnic groups in Puerto Rica. And the article goes on about how Puerto Ricans have different “race names” and ethnic categories than America does.
But guess what it fails to mention…
Yep, the actual names. I’ve tried the two Puerto Ricans I know, but they are in… guess… just guess… yep, Puerto Rica.
So does anyone know how Puerto Ricans of differing colors, classes and ethnicities might call each other and themselves?
Thanks a bundle!
BytopianDream
It’s Puerto Rico, not Puerto Rica… unless you’re mixing us with Costa Rica. Different nations, you know?
What article are you referring?
I’m not sure this is what you want, but:
In Puerto Rico, you’re not simply black or white. You’re jincho, blanco, trigueño, moreno, negro, depending on your skin hue, and the name is just that, referring the skin color. We all call each other Puertoricans. For some decades, the census in PR didn’t even asked if you were black or white.
If you’re an immigrant, you’re called after the name of the country you came (cubano, dominicano, palestino, chino, etc.).
Your teacher probably wants you to do a Google search for the
[/quote]
CIA World Factbook , which provides that kind of information. Specifically:
[quote]
white (mostly Spanish origin) 80.5%, black 8%, Amerindian 0.4%, Asian 0.2%, mixed and other 10.9%
I wonder… I think the percentage of mixed should be much more higher and the percentage of white and black much more lower (especially the white percentage).
Thanks for the replies.
Yes, I realized the Rico vs. Rica about 5 seconds after previewing…
sheesh, silly me
The article was originally:
“Placing Race in Context,” Clara Rodriguez and Hector Corgero-Guzman, Ethnic and Racial Studies, 1992, Vol. 14, pg. 523-529, Routledge, Inc.
In our class textbook it’s:
“Placing Race in Context,” Clara Rodiguez and Hector Corgero-Guzman, Rethinking the Color Line: Reading in Race and Ethnicity, 2004, pg. 59-65, McGraw-Hill, Inc.
KarlGrenze that’s exactly what I was looking for. Thanks.
The article explains (atleast for census counts) that people place themselves in “White” and “Black” categories when presented without an “Other” or “Hispanic” plus identifier. The article states that people, especially when interviewed versus an anonymous form, will pick “Other” and write in Puerto Rican on forms, but if interviewed or not given “Other” or “Hispanic” plus a space to write in an identifier, they choose “White.”
(Note: the article uses quotation marks for all the race or ethnic labels.)
The authors don’t explicitly state that they put “White” so that they will be acceptable to the US and especially not be “Black.” But I infer that from the tone of the article.
Your inference is not that bad.
There are two ways of looking at the ethnicities breakdown that was presented by the CIA facts:
If you say what is my ethnicity, I will say I’m Puertorrican, that’s it. And for a Puertorican, that is the ethnicity, although the skin color may be black or white (or trigueño, moreno, jincho, etc.). To say you’re “mixed” in Puerto Rico would mean more like the product of people from two different countries (Cuban with Puertorrican, Puertorrican with Palestinian, Dominican with Puertorrican, etc.).
Most people in the island are mixed, no matter their skin color.
Oh yea… forgot to add this:
This is why I think people who wrote in “mixed” thought, ie, they were the products of parents that came from different countries. People who here would be considered mixed (one black, one white parent), probably wrote down whatever they wanted, but not mixed, since their parents are both Puertoricans.
I’m from Puerto Rico.
And the 80% white thing is a joke. Totally not true.
Anyway, in PR we dont care much about “race” the way Americans do, as everyone joins the puertorrican culture, doesn’t matter what skin/eye/hair color you have.
We have a few blacks and whites, but most of us are mixed.
White is used for people with light skin, doesn’t matter what race you are. (A light skinned chinese guy would be white (Chino blanco). To be black you must be REALLY dark skinned. If you have pink/redish skin you’re “colorao” or we’ll just call you “americano” even if your not American (just like some of you call all hispanics/latinos Mexican).
I’m considered “very white” in Puerto Rico but “non-white” in the USA. In reality I’d say it’s somewhere in between since I’m mostly of European ancestry (I have mostly Spanish ancestry with a little african and british… probably Taino) but I’m “dark” and not a blonde blue-eye nordic type. My grandma is Puertorrican and she’s dark blonde with blue eyes though.
Even if whites and blacks (and to lesser extent asians and others) do exist in PuertoRico, they dont form their own “ethnic groups” and there’s very little of them. Probably the people we see the least are eastern asians, those are the ones that stand out the most… ok, second to a tall, light-blonde scadinavian person.
Anyway we dont take race and skin color that seriously. There is racism but most of it is that most people think “whites” are more beautiful* and smarter. And people have made fun of my “pasty” skin. There’s literally almost no racial hate.
*If you’re ugly, blonde and like latin men/women, then go to Puerto Rico and you’ll get some since blondes are treated like gods there.
I think on the U.S. Census, Spanish speaking Hispanic people tend to choose “white” if they are not specifically black, Asian, or Native American. There is no category for “mestizos”. In almost completely Mexican-American towns in south Texas you also get numbers like "75% white, even though only a small minority may be either “full-blooded Spanish” or “Anglo”.