Puerto Rico & the U.S.

Puerto Rico became a commonwealth of the United States in 1952, giving it the same control over its internal affairs as the other U.S. states (United). Though Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens, they cannot vote in presidential elections, but are represented in Congress by a delegate to the House of representatives who can vote in committee but not on the floor. Puerto Rico has a constitution similar to that of the U.S., and has a governor and bicameral legislature, and a supreme court. Much of what many Americans came to know of Puerto Rico in the early 20th century at the beginning of American rule of the island was from photographic records such as those portrayed in National Geographic (Portraying 88). After the Spanish-Cuban-American war, the U.S. government proposed to "endow the newly acquired possession with political institutions and systems at once conforming to American ideals of individual liberty and political justice and yet adapted to the peculiar local conditions existing and the character of the inhabitants." It was later considered by the magazine's editor that the U.S. had brought, "much happiness and prosperity to our little island in the West Indies." It considered the island the finest example of colonial administration.

Books dealing with the era stress the negative effects of Spanish colonization and ignore the existence of the Creole male elite, and downplay the African components among Puerto Ricans (Portraying 89). American political and econ

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women in the Bronx, according to the documentary. After World War II, there was a major influx of Puerto Ricans to the United States, to New York City, where a small enclave of their countrymen had existed since the World War I (Puerto 81). This continued for the next 15 years as Puerto Ricans fled the conflict between the U.S. and the Nationalists, and sought better lives for their families and higher wages in the United States (86-87). Despite the fact that they were U.S. citizens, they are still treated as foreigners. Soon, Puerto Rican communities began appearing in Chicago, Philadelphia and sections of Ohio as both Puerto Rico and the U.S. encouraged migration to prevent social unrest on the island. By 1960, more than a million Puerto Ricans were living in New York City as a hidden minority, mostly unnoticed by the white population. The migration spread to the Midwest and Northeast as Puerto Ricans were recruited to pick crops. Second generation Puerto Ricans generally went to college and pursued careers, but were still considered second-class citizens (Puerto 91). Skin color determined the fate of many while racial tensions were rampant in this country. Those with lighter skins could pass as white and settle in

Category: Government - P