As a general
perception, identity is what really defines a person. To be or not to be is the main idea. Peter Roberts in his essay, The Roots of
Caribbean Identity: Language, Race and Ecology explains: “the identity of any human can be specified
by using, singly or in combination, many different universal criteria, e.g.
sex, age, religion”(1). Identity is
delimited by the human's conception and expression of their individuality or
group affiliations, such as national identity and cultural identity (Rummens,
42). In the modern and political world
people are identified with a country.
This forms a national identity, which is established by place of
residence or place of birth (Roberts, 1).
The main question I ask is if Puerto Ricans have an identity. I will
discuss some of the factors that directly affect the Puerto Rico’s identity and
different reasons to believe that Puerto Ricans really have a separate and
complete identity.
An important factor is that Puerto Rican identity is
represented as a collective and national identity. National identity is defined
as social, cultural and geographical condition that has a connection with a
political environment and is linked with a country. Nationality is an important
part of the national identity. In this case,
I will refer to the national identity as the Puerto Rican identity, specifically
how it was created and what are the origins of the Puerto Rican identity. When tourists come to Puerto Rico,
specifically on cruise ships, they mostly just visit San Juan, Puerto Rico’s
capital. Tourists think that to visit
Puerto Rico is just to visit “El Morro” and eat some food in the restaurant
“Raíces” in San Juan, but they do not know the real history behind the walls,
which have for years witnessed how the Puerto Rican identity emerged. This idea of tourism is not just a judgmental
notion. Jamaica Kincaid also, in her
essay A Small Place, said about tourists: “A tourist is an ugly human
being” (14). This idea makes me think
that tourists just visit places to escape from their reality, instead of to
know the history of the places and to understand the national identity of the
people who live in these places.
Different events related to philosophical ideas,
social and economic aspects and political movements have given origin to the
Puerto Rican identity. Since the era of
the “Taínos” (Puerto Rican Indians) the Puerto Rican identity began to
form. Then, Christopher Columbus
discovered Puerto Rico on November 19, 1493.
On July 25, 1898, during the Spanish-American War, the United States of
America (USA) took Puerto Rico as a colony and they continue this relationship
in the present time (Dolores-Luque; 184).
These events have lacerated the Puerto Rican identity, because they
affected the Puerto Ricans’ national identity in the international
perspective. Why do I allude to the
international perspective? Actually,
Puerto Rico’s political status is undefined. When people ask if Puerto Rico is
a country or a state, Puerto Ricans answer: “We have a commonwealth status”,
but the reality is that we are a “colony”.
This situation was defined by the Foraker Law, which transformed Puerto
Rico into an unincorporated territory. The Foraker Law positioned Puerto Rico
in a situation in which internationally Puerto Rico is part of the USA, but
domestically (inside the USA) Puerto Ricans are foreigners. The best example to describe that Puerto
Ricans are foreigners in the USA is the summer internships in which Puerto
Ricans are considered to be minorities (similar to international students),
despite the Puerto Rican relationship with the USA. The Foraker Law also imposed the Cabotage Law
on Puerto Rico. These laws limit the
free trade between Puerto Rico and other countries (Dolores-Luque; 192). In general, Puerto Rico always has had a
political identity problem, because Puerto Rico’s autonomy is very limited.
Despite all the facts that have lacerated the Puerto
Rican’s identity, Puerto Ricans have a cultural identity because of their
customs: food, music, clothing and
sports. I remember when I was flying to
New York, in the summer of 2012 and a woman in the airplane asked me: “Where
are you from? And without waiting for my reply she made a joke. Oh, you are
from “La Isla Verde””. I realized this
was a derogatory comment and feeling proud of my Island, I said: “Not really, I
am from the Island that is small in size but bigger than any other part of the
world for its great talents. I am from
the Island where Miss Universe 2001 (Denise Quiñones) won and the Island that
had the champion boxer on May 2001, Felix “Tito” Trinidad, who defeated William
Joppy in Madison Square Gardens New York in a knock out”. It was in this moment that I decided, as a
Puerto Rican, I had an identity.
Borinquen is the true Puerto Rican identity. Another incident I also
remember when I went to Canada in the summer of 2013. When I was crossing the
USA border with my boyfriend, who is from Guatemala, the border guard asked
us: “What are you doing in Canada and
how did you meet each other?” I
answered him: “We are just visiting Canada and we met during student travel. We
are going back to Harvard Medical School to begin our studies. ” The border guard seemed surprised. Then he
said that everything was fine and good luck. Without saying it, he communicated
his prejudicial attitude. He never
imagined that “Hispanics” like us would go to a prestigious university such as
Harvard.
Definitely, Puerto Rico’s political identity is still
undefined, but that is not all that defines Puerto Ricans. Puerto Rican
identity is defined by our history, culture and, the most important thing, our
beautiful people. Though Puerto Rico is not
a free country, Puerto Rican identity is something that always will be present
among Puerto Ricans because it represents and defines who we are. As in his poem, Invictus, William
Ernest Henley said: “It matters not how strait the gate, how charged with
punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my
soul” (234).
Works Cited
Dolores-Luque, María, et al. Puerto Rico en
el Tiempo. Un Enfoque Contemporáneo. Cataño, Puerto Rico. Ediciones SM.
2011. 168-202.
Kincaid, Jamaica. A Small Place. A Plume
Book. 1989. Retrieved on January 29, 2014. Web.
<http://www.neiu.edu/~circill/lopez/mcs225/weekxismall.pdf >.
Roberts, Peter. The Roots of Caribbean
Identity: Language, Race and Ecology. New York: Cambridge U.P. 2008. 1-5.
Rummens, Joanna. Personal identity and social structure in Sint Maarten/Saint Martin : a
plural identities approach. Toronto, Canada:
York University. 1993. 42-45.
Ernest-Henley, William & Untermeyer, Louis (ed). Invictus. Modern
British Poetry. New York, Harcourt, Brace and Howe, 1920. Published January
1999 by Bartleby.com. Retrieved on February 28, 2014.
Web. <http://www.bartleby.com/103/7.html>
The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab, 2010.
Retrieved on February 28, 2014. Web. <https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/08/>.
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