EGO, NATIONALITIES, THE NEWYORICAN AND THE PERCEPTION OF THE PUERTO RICAN

While speaking with certainty and strong convictions against racism and the false constructs on race that sustain it, and the need for civil rights and actions against racism and discrimination, the young Newyorican let out certain statements on Puerto Ricans that seemed as if he/she had internalized values and formed certain ideas that she/he was not aware of, with regards to the people of Puerto Rico; among them, that she/he could claim to be “white” but did not because he/she -as an educated person- was helping to transform the perception the Americans had of Puerto Ricans. And then, when she/he used the “Them, down there” and gave a speech dismissing the situation of “Them, down there”, what was suspected became a truism: her/his anti racist positions were more of a defense mechanism to protect her/his ego than a clear analysis of race and ethnic and colonization dynamics and politics. 

It was to be expected. He/she grew up in the USA, educated by a system that taught her/him how exceptional those who go to school and grow up in the States are; how the peoples “down there” are “underdeveloped” and in need of the “big brother or sister”; and, furthermore, she/he had limited knowledge and experience on the larger and more encompassing life and education a Puerto Rican born and raised in the island would have, on the ways, languages, history and cultures (there are quite a few down there, not just one, from the jibaros in the mountains to the estates in Caparra) in the islands (there are three that makeup the country called Puerto Rico). A degree in Puerto Rican studies will never be able to replace the education received and experiences had by a similar person growing up and studying in the island. She/He could not handled an island born Puerto Rican pointing to her/him the fact that, although, different from the one provided in the island, he/she had also gone thru a colonization process; including, the feeding and nurturing of egos and a related sense of national or ethnic superiority. And when told that a great deal of lLatin American literature studied in the island dealt with the idea that North Americans were very industrious, well educated technically but very limited in the study of cultures, languages and over all general knowledge, in opposition to the one received by similar students in Puerto Rico; listening to this other ego trip, her/his face looked as if in a state of disbelief.