Ethnicity and Ancestry - Essay Example

Ethnicity and Ancestry

Usually, people would wish to learn more about their ethnicity and ancestry. It is important to know that there are various races and cultures of the people living in the United States. These customs and races sum up our ethnic labels and mark our identities in a big way. Puerto Rico is a home to many people of diverse national origins. In this paper, I would wish to shed a little knowledge about my ethnicity. I am a Puerto Rican, and my family came from Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico is my place of ancestry.

Puerto Rico consists of several ethnicities. There are the native Puerto Ricans known as Tainos, the Africans, the Moroccan, and the Spanish. The Afro-Puerto Ricans make up a significant minority of the Puerto Ricans. I am a native of the country, and my ancestry line is Taino. Both my parents were born in Puerto Rico. Despite the fact that there are very few numbers of native Puerto Ricans, the majority of them are known to have native blood. My great grandparents descended from the southern region of Spain, and that is mainly why we uphold the mainstream Puerto Rican culture that largely results from Spanish traditions. The 19th and early 20th-century Puerto Rican migrations into the U.S were as a result of adverse social and economic situations in Puerto Rico (Pilcher 452). We live in upstate New York City. My grandparents migrated to the United States during the late 19th century in search of better education, a better job, and better income.

History and Immigration of Puerto Ricans

Puerto Rico is an island that is mountainous, with tropical rainforest as well as wet and dry climate as a result of the trade winds passing over the island. The Tainos are the original inhabitants of the country. However, they have diminished in numbers since the arrival of and interactions with European settlers during the 16th century. In the United States, Puerto Ricans are among the Spanish-speaking communities, apart from the Cubans and the Mexicans. Puerto Rico Island was colonized by the United States 50years after Mexico became part of the U.S as a result of the Mexican-American War. During the American colonization of Puerto Rico IN 1898, the country ceased to be a Spanish colony. However, the country’s material and human resources were exploited. As a result, there was a massive migration of Puerto Ricans into the United States who were in search of jobs after the increased demand for labor in the U.S east coast. The 1898 American takeover is not the main reason for Puerto Rican immigration into the U.S (Pilcher 454). The fact is that Puerto Ricans have migrated into the U.S since the 1840s. After the 1898 war, they started migrating into the U.S as laborers on contract terms working in sugarcane plantations in Hawaii and other parts of the mainland U.S.

Upon arrival into the U.S, most of the migrants were treated as refugees and laborers and were considered low-class. Therefore, they were not accorded benefits similar to those of the Native Americans, and their lifestyle could not be compared to that of the natives. There were significant inequalities in employment and the provision of social services to both the Americans and the Puerto Ricans. During this time, the Puerto Ricans experienced a lot of discrimination.

The mid-19th century marked the most significant immigration pattern for Puerto Ricans into the United States; this is after the inception of the 1917 Jones Act that offered U.S citizenship to the Puerto Ricans. The migrants established their base in New York City. As Americans by nature, they could freely travel to and from the U.S mainland (Raga et al. 679). Since they were incepted into the region and made American citizens, Puerto Ricans have been experiencing numerous problems adjusting and fitting into the society. Upon their arrival, they faced severe racial, religious, and ethnic prejudice in their bid to fit into the American society. Several articles and magazines were circulated in New York emphasizing the fact that migrants were racially inferior and of a lower status. Differences in their culture and ancestry were their primary pressing matter as it constituted their identity, which was different from that of the Americans.

Upon their arrival at the U.S mainland and settling in New York City, the Puerto Ricans were forced to fit into the Black community. Their interactions with the black people were prominent, and most of their ethnic literature emerged from the group’s relationships with the African Americans. The kinship was enforced by the black socio-economic struggles and positions which was similar in racial background to that of the first Puerto Ricans who migrated to the U.S mainland. Thus, Puerto Rico community is primarily characterized by a rich ethnic blend of blacks, whites, and mulattos (Raga et al. 682). Some Puerto Ricans such as Roberto Santiago studied the U.S’s attitude towards people of color and the Afro-Latino cultural heritage. During the great depression, the Puerto Ricans were the most fast-growing group of foreigners in New York. The recession accelerated racial prejudice in the U.S and this significantly affected the Puerto Ricans in the New York City. In a nutshell, Puerto Ricans of all ancestries and color always say that they are Puerto Ricans. They would still emphasize on difference especially on the distinction between the cultures of imperialist society and those of distant people. For Puerto Ricans, nothing supersedes cultural identification.

Laws and their Impacts on Puerto Ricans

Puerto Ricans have a unique status among the U.S nationals, as well as a rich history. Most of them migrated into the U.S in search of better socio-economic conditions, while others came as a result of natural disasters such as the Hurricane Maria. However, it is important to note that one primary factor that contributed to the immigration was political ambitions of the U.S during the colonization of Puerto Rico in 1898. The U.S aimed at taking over the island and making it its naval base. There were various laws set up by the United States that affected Puerto Rico in particular. The first constitutional law that governed the relationship between the U.S with Puerto Rico was the Foraker Act of 1900, which required all maritime transportation between the island and the mainland U.S be conducted in vessels bearing the U.S flag. The Act enhanced free trade between the U.S and the island. It also placed the country under American tariff provision and monetary system. Secondly, the 1917 Jones-Shafroth Act granted them U.S citizenship by nature. However, the country’s association with the U.S continues to be debated upon in the U.S Congress and at home centuries after colonization.

Puerto Ricans were mainly workers, and the Americans were their bosses. They encountered numerous repressions from their bosses, and most of them were mistreated. The working conditions they were subjected to were unbearable and inhumanly. Mainland politics rapidly rose and divided New York as more elite Puerto Ricans especially those who were already in the government pressed for humanity and equality in the treatment of the Puerto Rican workers. Their leaders formed community organizations that were mainly aimed at self-defense. This activism led to the inception of the National Industry Recovery Act in 1933, which had working hours and wages protections. It was a relief for the Puerto Ricans who had suffered much discrimination from the Native Americans. Nevertheless, the Puerto Ricans continued to be excluded from labor mainstream organizations. The U.S also set up cabotage laws that applied to Puerto Rico as well. According to section 3 of the United States Constitution, Puerto Rico is a territorial jurisdiction and a different territory of the United States. However, through the Federal Relations Act of 1950, the U.S Congress authorized Puerto Rico to develop and enact its constitution. This was intended to give Puerto Rico autonomy as a nation on its own. Similarly, U.S Congress passed the Public Law 600, which created a momentum in the relationship between Puerto Rico and the U.S in 1950. This Law was aimed at denying Puerto Rico the right to enact its constitution.

In 1951, there was a referendum to make Puerto Rico a U.S Commonwealth nation and not a colony and Puerto Rican voted for it overwhelmingly. In 1952, Puerto Rico adopted a government under self-rule. Further, the Puerto Rico Status Resolution Act of 2000 calls for admission of the country as the 51st State of the United States. Being under the United States Congressional authority is a confusing experience for all of us as Puerto Rican families. However, the protections offered in some of the laws were a relief for the Puerto Ricans who were consistently under the Americans. The protections and exceptions would not have been achieved without endless struggles by human rights activists.