The Identity of an American Puerto Rican

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The Identity of an American Puerto Rican

Am I "American" or "Puerto Rican", a question that wanders along the halls of my mind all the time? Many Puerto Ricans might not agree, but I feel that I am, "American", Puerto Rican American that is. As a child my own parents deprived me of my culture and true identity. They spoke to me in a language that many Puerto Ricans refused or detested to learn, English. The only thing I can actually say that I know about Puerto Rican heritage is the comida we shared during family gatherings. "In Spanish the words are habichuelas con arroz; in English, rice and beans; and in any language they translate into the food staples of island life" (p. 59, Fernandez). I went to Puerto Rico when I was four years old and haven’t been ever since. I remember limbers and roosters crowing and hot floors burning my feet but nothing about my generations past. It’s sad to know nothing about an island that many of my own kind are very proud of. I’m clueless of what my Puerto Rican people have actually been through. Political, economics, social relations and identity issues, what about them, I wonder. All I know about the island’s history is that we are Puerto Ricans from an island in the Caribbean called Puerto Rico. We are Puerto Rican Americans to my knowledge. We are Puerto Rican Americans because we are a commonwealth island being assisted by the American Government so that gives us some affiliation to being American. Those of us who were born and raised in the United States are Puerto Rican Americans whether we want to admit it or not. The majority deny that they are American, maybe because of our historical past with governmental issues and struggles in the early and late eighteenth century. Who knew we w...

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...r school day mornings with the pledge of allegiance, the "Star Spangled Banner", and "America the Beautiful", teachers hoped to instill the love of country that would make islanders 100 percent Americans" (p.56, Fernandez).

Americans had many visions for the Island of Puerto Rico of which many, till this day, are still trying to be touched on. From fighting the Spanish-American War to invading the island, the Puerto Rican people did not once stop fighting for what was there’s. Americans tried so hard to make Puerto Rico a little America but through many struggles, were denied all rights. Puerto Ricans have to admit that, though they are not an official state of the United States of America, they are in a sense, still Americans because they have citizenship. And because some finally accepted the English language as a second language, whether by choice or by force.

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