STRUGGLING FOR SPACE, CREATING LATINA/O URBAN CULTURES

THE PUERTO RICAN STRUGGLE IN U.S. CITIES
BY STUDENT

Being a LACS major, I’ve had the opportunity to learn and still be learning about Puerto Ricans in the United States.  As a Latina I’ve been surrounded by Puerto Ricans culturally, family and friend wise but I had no knowledge about the struggle Puerto Ricans have faced. It was not until I had declared LACS my major where I really began to learn about their struggle through the classes I was taking. After what I had heard and learned in the past semesters I have to question why Puerto Ricans had to be the Latino group to obtain citizenship but yet struggle more than other Latinos groups. Especially when they were forced to be part of this country that refuses to see them as equal U.S. citizens. That is when I came to realize that the Puerto Rican struggle began as early as the U.S intervened and took over the island. Even though this was occurring late 19^th century, Puerto Ricans have since been trying to survive in this country that they have to call themselves citizens of. Even decades later Puerto Ricans have continued to struggle and it was not until late 1960s where life became unbearable; conditions for Puerto Ricans in the U.S reached the boiling point. Puerto Ricans in the United States faced racial discrimination, deficient community services, and poor education and job opportunities this time. People were living in poor conditions like fitting eighteen people in a three-room unit or thirty people sharing a broken toilet with no seat, and twenty-five residents sharing a cellar that was then created into sleeping quarters.  Puerto Ricans had a limited opportunity of advancement that kept them part of an underprivileged working class. Puerto Rican communities began to address these injustices by using direct action and creating social organizations. One of these organizations was the Young Lords Party; I had no idea about them till a year ago and in my opinion is one of the social organizations we should all be taught about.

The Young Lords were very respected by the Puerto Rican community. Their mission was to speak for the people. In 1967, this powerful organization believed in social justice movements to help improve the living conditions and social situations of Puerto Ricans in U.S cities. The Young Lords implemented their own health, educational, and public assistance programs and fought against social injustice. Their 13-point manifesto consisted of all the needs they were asking for all Puerto Ricans, both in the United States and in their homeland. Most important of all they wanted self-determination because they had enough with the U.S taking over their voice (Young Lords Party- manifesto, 1979). NYPD the ones who are supposed to protect the people opposed the Young Lords and tried to stop them from achieving their goals by murdering Young Lords members such as beating them up to death and destroying the evidence like they did to Jose Lind. Or hanging another member, Julio Roldan, in a jail cell but not taking responsibility of his death and claiming it was a “suicide” as seen and stated by the Young Lords in their film El Pueblo Se Levanta. The Young Lords had to take arms in self-defense after seeing the injustices that were being done to their people. Immediate action was taken and they were able to better the living standards for Puerto Ricans but that did not stop the future issues Puerto Ricans had to face like gentrification.  

Many Puerto Ricans grew up in barrios feeling a connection to their homeland in Puerto Rico since the people surrounding them were fellow Puerto Ricans. Anglo society has tried to separate Puerto Ricans, move them out of areas and away from one another so it could be more difficult to keep them as a powerful community. Although social movements were happening in New York City, many barrios created by Puerto Ricans began disappearing. Over the past few years, the Lower East Side has been in the process of gentrification, something to which the Puerto Rican community has tried to voice opposition.  Gentrification has been a major factor in the Puerto Rican struggle in New York City. Because of their high poverty rate and unemployment, it gave Puerto Ricans no alternative but to reside in low-income areas or in public housing. After time, higher-class people and other ethnicities have taken over the areas Puerto Ricans reside in and pushed them out of their community. Puerto Ricans were trapped in higher priced housing when they only earned a substandard wage and had no other option but to move to cheaper areas such as South Bronx, Spanish Harlem, and Manhattan's Lower East Side. Gentrification has pushed out thousands of Puerto Ricans in the years especially since New York City moved away from being an industrial city. Gentrification has caused an increase in housing prices, forcing thousands of Puerto Ricans to leave their homes in search of more affordable options. This was a way for Anglo Society to displace minorities from areas they had created strong ties with the community and the people. They felt it was not beneficial at all to keep minorities close to one another, reason why Gentrification is still happening and is not only targeting Puerto Ricans but all Latinos. In this blog post I argue that the Puerto Rican struggle began with the colonization of the island and because they became the only minority group to have citizenship, the Anglo society has targeted this specific group so they won’t ever feel equal to them.

“Young Lords Party: 13-Point Program and Platform.” 1969.

El Pueblo Se Levanta, 1971, Third World Newsreel.