MIGRATION AND EARLY 20TH CENTURY BARRIOS

Puerto Rican Migrations: Now and Then
By A.N.

Throughout history, many nations and cultures have had to deal with the necessary reality of migrating out of their home land, or foreigners migrating into their homeland. In the later 1800’s and early 1900’s Puerto Ricans found that they might be more successful on the “other island” of New York City than at home in Puerto Rico and migrated there. Once in the city they settled into the neighborhoods that are referred to as the “barrio” and they worked very low paying jobs with very little job security. Although Puerto Ricans brought with them their own culture and language, this minority group was not exactly welcomed with open arms. Puerto Ricans were not given positions of great wealth or power; they were not welcomed into a strong educational system, and were not given all that much political power. This was not necessarily even a racially charged issue, at the time it was not common for any country to put any effort into giving incoming foreigners good lives. Now it is 2016 and the Puerto Ricans that settled in the barrios of NYC and moved around the country have had a profound impact on this country. America has made many leaps forward in providing for its lower income members, by setting up welfare programs, pumping government funding into educational systems, and making necessities like healthcare available to more than just the rich. Puerto Ricans are still moving around within this country, and coming in from Puerto Rico. As the Dominican Republican population rivals the Puerto Rican in NYC, it appears that many Puerto Ricans are choosing the warmth of Florida and settling in areas such as Orlando and Kissimmee- among others. So what does it look like for Puerto Ricans currently settling in Florida, are they just relocating into Floridian barrios or are the Puerto Ricans moving all over the place and living alongside many other races? Are they moving into better job opportunities and living conditions than the last time around?

There were multiple push and pull factors that led to the original Puerto Rican diaspora, and the majority of these people went to the low-income neighborhoods in New York City called barrios. Migrants were leaving economic hardships, crop difficulties, and overpopulation with the promise that they would be able to find work in unskilled or semi-skilled trades in New York City. These people needed to move, and were not looking for anything besides money in this new city they were coming to. Many of these people were moving away from the home they and their family had known for a long time, away from the culture and language of Puerto Rico to the so called melting pot- which was still a dominantly English speaking city. These barrios became the only section of their entire city that Puerto Ricans could begin to feel at home. Not only were their wages were low, Puerto Ricans also faced many social issues. One large issue was the schools- New York City did not have bilingual teachers or a curriculum that was sensitive to or informative of Puerto Rican culture, Spanish speaking Puerto Rican children were forced to learn proper English if they expected to learn at all. Between now and then, Puerto Ricans have grown with our changing society, commanding political power, positions in government, and highly skilled jobs.

For a long time, New York City seemed to be the go-to place for Puerto Ricans. Now the statistics are showing something different. More Puerto Ricans already in the United States are choosing to move out of New York City rather than into it, and significantly more Puerto Ricans are choosing to move to areas of Florida than to NYC. Families and individuals moving straight from Puerto Rico are still moving into NYC, but at a considerably lower rate than to areas of Florida. The areas seeing the most influx are Orlando and Kissimmee. So the first thing to examine is why are these people moving? Economic reasons are again a main contributor, but Puerto Rican migrants today are moving into a variety of jobs. There are highly skilled Puerto Rican doctors and lawyers coming into Florida, along with unskilled workers who take jobs such as running the rides at Disney. The second question is what I brought up earlier- what happens when they get there? Do these migrants just move form new barrios, or do they move all over the place, living alongside people from every race and walk of life? Fortunately, it seems that this time the Puerto Ricans have become just another citizen of Florida, moving wherever they please. These workers often bring families with them, or start new ones, which creates the need for education. Unlike in the original barrio’s, education is something on the forefront of Florida’s mind. The state as a whole is working to provide good education to the kids of the Disney worker right up to the high paid lawyer, which will have impacts on many generations to come. To name one of the steps, schools throughout the state of Florida are scrambling to hire bilingual workers to provide education in Spanish, and provide English learning opportunities- a stark contrast to the schools in NYC in the early 1900’s. One of the very important impacts that Puerto Ricans have in Florida and on the rest of the country, is the political power that comes with their large numbers. Florida is not an easy state for any political party to win, so as political candidates at a local and national level consider their strategies, now more so than ever, they must consider the Latino population, specifically the Puerto Ricans. Additionally, as Puerto Ricans go out and vote or hold positions of power themselves- a luxury not usually afforded to the original immigrants, they have the power to shape the laws and policies of the United States of America. That is a very powerful thing. It seems that although migrating from one’s home to somewhere else always has its issues, for Puerto Ricans in America today the process and end result are a lot better than they ever were when the barrio of NYC was first developed.

References:

Alvarez, Lizette. 2016. "Puerto Ricans Seeking New Lives Put Stamp On Central Florida". Nytimes.Com. http://www.nytimes.com/.

Krogstad, Jens. 2015. "In A Shift Away From New York, More Puerto Ricans Head To Florida". Pew Research Center. http://www.pewresearch.org/.

"NYC's Dominican Population Surpasses Puerto Rican Community For First Time". 2016. Fox News Latino. http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/.

Sanchez Korrol, Virgina E. From Colonia to Community: The History of Puerto Ricans

 in New York City. Berkley, California: University of California Press, 1983.