Puerto Ricans in mainland USA

the description sounds pretty similar to the typical chulo madrileño from the working class barrios south of the city.

I've never met any Puerto Ricans, so I have no idea of their character and behaviour.

I have however, known a handful of Cubans and Dominicans; and although the 2 countries are geographically close and share a common cultural base: Spanish and West African; most Cubans and Dominicans that I've met tend be very different in behaviour.

I know I'm applying stereotypes here, but here I go...

Most Cubans I've met tend to be very well-educated people. People who probably have more common knowledge than most western Europeans. They are generally respectful to other people's customs, but very smooth talkers; and have the reputation of being insincere.
Most Dominicans I've met tend to be rather coarse and brutish in behaviour. They talk much louder, and often play music on the streets and hold drinking parties. Although hard-working, they tend to be slow and laid-back; but compared to Cubans they are usually more transparent and down-to-Earth.

(just my impression, which could be wrong because I've never been to either countries)

What are Puerto Ricans like in this repect? More similar to Cubans or to Dominicans?

I also read from a source that prior to the 1940s most Puerto Ricans in New York were well-educated, skilled and semi-skilled artisans and white-collar workers; making them better positioned than some Irish and Italians at the time.

     "Well,US media in the past downplayed achievements of minority so there have some non-White high achievers not known to general American public."

You'd have a hard time proving that the "US Media" did any such thing. You can find stories about Black Cavalry troopers in the 1898 Salt Lake Tribune, you could find stories mentioning Madame C.J. Walker, America's first Black female millionaire, in the New York newspaper social pages in the 1910s and 1920s. Pedro Del Valle came up in the 1920s, 30s, and 40s Marine Corps, which was largely officered by Southern Whites. But Del Valle was hardly "non-White", and in the war news, he was simply "General Del Valle", which most Marines pronounced "Del Valley" . You would no more write "Puerto Rican General Pedro Del Valle" than you would "Virginian Colonel Chesty Puller". All people cared about was that he was leading their sons against heavy Japanese resistance in one of the worst battles of the war.
 
It's not that racism didn't exist at that period, the 1910s were the era of the greatest expansion in Klu Klux Klan history. It's just that their were Black newspapers, ethnic Newspapers, and general circulation newspapers, and the great majority of the stories published by the last catered to their local audience. Golf stories were rare outside the big cities of the South, but the Friday night football game at the town High School was probably covered in great detail. Things were changing by the 1950s. Regional papers, still important, started losing circulation to the big city papers, and editorial policies chanaged with them. When "I love Lucy" became a big hit, "Ricky Ricardo" was the very first Cuban that most Americans had ever seen outside the movies. Naturally, it was set in a large city, but its popularity was nationwide. Cuban, then Caribbean music, found a niche in mainstream America. Jazz became the "cool" thing among the beatnicks, and while much of Jazz arose from the Black musical experience, Latin rythms had influenced them, thanks to Henry Europe and the 369th Infantry (Negro) band. Then came the Puertorrican migration, followed closely by the Cubans. Puertorricans (and Cubans) had been in New York since the late 1800s, but with the founding of the Estado Libre Asociado, Munoz-Marin started encouraging poor Puertorricans to migrate to New York (and Miami, Chicago, and other cities) to relieve the pressure on the Island. In many ways, those first arriving Latins opened the door, and made "diversity" the value it is today. 

     "The boy band Menudo,Ricky Martin,Jennifer Lopez,&Mark Anthony are from Puerto Rico"

Pebbles, I assume you're nominating them as having achieved the American dream. Well, they are merely the latest. Ever heard of Pedro Del Valle? US Naval academy graduate in 1915, commanded the 1st Marine Division in the latter phase of the battle for Okinawa, retired in 1948 as a three star general (then the highest rank in the Marine Corps), and went to work for ITT, heading up their operations in Latin America. How about Rafael Hernandez? "El Jibarito". Recruited into an African-American band during the First World War, stayed in New York with his brother to make major contributions to both Latin music and Jazz, referred by his doctor (a Caborrojeno) to an uncle making films in Mexico, he moved to Mexico and became one of the leading musical score writers for Mexican films in their heyday. How about Silvia Rexach, possibly our greatest actress?

But, more importantly, a word on the American dream. Any genius can leave, let's say Haiti, and if he or she really is a genius, the will succeed in places like Brazil, Venezuela, and Mexico (as Rafael Hernandez did). The real American dream is to find a good job, that pays a decent wage, that allows you to own a decent home, in a nice neighborhood, with enough money left over to pay any medical bills, take a vacation once a year, and retire at the end of your life to some modicum of comfort without having to worry where you next meal is coming from. This is what a great many Americans achieved after the Great Depression ended, and this is why all those feet keep beating for the U.S. border. The ideal is: you don't have to be a genius, just of average intelligence, but able to work with your mind and or hands at a job that need to be done, receiving an adequate wage (as noted above) for your efforts. By those standards, and that is the real American dream, many Puertorricans have succeeded. Unfortunately, we still have as many more who have a long way to go.

Calvo:

1) All goods coming into Puerto Rico must be brought in by American flagged ships. Second, since agriculture is low, and population high, the great majority of foodstuffs must be imported from the mainland. So, like Hawaii, Puerto Rico has a very high cost of living.

2) You don't have to travel far in Puerto Rico to find extreme poverty. There is a large Puerto Rican middle class, but those on the bottom tend to live in public housing, or "parcelas" out on the island. Puerto Rico has the largerst public housing projects in the U.S., and is the recipient of $22 billion a year (2002 figure) in welfare and matching federal funds. The Puerto Rican government's main purpose is to extract as much in "matching funds" from the U.S. as it can, so as to redistribute it among the contractors who support the Party in power. Like many similar governments, they're really great at building, but really poor at maintaining anything. It the entire period since 1952, Puerto Rico's standard of living has never been able to reach that of Mississippi, the poorest State in the union. I should caution that by noting that tax, disability, and welfare fraud are rampant, so many are better off than they seem.

3)  Drugs are as much a scourge in Puerto Rico, many would say "more", than they are on the mainland. Homicide rates are as high as the highest rate major U.S. mainland cities, and drug trafficking is a major contributer to the GDP. The Police are largely incompetent, and fear enforces a code of silence about crime that prevents many witnesses from coming forward. Since Puerto Rico is legally U.S., drug shipments arriving from Colombia and other venues get smuggled into the U.S. with greater ease. The sheer volume of maritime traffic between PR and the US inhibits effective anti-drug enforcement.


 

Since the U.S. is a federal system, both the federal and state governments contribute to their welfare programs. The Puertorricans who went up to New York in the 40s and 50s were looking for jobs. Those who were single mothers were able to receive some assistance from welfare, however welfare really took off under Lyndon Johnson's administration in the late 60s. So, the amount received, and the additional programs vary from state to state, though there is a federal minimum. Puerto Ricans on the mainland tend to be better off than those on the island. Poverty there can mean an income of $400 a month, and the cost of living in PR is much higher than on the mainland. Likewise, the Puertorrican middle class, which views itself as the richest in Latin America, in fact lives at a lower socio-economic level than the middle class in some other Latin countries. Panama is an example. The majority of Puertorricans who emigrated from the island in the post "Great Society" era were looking for higher welfare payments, and hoping for a better life for their children. A large number of those were single mothers who had very few other options. Emigration off the island has always been conditioned by socio-economic class. Those from the better off families leave for better opportunities, i.e., positions as scientists at NASA, and the like. Many from the bottom who want to get ahead in life choose military careers, or find jobs in civil service, then transfer off the island. They key to success off the island has always been dependent upon the "ausente's" mastery of English. This has always been a political hot potato in Puerto Rico, and outside of the San Juan metropolitan area the level of English instruction is abysmally low. Frankly, the level of Spanish instruction is not much better. A study by two Army officers in the 1980s noted that Puertorricans who became Army Officers had a better rate of success if they had attended either High School or University in the U.S.. This was followed by those Puertorricans who had grown up within the military as sons (or daughters) of Puertorrican service members. Those with the lowest rate of selection for promotion or higher schooling were the Reserve Officer training program graduates of the various island universities, the single exception being those graduating with Engineering degrees from Mayaguez, the great majority of whom retired at least at Colonels, and had attended their service's War College. So, success in the military was intimately related to the ausente's command of English. One must presume that a study of other career fields would have produced similar results.

I didn't even know West Side Story was based on a book. Thanks.

Edited by gcle2003 - 25-Apr-2009 at 20:28

Originally posted by gcle2003 It can't be just because of West Side Story, can it?   On a more serious note, did the later Hispanic immigrants come to New York, or did they come in elewhere? Is the answer something to do with New York rather than with the US generally?