Puerto Rican Culture Development within the New York Diaspora

Immigration in the United States is a complex demographic activity that has been a major contribution to population growth and cultural change throughout much of the nation's history. The many aspects of immigration have controversy in economic benefits, jobs for non-immigrants, settlement patterns, crime, and even voting behavior. Congress has passed many laws that have to do with immigrants especially in the 19th century such as the Naturalization Act of 1870, and the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882, or even the Immigration Act of 1903 all to insure specific laws and boundaries set on immigrants. The life of immigrants has been drastically changed throughout the years of 1880-1925 through aspects such as immigrants taking non-immigrants

“Between 1961 and 1986 more than 400,000 people legally immigrated to the United States from the Dominican Republic. More than 300,000 Dominicans lived in New York City by 1990, and the total was expected to reach 700,000 early in the millennium, making Dominican migration one of the largest to this country of the past forty years”.(117) The causes of the Dominican immigration

This presentation will explain the differences and similarities, if any, in the countries of Spain and Puerto Rico’s. The presentation will show the differences and similarities between the two countries arts, culture, and economic environment. The presentation will show how both countries have a assimilation of cultural and distinctiveness. Even though both countries have similarities and differences, they both have one thing in common, and that is they are Spanish-speaking countries with an array traditions, culture, and diversity amongst the people, that will be talked about in this presentation.

Nancy Forner is a great author on immigrations and the issues that surround it. She states that immigration was one of the predicaments that covered the New York City in the early 20th Century. This immigration saw the influx of population that altered the lives of the residents as the immigration was not planned for (Foner, p1). They disrupted the social economic and environmental aspects of the city including the introduction of new cultures, new methods of cooking to Ney York City. These impacts are evident today as there are still descendants of the Europeans, Italians and Chinese in the New York City. Currently, there is a new wave of immigrants from people of colour moving to the New York City. There exists a significant difference on

When thinking of New York City, more often than not, the first things one visualizes is the beautiful skyline, the bright lights, and Times Square. But without a second glance, one might miss one of the important things about the city. New York is the most heavily Dominican populated city in the United States. It’s ironic that the first non-native American to migrate to and reside on what is today New York City, was from Santo Domingo, the capital city of the Dominican Republic. Throughout history, Dominicans have migrated to the US in search of economic opportunity. This is the factor that influences nearly every immigrant group that migrates to the US in history. In the early 1900s, The United States and the Dominican Republic had a very close diplomatic relationship, to the point where the President considered annexation. At one point, the United States completely controlled the Sugar industry, one of the country’s most profitable markets.

Over the years immigration has been a huge controversy nationwide. In Long Island latinos have risen. I am a U.S citizen but my parents are immigrants from Mexico. So I understand the struggles of immigrants in Long Island, specifically in the Hamptons.

From the late 1800's to the 1960's, Puerto Ricans began to rise to recognition as a dominating influence, creating chaos in American society. This comment is based on the immigration of Puerto Ricans to America, and the problems it caused.

With little money in their pockets and no idea of where they might stay, the search for jobs was desperate. However having thousands of immigrants arriving in NYC around the same time caused job opportunities to be limited. With no money, many were left homeless with no place to go but the streets of New York. Having people living on the streets caused overpopulation of the city and left the city dirty and dismantled. Along with the fall of the city the crime rate began to increase dramaticlly due to immigrants going to desperate measures to make money. When an immigrant was lucky enough to find a job they faced the challenge of language barrier, poor working conditions and low wages. These low wages could hardly afford to feed their families let alone provide a decent shelter. This created what would be known as the slums of New York City. The city was being filled with large apartment buildings that were run down and overpopulated with immigrants. Over population began creating conflicts between different ethnic groups throughout New York City. Eventually leading to the divison of the city into sections based on common ethnic backrounds. Nativism however would be a common problem as it increased because of hatred towards immigrants over such issues including the loss of opportunities for already settled natives to the area. To avoid this hatred many immigrants chose to take on other names or alter their own last name. Due to many families

My grandparents were both born and raised in Cidra, Puerto Rico and so were their three children. They wanted to start a new beginning. Though the exact date is forgotten my grandparents moved to Cleveland, Ohio sometime in 1989. My grandparents were very poor when they lived in Puerto Rico since there were not many job opportunities and barely any resources, my grandparents could barely make ends meet.They wanted to give their children to have more opportunities and resources that they didn't have when they were younger, so they decided to leave their home in Cidra. They choose to move to Cleveland because they already had some family down here such as brothers, sisters, and even cousins.When my grandparents got to Cleveland they already knew they made the right decision for their family, Cleveland gave them a more stable life then what they had in Puerto Rico. There were better-educated schools in Cleveland for their children unlike in Puerto Rico, the food in Cleveland was way more affordable, medicine as well, and it was easier to find jobs that paid well.

The migration of Jamaicans to the United States began in the early 19th century. Starting in the 1850s, there were only a couple hundred Jamaicans immigrating into the United States each year. However, by the end of the century, this number rose to approximately 1,000 per year. Between the years of 1981 and 1991, there were approximately one million immigrants from the entire Caribbean in the United States; the Jamaican immigrants made up one-fourth of that total. A common immigration scenario for this culture is for one family member to travel alone to the United States, become established, and send for other family members later. Several Jamaican families often decide to share an apartment or house, with each family occupying a bedroom, as they viewed extended family as an important resource. Jamaicans have come to the United States voluntarily, often looking for educational and occupational advancement. This immigration process was characterized by family separations (often prolonged due to the cost of flying back to Jamaica), feelings of dislocation, and adjustment to the urban settings and colder temperatures.

Puerto Ricans are an important piece in hip hop culture and in its evolution since 1970. The contribution of Puerto Ricans to hip hop have been ignored many times and when they are being noticed “it has been misinterpreted as a defection from Puerto Rican culture and identity into the African American camp.” For example, making a version of a song and adding it Spanish or Spanglish words. Puerto Ricans stories are marginalized because similarities between Puerto Ricans and Africa American are not properly understood. Hip hop history is formed by cultural parallels, adaptations, connections and interactions between Africa Americans and Caribbean people including Puerto Ricans. “Hip hop is a pattern woven out of some common threads.” For example,

Puerto Ricans, through history, have had to be strong, persevering and hard workers in order to move on and keep going. They have had to educate, innovate and develop methods to survive the various crises of our country. The latest generations have grown up thinking that studies are the key to success and I am the daughter of one of these. My parents have given their maximum to raise me as a curious, educated, independent woman with strong values​​. In addition, they have striven to develop my skills, to make me discover what I really like and teach me to fight for my dreams. In my path in life, I have tried, learned and discovered great things, to become the person I am today. I want to give my maximum; I desire to offer my gifts, abilities,

The migration of Puerto Ricans to the United States occurred in two major waves. The first wave was in the 1910s-1940s and the second wave was from the 1960s to the 1990s. Each wave of migrants brought new generations of Puerto Ricans to the United States. Both waves of migrants believed that they were going to live a better life in America and migrated to major cities such as New York City, Chicago, Hartford, etc. The early migrants looked for industrial jobs such as in cigar factories while the later migrants found agricultural work such as in tobacco fields. The communities in which they lived grew larger and larger due to chain migration and because of this, the need for politics evolved.

The autobiography When I was Puerto Rican, written by Esmeralda Santiago, tells a story of a poor girl trying to succeed. The settings in this novel have an important influence on Esmeralda. They influence her behavior and change her ideals as an adult. Negi goes through many changes based on the challenges she faces by moving to new locations where society is different. All of these changes allow her to become a stronger person. When she lives in El Mangle, Negi has to face extreme prejudice against her upbringing as a jibara. When she leaves Puerto Rico to move to Brooklyn, she is forced to face an entirely different society. All of these events that took place in Esmeralda’s childhood had a significant impact in shaping her into an adult.

Americanization is the concept for the influence the United States has on other countries such as Puerto Rico. Moreover, this includes from their language, culture and even politics. Changing the people’s customs from that country and making them their own. The customs are not necessarily imposed but by having the concept integrated, the people of the country modify some aspects themselves. In like manner, Americanization can be referred to as racial relations that deal with the adaptation of different races. Hence, this is in equality to an essential part of national life. It is a difficult process that contemplates adaptation, incorporation and assimilation of the society. When integrating the United States culture, traditions and their economic system, Americanization can especially be seen as an imposition. Relatively, as occurred with Puerto