Puerto Rican Spanish

“... heavy English ‘accents’ in Spanish are perfectly acceptable for Whites, even when Spanish speakers experience them as ‘like a fingernail on the blackboard’”. Reading this sentence draws heavy attention to the degree by which White privilege is tolerated in the Spanish speaking community. Spanish speakers face discrimination every day in many aspects of their lives, including job interviews, parent-teacher conferences, public speeches, and even ordering food at a restaurant. The list goes on

The Impact of Spanish Rule on Puerto Ricans Today What was Puerto Rico like under Spanish rule, and how important is that rule to the formation of the Puerto Rican people today? To answer these questions, we must take a look at the history of the Spanish and their colonization of the island of Puerto Rico. As we know, Puerto Rico was a colony of Spain "found" by Christopher Columbus on November 19, 1493, and remained a colony of Spain for the next 400 years. But the interesting fact

Migration Issues Affecting Puerto Ricans in the United States Puerto Ricans have a very distinct and complicated history. Their history is unlike any other immigrants who migrated at the United States at any time. Their island became a focus of the United States in 1898, when they won the island as booty in the Spanish-American war. Puerto Ricans residing in the United States have always had the dilemma of having to straddle both the American and Puerto Rican cultures and Spanish and English languages

Spanish Language's Influence on the Puerto Rican Identity The initial occupation of Puerto Rico by the Spaniards carries an important implication for language as part of the Puerto Rican identity. The Spanish language was imposed upon the inhabitants of the island, the Tainos, in the sixteenth century, when the Spanish inhabited the island in 1502, after the Spanish conquerors claimed the island in the name of Spain in 1493. Eventually, the Spanish had moved out or taken over the ways of the

Puerto Rican Identity and Spanish Colonial Rule The debate on Puerto Rican Identity is a hot bed of controversy, especially in today’s society where American colonialism dominates most of the island’s governmental and economic policies. The country wrestles with the strong influence of its present day colonizers, while it adamantly tries to retain aspects of the legacy of Spanish colonialism. Despite America’s presence, Puerto Ricans maintain what is arguably their own cultural identity which

Spanish Colonialism on the History of Puerto Rican People "Puerto Rico". The name immediately brings to mind images of a beautiful lush tropical island of enchantment. The name "Puerto Rico" usually does not conjure the image of Taino Indians or African slaves, yet these populations have great importance in laying the foundation for the notion of identity of Puerto Ricans. In contemporary debates of Puerto Rican identity, it is essential to examine the history of the island to determine the effects

written by Carmen-Gloria Ballista, is a story that encounters the life of a young girl coming of age in Puerto Rico, except she’s originally from New York. Milly Cepeda’s story, Mari y Lissy, is a story about twin sisters who differ in personality and are often at odds with each

analyzing Esmerelda Santiago’s life. Following that, I will analyze my life and will finish with a conclusion that draws out the comparisons and differences of both. To begin, Esmerelda Santiago and her family immigrated into the United States from Puerto Rico. Immigration means, the movement of persons into a non-native country. At this point in time the family only consisted of Esmerelda, her seven younger siblings, Mami, Tata, Tío Chico, and Don Julio. After moving around from apartment to apartment

went to Puerto Rico when I was four years old and haven’t been ever since. I remember eating limbers and roosters crowing and hot steam rising from the ground from a passing shower but nothing about my generations past. It’s sad to know nothing about an island that many of my kind are very proud of. I’m clueless of what my Puerto Rican people have been through. Political, economic, social relations, what about them, I wonder? All I know about the island’s is that my relatives are Puerto Ricans from

of the most striking observations I examined was the way in which culture was used to beautify and extol ethnic heritage during my first visit to downtown Holyoke. I witnessed culture functioning as an emblematic tool that was memorializing the Puerto Rican community through art murals, blaring salsa music [which dominated the air-resonance] and other manifestations that showcased Boricua ethos. Those same cultural cues remained during my second trip, but as I engaged more intimately with the residents