[JaneMas]

Stanley:

That is why I get so angry with the Nuyorican obsession to classify people according to color.


In a sense the Nuyoricans have spoiled my innocence and as the Chinese proverb says “Once innocence is gone it can never be recovered”.

I never forget my 1st encounter with a Nuyorican tourist in the Condado beach. I started a friendly conversation with this young woman that had two little kids on the beach. She spoke English so I answered back in English. She noted my accent and asked me where I came from. I said I live here, this is home. She then said you cannot be from here you are white. I was very hurt by the comment and felt very sorry for her.

Stanley I bet the woman was not as blanca as you are blanco. I bet the woman was either triguena, india or mixed afro in denial of Boricuas being other than what she looks like even though I'm sure she encounted many. PR is a nation of many different shades as is the USA. True we have more Indios who think they are blancos but that's the fault of the practice of La Hispanidad. I, a nuyorican, que soy triguena, would never make a comment like that because in my family there are people who are more blancos then those in Nueva York. In comparable to size, there are more euro decents in PR than in Cuba which has a huge Afro and indio and mixed population.

The problem with discussions like this is the terminology. We start talking about ethnicity and end up confusing it with nationality, cultural and pheno terms.

Miranda you said:

When I refer to WHITE I'm not referring to race or skin color but to a cultural phenomenon. Maybe a better term is "WESTERN."When I use the word black its not about skin color either but a cultural phenomenon, a world view.

I understand your point. But see, like I just said, terms can confuse people. Is your "White" Western as in > Mainstream America? Does it mean middle class? Cause I've seen a lot of western whites right here who are just as embarrassing as the PR's I brought up on the other thread. Or is working upper class a better term?