|
Suki said:
Meanwhile Miranda, Sonambulo is a statehooder who still thinks somehow that Puerto Rico is not part of Latin America. I have no idea why he feels that is the case.
My take:
To most statehooders, internalizing they are not part of Latin America, and thinking we form part of the folkoric world of ethnicities established by the American system, better rationalizes annexation in their mind.
To many stateside Ricans we are a region of the United States, with our own folkloric ideosyncracy, much like Texas and Hawaii have. The Texans have square dancing, a cowboy culture, even a state flag that's unlike the un-emotional pieces of cloth representing New Jersey or Iowa.
However, the one ingredient which sets us apart, like it or not, is the universal use of the Spanish language on the island. That's the key to our identity, and why die hard statehooders want to dilute it, make sure Gringos don't notice it, or make Gringos think it's transitory. Why? Because it retards our assimilation.
Some statehooders ask, "Why can't we be more like Hawaiians? They gave up their language, but kept their hula-hula dances. Why can't we be more like Jews? They gave up Yiddish to become part of the U.S." The Italians still eat spaguetti and meat balls and the Poles still dance polka. What is wrong with us!
The problem is, we are gung ho on keeping Spanish, in the worst of times, when Americans are gung ho on assimilating Hispanics LINGUISTICALLY!
Statehooders point to the fact that we won't loose everything, after all Nuyoricans only lost the language, even though a great portion still speak it in the form of Spanglish. Statehhoders stress that Ricans under statehood can still eat rice and beans, pasteles, and will be more creative. They point to how living in a State has moved many of us to create our own music styles like Raggaeton, with real Assimilated singers like Daddy Yankee.
|