Boricuas New York

[hvalentin5349]

Hi every one!

I have a curiosity that has been itching me for some time now. I want to kno what is it like to be a PR living in the states, especially in the NY area. What is it like? Is it true that we have such a bad reputation in NY that people are scared of us? I dont know since I lived in Buffalo for 14 years and then I moved to the Island with my mother back in 1992 and have been there until August of 2003. Right now I am in Texas working on my masters degree. I would prefer to be on the Island, because it is where my heart it, but Im here in the states because there are more $opportunities$ .
Anyways, I want to know what its like. How are we percieved? Where I am there are a lot of Mexicans,not too many of us around. It seems that even they have a negative outlook on us. I told one Mexican girl that I was fron PR and the first idiotic question that comes out of here mouth is "So is it true that all PR have bad adittudes?"
I told here ( in a very nice manner ) no. But it was still a stupid question to begin with. An ex-Mexican roomate of mine said that we are percived as being arrogant and, above all, very labioso. I get the impression that many of them ( los mejicanos ) dont like us very much.

Has anyone ever noticed any differences between us and them, or with other latinamericans.
I would really like to have some feedback. Gracias.

[balance]

Hi,my name is balance.
I reside in East Harlem, right around 116. I am Puertorican but I was born here 96th st to be exact. When I was younger I didn't realize the importance people give to one's nationality.Hey I feel proud I'm boricua, the lechon, coquito, noche buena and my pasteles etc.. The way we all wave our flag on that 5th avenue parade and the way we identify ourselves with flag on car. I'm a flag flasher myself.. However, I can't help but get so upset when I see a puertorican say,"I hate salsa" or "I don't understand spanish." It sickens me somewhat when we loose ourselves in other cultures, to the point that we can no longer identify with our own originalities. I guess we don't know any better. What I would like to see is.. more puertorican restaurants, more p.rican bodegas, and a sense of pride that extends past the puertorican parade and it's accompaning feasts. I love my race and i love my people, I just wish our younger generation of people would have the yearning to find out about their history- a desire to keep alive the traditions which made us Puertoriqueno.

[Triguenyo]

What's up mi gente:

First of all I want to let you all know that I am 100% boricua raised on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City. I left New York a while back however in 1996, after the blizzard. I live in the Washington DC Metro area now and I can give you all some insight on what I've heard people perceive us like. First of all I've found out that this world is full of some ignorant people, blacks, white and yes latinos as well. In DC the whites consider us every other nationality but Puerto Rican. I once told a young lady that I was Puerto Rican and she asked me if I was a foreign exchange student. The African Americans categorize all latinos as "Migos, Julios, or foreignors." Again ignorance. But here's my problem, Latinos hating Latinos. Mainland Puerto Ricans refusing to recognize their own raza raised in the states. Other latinos waging wars and gang violence against other latinos. This is unfortunate because the face of the population in America is changing to Brown. Latinos are the majority however, if we continue to be seperatist and do not unite into one voice, how could we get our government to pass legislation that is beneficial to our people? How can we elect our people? There is strength in ******s. To the Brother in Texas getting his Masters, good for you bro, I too have mine and will receive my second in December. I also belong to a latino fraternity which keeps me mindful of who I am, where I come from, and the struggle that we must continue to face so that others can follow our paths. This organization is La Unidad Latina, Lambda Upsilon Lambda. Check us out.

Paz

[Migita]

Hello Invalentin,

I too lived in Buffalo New york on Whitney PL does that sound familiar? I use to attend Herman Badillo community school when I was in elementary school. Now I live in Michigan. Puertoricans are a very small % in this community. I live around a lot of Mexicans. Everwhere I go people just assume I'm Mexican and that bothers me. I don't have anything against Mexicans but I stand very pround on being 100% Puerto rican. I was born in Ponce and then my parents moved to Brooklyn. I then moved to Buffalo home of the best chicken wings. After I finish college I'm thinking about moving somewhere where more puerto ricans reside. I miss not having any puerto rican restaurants around and I get tired of cooking sometimes.

Whats up BORICUAS!!!! triguenyo and balance

[jasmin1118]

First of all I would like to say hi to all my people. If I would have known about this site much sooner, I would have respond upon your request.

I'm Puertorican born and raised in the bronx although now I reside in harlem. To be honest with you, I don't see any racial offence in the bronx because the majority of people are puertoricans. Here in Harlem, lives many Afro-Americans and so far I haven't had a conflict with any of them. Don't get me wrong, there has been a few incidents where I have fought with a particular person but it has nothing to do with racism.

I believe that it has to do a lot with the state in which you live in. The problem is that we are menorities in those other state while in NYC we have a lot of privileges and opportunities. To be honest if anyone does not like us because of whatever reason, you must know that they are jealous. That's my conclusion. Because we are beautiful people. So be proud of who you are where ever you seem to be.

[ElMastero]

Hola mi gente,

I'm from the South Bronx NYC. I was born in bethlehem but then moved here when I was 4. Puerto Ricans make up the largest latino community in the city. In the 80's when I was growing up Boricuas made up about 80% of the latino population in the bronx. As time went by there was an influx if Dominicans coming into the city. By the 90's there was a large Dominican population. Now there is a growing population of Mexicans coming into the Bronx.

As far as I see it most latino's have a few things that they dislike about Puerto Rican's. One, we've been here the longest and have the most numbers. Most of us are already second and third generation with a good command of the english language. We don't share their language barriers and to some extent many Boricuas don't even speak spanish very well. We are naturalised US citisens whether born in the states or on the island. So we do not share the struggle of trying to get into this country, worrying about deportations and green cards. We come and go as we please. We also, for the most part, get along with our African American neighbors while many of them are racist. So in a lot of ways they see us as being priveledged while not being latino enough.

Now from the Puerto Rican perspective other latino groups are newcomers. What some call "off the boat". They may share our language (Spanish) but the culture is different. They are also perceived by some as green card carrying, hundred kids having midget low lives. It's those differences that some Boricuas don't like. I've heard it said about Mexicans, that while Dominicans aren't all that great, atleast they're fellow caribenos. Dominicans along with Cubans share bloodlines and cultures that mix Taino, Spanish and African. While Mexicans are all short weird looking indians.

Although with time our people will get along and you'll start to see people who are part this and part that. I have cousins who are half Puerto Rican and ... white, black, dominican, bolivian and peruvian. We're the darn united nations. lol