We Are In A Crisis

[L_F_Miranda]

While Puerto Ricans on the island live in La-La land, while Puerto Ricans on the mainland discuss Fidel Castro, Marxisim, and the cultural metits of Daddy Yankee, the new Rican Reggaeton sensation, most of our kids are being left way behind, WAY BEHIND.

According to NY times colomnist Bob Herbert, only two thirds of American teenagers graduate from High School. Of those who graduate about half read well enough to handle college-level work.

I bet the statistics for Puerto Ricans is worse. Why? Because we are the Latino group who, despite living two generations in the states, hasn't made it! Yes SuKi, we have a college graduate here and two there, but as a whole we are in a BIG MESS! Yes, Suki and Eddier, Predjudice and racism has taken a huge toll. However despite these handicaps some, yes some groups, like Dominicans are doing better. No, I don't mean they have taken off like the Jews once did in the early 20th century, but they, different from Boricuas, still have the will to get educated. In fact , the huge Dominican immigration basically dates from 1965, the Puerto Ricans from the late 40's

Overall, Young low income and minority children are more likely to start school without important school readiness skills. But these readiness skills are considerd "White" in the ghettos of America, other skills like dancing and sports are more important. By 4th grade minority children are three grade levels behind non-poor kids of any background. Puerto Ricans are one of the largest segments within special education in NY city. Is it because Ricans are basically retarded? No, it's because Puerto Rican moms found out that they can get a supplement via Social Security if they opt to sign their kids into Special Ed. Mexican and Dominican immigrants fight tooth and nail to keep their kids away from special Ed. despite the handouts.

Who are the role models of our kids? Are they successful people whose success can be achieved by staying in school? No!

They are Cartoonish Characters like Puff daddy, J-Lo, Hip Hop Rap singers and the Rican Bro Papa Yankee. They may be good for a laugh, but they are useless as role models in my opinion.

Is it just minorities who falling behind?

Poor white trailer park kids who are in the Bible belt will also be lost. Because of the science and the God Bless America world in which they live, these kids will be left without skills to compete successfully in an ever more competitive global environment.

While Koreans are at the forefront of experimenting with stem cells, in america we are discussing intelligent design and if the Virgin Mary appeared to some way ward Italian girls coming back from a disco on Long Island.

While Indians and Chinese are excelling in computer knowledge, in America kids are geared towards video games which numb their minds. Despite that video games have been found to be a necessary skill for the wars of the XXI century, However I bet the ones picked for sensitive war games will surely not be Tyrone or Jose from the Ghetto.

Not for nothing, but I agree with everything you just said.
Although if I said it, I'd probably get banned by the moderator or something for speaking such harsh realities.

Una verguenza!

[Eddier1]

Delgado thinks you are too hard on our people. And what?. that
it is "not nothing" but bits of the truth here and there? I won't go there
about taking apart bits and pieces of an organism, like some
obsessed sadist. Let's look at a broader horizon, that of
History. If you read the history of immigration to this country, you
will discover that the greatest flood of immigrants came in the
late 19th century. Most were Italians and many others from the
Balkans and/or other Slavic countries. What happened to the Italians
is particulaly edifying because from about 1880's and onward, the
Italians, who were called legally 'the without papers people', (w.o.p.)
had to survive by being scavengers, scouring the dumps of the big
cities for articles that could be resold. This went on for decades, and
they started to move up by becoming owners of junk yards, but it wasn't
until the Al Capone and Mafia moved in that the Italians got on the map
of America in a big way. Then through such, the Italians became more
than middle class, some getting estates which once belonged to the
wealthy of America who had moved away from Victorian mansions to
more modern and streamlined accomodations. The "upshot" of it all
is that it took an undocumented immigrant group over a half century
in order to improve themselves materially and gain some "respect" in
America. I will also refer to the the Jewish immigrants, most of whom
came from Poland and Russia, and became peddlers in the streets of
the gay-ninetiess New York scene. They too were desperatedly poor
and ghettoized in the beginning, until their children got some education
and learned how to convert their savings into buying real estate
in N.Y.C., becoming landlords, and using banking to move up the latter
of social mobility. Now, how long did all this social mobility stuff take?
It was over half-century at least before the immigrants were out of
the woods economically and had improved their lives.

And are the Puerto Ricans, who mostly came in the 1940's really any
different, L.F.M.? It will also take them lots of time to achieve a
social mobillity upwards, too. Let's not overlook that if it takes
somewhat longer, it is probably due to the burden of the status
anomaly of a colonialized Puerto Rico which they all carry as an
extra burden in the climb upward. Forget about comparing them
to the undocumented illegal aliens now 25 million in number from
the open borders with Mexico, or to the tiny number of Dominicans
and Cuban refugees of south Florida. All of that can be bracketed
as irrelevant when considering the immigration of our Puerto
Rican people. You are more than merely comparing oranges with
apples, L.F.M. when you do that. You are throwing rocks at them
while sitting on a fence, and not really wanting to commit yourself
to taking sides with your own people.

Eddie, I did not say too hard. It's the REALITY that is harsh. I couldn't agree more. I'm simply stating that if I had said this, I would've been villified for being controversial or something. I've always held this belief that Looie shares...

And considering how I have lived in New York City and have seen non-citizen latinos come in and "pass" our people in a matter of a generation, LF Miranda is not off with his assessment, Eddie.

[L_F_Miranda]

Delgado22 said:
Not for nothing, but I agree with everything you just said.
Although if I said it, I'd probably get banned by the moderator or something for speaking such harsh realities. Una verguenza!
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Delgado, I don't think you will be banned for letting out steam. Its about time we Puerto Ricans started discussing the mess we're in and stop the folkloric bit.

Like Eddier said in his post, yes other groups have gone through what we are going through, but some have surfaced ( Jews) while others are still just trying to make it, Italians.

Hardly anybody knows that 40% of those Italians who came in the early 20th century LEFT, went back to Italy. Those who stayed are still within the blue collar stage and have just barely moved up. Owning a mansion does not make one middle class, it makes us more like the Beverly Hill-Billies. Do we have to wait our turn? If so, it'll take us a 1000 years at the pace we're going!

In contrast to the U.S. experience, Italians in Argentina were more succesful. As a group of people they are more educated, moved up to the middle class faster, and have become president of the republic. Despite economic problems facing the nation today, they are still a highly educated group. In the U.S. Italians are still plumbers and construction workers, barely part of the ruling elite.

Our problem is that we glorify our Lumpen status, we find it folkloric, cute and we dwell on it, not rejecting it in fear that we will be attacked by the keepers of the ghetto style.

On the other hand we have the ultra-conservatives , who basically identify with whites, but not the educated types, but with the poor white trash who flies American flags, sees Communists in every soup bowl and doesn't question the government in fear of being branded un-patriotic and leftist. In fact ultra-conservative Ricans deal with the president as if he was the right arm of God, not to be questioned, and much like blue collar Italians, they would strike down those who dare to do so.

[Eddier1]

Let's shift to the economic markers of whom is middle class and who isn't.
You did add, L.F.M., the story as to how some Italians who came in
the early 20th century got disenchanted or whatever and decided to
return to Italy. Since I was referring to the great immigration that came
in the late 19th century, I did not include that, since it is not generally
known, while the blasts of the Capones and the other Italian Mafiosos
overshadowed almost completely the struggle of the Italians for
social mobility, upwards. Strange as it seems, the Italians gained
"respect" out of something that was obviously criminal or sociopathic.
But such is America "where anything can happen", unusual as it may
be and it gains some sort of acceptance.

As I shift to the economics markers on the issue of the Italians, and
must afterwards make some sort of stats about the Puerto Ricans,
the fact is that what makes the Italians at least middle class is
the evaluation of their wealth and/or incomes. The markers are
based on income or real property in order to determine where on
the social mobility chart a group (not race) is in relation to the
social relations or classes in America. Based on those stats (markers,
if you will) the Italians are in the middle class, i.e. the bourgeois
class since their wealth and income is above the poverty line, and
falls well within the middle class income range. On the other hand,
the Puertorriquenos are mostly at or below the poverty line, and
are in the class of the minority groups, which can be lumpen, working
poor, or peasant. Some are in the petty bourgeois group, but that
is not really relevant to the economic index, since most minority
businesses (mom and pop stores,too) fail. You mentioned Argentina and
that is a whole different kettle of fish as far as how the Italians are
doing there, and not at all relevant to where they are in the U.S..
But just note anyway, that the Italians in terms of their income
,some with successful businesses and not merely pizza shops
or Italian ristorantes, have an income rated way above the Argentine
peso income (and that gov't is now using American dollars as currency these
days in a country that has been so stricken by economic
problems).

Where the Puertorriquenos are as a minority group may have little to do
with the fact that most of the minority are originally from the peasant
group. In Puerto Rico, many of their ancestors harvested coffee beans,
and cut sugar cane, and worked the land if only having small gardens
of the local veggies and fruits. But let's add that many of the Italians
who immigrated from Italy came from Sicily which is to this day also
a peasant economy and the early immigrants were mostly peasants.

Optimistically, the Puertorriquenos will not go the route of becoming
mobsters and deal in drugs, etc..But who knows if that is ultimately
what the decadence in America is trying to lead them to. The
enormous increase in crime and such in Puerto Rico and in the
ghettos of the urban U.S. does not bode well for the Puertorriquenos.
Compared to making it that way in the U.S, and Puerto Rico, the
cult of 'baile, baraja, y botella' is not such a bad thing. And the
stress of the young on music, dance, and achieving stardom in
those fields is definitely a good thing for them The Italians did it
with their Perry Comos, Dean Martins, and the unique Frank Sinatra,
so why look down like you do L.F.M. on Puerto Rican stars and
continue throwing rocks at your people while sitting on the fence
and not really supporting your own people?

[s3xy]

??? Puerto Rican population in the Bronx is decreasing, while Mexican and Dominican population in increasing in the poorer areas...

You're trying to convince me Dominicans are doing better than Puerto Ricans? At what? Selling drugs to a buch of prietos and cops in the Washingston Heights? its not just Puerto Ricans, there are many in Central Florida, Conneticut, and other states, where they're not living that life you said, I know many accually, they outnumber the welfare cases in the NYC area


"While Puerto Ricans on the mainland discuss Fidel Castro, Marxisim, and the cultural metits of Daddy Yankee, the new Rican Reggaeton sensation, most of our kids are being left way behind, WAY BEHIND."


Uhh...I'm in NYC now, and I'm going to Port St Lucie, Florida this November, I don't really here Puerto Ricans talk about politics like that.

Everyone is addicted to Regueton now, Canary Islanders, People in Spain, NYC, Miami, Chicago is loving it, its not only just Puerto Ricans.

and we're definately not way behind in the mainland, but we can definately WORK harder, and build a new mentalit...but you're being too harsh and venting too much in that post

Where have you been? Nobody likes P-Diddy or w/e that clowns name is, but I understand your view on this.

Its impossible to stereotype Puerto Ricans in the mainland, because not everyone is the same, they have so many different and distant personalities, alot of them can't even name 10 - 15 pueblos in PR, or carry a decent conversation in their parent's native language.

Alot of Puerto Ricans lately in Florida are into "Emo" "Punk" "Rock", I have Puerto Rican friends in the Mid-North Bronx who are becoming into Techno, and other gengres

My point is, in the mainland, alot of Puerto Ricans are different from each other, its not like they're going to share the same ideas, lifestyles, and personalities.

So you're wrong about the Role Models.