Talk:Puerto Rican-American

Merge

Is there any difference between Puerto Rican and Puertorrican people to merit separate articles? IF so please provide the differences and reasons for both articles? If no reasons are found this article should be merged into Puerto Rican since it came before and is a more common spelling/ pronunciation. Joelito 04:26, 14 March 2006 (UTC)

• This page should either be merged or deleted. I dont tihnk Puerto Ricans are in any way an ethnic group as they vary in terms of origins, cultures, race and even language. It is a nationality, not an ethnic group. 69.156.88.98 22:54, 15 March 2006 (UTC)

Race

Thank you for this article.. Puerto Ricans won't acknowledge anything other than Spainish coming to the island..We had French..Germans..English..Irish..Dutch even Chinese. I've notice this among other Hispanics of other countries.. they have no clue what they are or who they came from. to think we are all the same is ignorant..like thinking everyone born in America is the same race..not even everyone from the same city is the same race. only once in my life did I meet a person who looked so much like me she could pass for my sister..she was from the Netherlands. My mother has no African blood and my father has no Taino blood both are "native" Boricuas. I traced my paternal grandmother to the middle east of Sephardi blood while my maternal grandmother only has 1 person non Taino who was a Gitana..not the italian looking European but more Hindu looking with very dark skin(calé). It's a lie that all Boricuas are a mix of Taino,Spanish/white,Yoruban it's also a lie that the Spanish married Taino & African women..it was against the law as it was in America.

I agree that many Hispanics (including most Puerto Ricans) don't even know what their roots are. Puerto Ricans can be white, black, asian, mulatto and even mestizo if they have married someone with Indian heritage. However, there seems to be a movement to eliminate the "Spanish" heritage out of Latin Americans, as if having Spanish ancestry was something to be ashamed of. This is quite common in Mexico, Central America and places like Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador where the Indigenous population has always been high. This type of thinking has made many Puerto Ricans believe that they are descendants of Taino Indians when in fact, most of the indigenous population of Puerto Rico was wiped out by the time serious colonization of the island began. Yes, Spaniards took Indian women even though it was forbidden by Spanish law back then, but their offspring became absorbed by the waves of immigrants who later colonized the island. More immigrants have settled in Puerto Rico than the number of Taino Indians in Puerto Rico at the time of the discovery. Many Puerto Ricans forget that immigrants from the Canary Islands came by the thousands to Puerto Rico and numerous villages and towns where founded by Canary Islanders (such as Mayagüez, Hatillo, etc..) Of all the Spaniards, Canary Islanders tended to have darker complexions since many where descendants of the Guanches who were the original Berber inhabitants of the islands before being colonized by Spain. The fact that the Spanish spoken in Puerto Rico bears a striking resemblance to the Spanish spoken in the Canary Islands shows how heavy the Canarian influence was on the island. Also, waves of Corsican immigrants settled in Puerto Rico as well as French, Irish, Dutch, Catalonians, Basques, Chinese and Germans and in recent times Cubans, Dominicans and other Spaniards. Most importantly, we cannot forget the African heritage which has made more impact in the culture of Puerto Rico than the Taino culture ever did. If there was ever any significant race mixing in Puerto Rico, it was between European and African, not Indian, and it was done after slavery was abolished. Nowadays, immigrants from Mexico and other parts of South America have come to Puerto Rico in which some do have Indian heritage, but they are a new addition to the population and they typically don't consider themselves as Puerto Ricans.

I agree with much and disagree with some of what you've said. It is true that many immigrants came from other european countries rather than just Spain, many where Irish and Dutch in particular, but many did so as mercenaries and laborers for the Spanish which is why there is much confusion over the issue, since many even adopted Spanish versions of their original names. My last name is French and my second last name (mother side) is Danish, but my the family tree goes way back to the time of the pirate Cofresi. So there definitely was a great variety of Europeans coming to Puerto Rico. But Also I want to point out that a great proportion of these immigrants from the earliest days where male over 80-90% by some studies, and most who stayed around (some immigrants island-hopped through the spanish caribbean looking for better opportunites) took native wifes. In fact Puerto Rican spanish has many taino words in use which distinguishes its spanish from other spanish speaking caribbean islands, and other parts of Latin America. I would direct you to the works of Dr. Ricardo Alegria for further information on the linguistic heritage of the taino in Puerto Rican Spanish. The reason this is important is because most language transfers occur from mother to child, particularly in the areas of domestic usage, which is where most of the Taino influenced is found in the language. The conclusion arrived al by the greater of concensus of Puerto Rican athropologist who study the issue is that the Taino was assimilated, and largely indoctrinated by the Church, into what we now call Puerto Rican, by around 1600. The African Heritage in the island is also important, but keep in mind that the island was never a true slave society, unlike Cuba where slaves reached close to 50% of the population at times, the best evidence shows Puerto Rican slavery around the 10%-15% range, and this is largely due to an already existing wage labor economy on the island, which made slavery less competitive than it otherwise would have been. And also due to the terrain of the island, which is largely irregular for large sugar plantations like those found in Cuba the Dominican Republic, or even many of the islands of the lesser antiles like Barbados. African words are also found in the language to a similar extent as Taino words. In all linguistically speaking, Puerto Ricans are a mixture of African, Taino, and Spanish, ethnically it is obviously much more diverse, but lets not dismiss the taino as one root of Puerto Rican Culture, Identity, or History.Mad05963 10:37, 27 March 2007 (UTC)

The merge is meant

I've read both of these articles and even though I don't precisely agree with any of the opinions expressed in this discussion, these articles together will be more helpful and useful than two separate ones. They both provide rightful information and will make it easier to the user to have all that information in one page rather than two or even more. Therefore, both articles should be merged with a disambiguation to each other.

There is no difference, articles should be merged

I agree, there are no differences between Puerto Rican and Puerto Rican people. If anybody feels there is some difference, it could be explained in a paragraph or two inside the merged article. mjuarez 20:30, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

Content collected from other pages for consideration

I have created the page Talk:Puerto Rican American/Merge for the placement of content removed from other articles for consideration for inclusion in this article. Alan.ca 10:56, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

The main article should be called Puerto Rican, not Puerto Rican American... that term is never used, plus there is no Iowa American... Cjrs 79 05:03, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

The history of the Puerto Rican people is a history of migration, especially after the mid-20th century. The Puerto Ricans of Chicago are as much a part of the Puerto Rican people as the people in San German. Puerto Ricans carry the island of Puerto Rico within them, or hear about it from parents or grandparents. But given the close relation between Puerto Ricans in the island and Puerto Ricans outside it, the "oneness" of the people has been maintained. Wikipedia should reflect that reality and have one entry for Puerto Ricans, with the entry of "Puerto Ricans in the United States" called that, because that is what it is.

Language

I found this section particularly incorrect. It is not clear who uses such terms as “lunchiar” which I’ve never heard before. Almorzar is the correct term, at least in Puerto Rican Spanish. I believe no one uses this word in Puerto Rico, so it should be specified if this term is of Puerto Rican-American or “spanglish” origin. Also, “goleta english” is not a dialect. It is a colloquial term to describe when someone does not speak English well. Also, it should only be stated that Spanish in Puerto Rico has many words and phrases coming from English, due to US influence of over one hundred years in the Island. Solcita (talk) 18:42, 17 January 2008 (UTC)

Huge Mistake

This article says there are 3.9m Puerto Ricans in Puerto Rico, when this is the population of the island, and not everyone in the island is Puerto Rican.

Merge

An article called Puertorrican people has recently been created. I would like reasons for both articles to exist. As I see it both articles could be merged into one article. Since Puerto Rican was created first and is the more common/accepted spelling/pronnunciation I believe that Puertorrican people should be merged into it. Any ideas, thoughts? Joelito 04:29, 14 March 2006 (UTC)

I agree that the articles should be merged. There is no justification for this information to be split in different locations. Consolidation will provide a more authorative source for locating this information and allow contributors to more easily participate without having to make redundant entries.--Samunoz1 20:59, 3 November 2006 (UTC)

"Puertorrican" atrocious spelling

"Puertorrican" is, to me, an atrocious spelling of the word. The articles may be merged, but I'd redirect the misspellings to "Puerto Rican" demf 17:45, 5 June 2006 (UTC)

Personally, no. Puertorrican is "spanglish" for Puertorriqueno(a). Also, Boriqua (not boricua) is the proper spelling. The island's Taino name is Borinquen.

Remember, Escuela (school) and Esquela (announcement of a death, obituary) do not share same definition or pronunciation (some people pronounce it the same).

Note: Words requiring special symbols (ex. Taino) was not inserted because I don't remember how. ^^

Alexzandro Rivera Aug. 31, 2006

---

Also, Boriqua (not boricua) is the proper spelling. The island's Taino name is Borinquen.

Since these are Taino words of which there is no known written language we can only approximate the spelling as understood by the Spanish. Boriken/Borinquen and Boricua/Boriqua are all acceptable spellings in common usage.--Samunoz1 21:32, 3 November 2006 (UTC)

"Boriqua" is grammatically wrong in Spanish...

Creo que debería figurar que en español también es correcto decir portorriqueño.

Keep as it

Hi, I would like to recommend it stay its own article. I found it because I wanted to know the origin of the term Boricua, which is one quarter of my personal heritage (grandfather on mother's side). Even he didn't know who Puerto Ricans are referred to as Boricuas, and Cubans are only referred to as Cubanos. Same with Cuban people I have asked - no one knew. So having this be a separate article helped me to understand the term itself without having to wade through material not directly relevant to my search. 67.49.8.191 23:49, 17 May 2006 (UTC)Cheeop

There is an article on the term Boricua. I'm not sure I see the relevance of the term on the merger discussion.--Samunoz1 18:37, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

Roberto Clemente

To Whom it may concern: There is no mention of one big PUERTO RICAN : ROBERTO CLEMENTE —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 69.118.56.146 (talk • contribs) .

The Honorable Clemente has his own page. He need not have a specific mention in a general discussion about Puerto Rican people.--Samunoz1 19:23, 10 November 2006 (UTC)

I think he means a pic of him on the box to the top right. If so I agree.

Reorganize

There is a need to separate the sections relating to Puerto Rico and Puerto Ricans in the United States (outside of Puerto Rico) (or what I call Stateside Puerto Ricans). Those sections relating to Puerto Rico should be incorporated into the article on Puerto Rico. A new article title, Puerto Ricans in the United States (Stateside Puerto Ricans) should be created to include sections on the migration to the US and Puerto Ricans communities in the US.--Prpolicy 18:59, 30 July 2006 (UTC)

I agree that sections solely dealing with the Island of Puerto Rico should be moved to that article. No need to duplicate effort and content, not to mention clutter. However, I think "Stateside" Puerto Ricans should be kept in the Puerto Rican article. Again the goal is to make this page one stop authorative spot for all Puerto Rican people. --Samunoz1 18:26, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

What?

The beginning of the 2nd paragraph could be improved. Please read the following:

In other parts of the Spanish-speaking world, depending on the presence of native indigenous populations that existed prior to European colonization and subsequent introduction of Sub-Saharan West African slave trade and the immigrations from Europe, Puerto Rico's census in 2000, reflects that the population is said to be (81%) of European (Spanish) descent according to U.S. census records.

There is no elaboration or clarification of why the sentence starts with "In other parts of the Spanish-speaking world". We are talking specifically about Puerto Rico here. The paragraph mentions indigenous populations, European colonization, and slave trade and somehow haphazardly continues onto 2000 US census. It almost seems like something was accidentally chopped of by another contributor. I'll most likely edit it if the original contributor does not fix it.--Samunoz1 19:25, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

Amerindian influence

Anyone who goes to Puerto Rico can see that the Taino/Amerindian (Native American)presence lives. Lets not be so careless in such an important aspect of our ancestral history. - signed by anon IP

Expand Puerto Rican migration template

Please add new articles on other migrations to Puerto Rico. There were Greeks, Italians, Maltese and Portuguese settlers. The articles in need are taken down for not "appearing" in the first place (red links). Let's get it started and include them in the template. I re-edit a few things in the article, but be careful on how "hate groups viewed" Puerto Ricans, not as people is more appropriate and sensitive than "as animals". To type it in is going to pull people's chains or push emotional buttons, so I don't want that in here on an encyclopediac article. The article hasn't stated racism against Puerto Ricans and Latinos as a whole has been on the wane, but the stereotypes depict Puerto Ricans are a problem, like how some view Jews and black people in horribly distorted ways. + 63.3.14.1 08:48, 24 January 2007 (UTC)

NPOV issues (e.g. woe is the immigrant Puerto Rican; discrimination everywhere)

Please, keep the bleeding hearts out of the ethnicity articles. I grew up with Puerto Ricans in my Middle and High schools in Hartford County, CONN. I can attest to good and bad sides from interacting with them, the things they have brought to and taken from my state. The good things you don't have a problem hearing; neither do I. The fact remains is that they have dilapidated the City of Hartford and environs, a Puerto Rican mayor further proof of the blind eyes to this issue. Hartford was a safe and clean place, progressive and in the lead. Hartford is now stagnant and backwards, with vandalism and violence strewn across the streets. Notice how the culprits are not African-American, nor were they ever? My grandmother's family founded Hartford, so all we are asking for is respect. Who are the victims in this instance? Is this the price to pay for welcoming you into our homes? Please, get over yourselves! Les Invisibles 07:02, 4 February 2007 (UTC)

Please refrain from soapboxing... that is not what we are here for. If you have any reliable and verifiable sources on this regards, please feel free to include them. Otherwise, please keep your opinions for your blog or KKK bulletin board, not wikipedia. Thanks! --Cerejota 03:14, 20 May 2007 (UTC)

You know Les Invisibles actually proves something; that Puerto Ricans live in Puerto Rico. His senseless ranting just makes it clear that you have to separate Puerto Ricans born in the states from those born in the island. The unjust stereotypes that some people have toward Puerto Ricans should be mentioned and it should be stated that those stereotypes actually originated and directed towards Puerto Ricans from the states. The bottom line is a Puerto Rican-American is not the same. He might share some of the values and culture but he lives in a different environment and speaks a different main language. Pveagle019 1:12, 13 Jul 2007 (UTC)

Mexican-Puerto Rican rivalry?

Is there an known rivalry between the two, as I've heard people from both groups saying that they find it particularly offensive to be mistaken for the other group? If so, should this be added into the article? I ask this because on the article of Selena, it's mentioned that when Jennifer Lopez was selected to play the character of Selena, there was a brief controversy because of JLo's Puerto Rican heritage and Selena's Mexican heritage.Jlujan69 21:47, 10 February 2007 (UTC)

Puerto Rican Citizenship

I belive there is a misunderstanding, Maybe someone should do a bit more research and edit a bit the "Political and international status" section. Puerto Ricans do not have the same natural-born citizenship guaranteed by the constitution that people born in the states do. they have a second-class citizenship, which congress can take away as long as puerto rico is not a state.

--Someone google up territorial clause, and puerto rico and citizenship

The Jones-Shafroth Act of 1917 granted all persons born in Puerto Rico American citizenship. There is only one class of American citizenship, and all American citizens have the same rights, whether one is born in the States, born in a territory or naturalized. The only distinction is that only native-born citizens can be President. Whether those born in territories are considered native-born is still an unanswered question as all presidents so far were born in the Union, although Barry Goldwater who was born in Arizona before statehood and John McCain who was born in the Panama Canal Zone challenged for the presidency without major questions on their eligibility.

Your point that Puerto Ricans are not guaranteed citizenship by the Consitution is an interesting one. The Fourteenth Amendment guarantees citizenship to all persons "born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction of". Whether "United States" refers only to the 50 States or includes the territories over which the Union has jurisdiction is an issue that has not been challenged and most likely will never be, as it is unlikely that the statute which grants citizenship to Puerto Ricans will be repealed. Kraikk 08:30, 15 April 2007 (UTC)

There is debate around this question, and it is a political, not legal one. Legally, US citizenship of Puerto Ricans born in Puerto Rico ceased to be statutory after the first generation: Jones-Shafroth Act of 1917 not only extended citizenship but also explicitly included Puerto Rico under the Fourteenth Amendment's "subject to the jurisdiction of" clause (the Foraker Act explicitly excluded Puerto Rico in this sense, while extending the full force of federal law: problems in the Courts regarding citizen rights in part led to the Jones-Shafroth Act itself!). This is why only Puerto Rican adults born before the Act came to force had the option to not be US citizens: no Puerto Rican can legally resign US Citizenship to become a Puerto Rican citizen. This question is beyond settled in the Courts and in Law.

To date, no Puerto Rican US citizen has been denationalized, or even attempted to be denationalized, and naturalization laws that apply to children of foreign citizens born in the States of the USA apply to those born in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. There is not a single verifiable and reliable source that states that the US citizenship is in any legal sense a "second-class" citizenship, or even an statutory one.

A debate does exists as to the NATURE of the jurisdiction, and this is obviously a political, not legal question.

Also a political question is the issue of access to federal benefits, presidential voting rights and other such questions. Interestingly, this same debate goes on in other jurisdictions, including the District of Columbia.

We could have a section or page on properly sourced material on this debate, but we have to be careful in wikipedia not to soapbox for one or the other POV. And we must also be careful to separate the legal, de jure or de facto, from the political.--Cerejota 03:09, 20 May 2007 (UTC)

Since 2007 Puerto Ricans have the Puerto Rican citizenship recognized by the government of Puerto Rico. [1]--Royptorico 18:25, 26 June 2007 (UTC)

"related groups" info removed from infobox

For dedicated editors of this page: The "Related Groups" info was removed from all {{Infobox Ethnic group}} infoboxes. Comments may be left on the Ethnic groups talk page. Ling.Nut 16:55, 19 May 2007 (UTC)

Patrilineal DNa of male African Ancestors is 20% , 5% is of European ancestors!

""less than 5% were shown to have had a male African ancestor, which explains the abundance of European surnames within Puerto Ricans (tradition calls for children to receive their father’s surname). Nevertheless, the study concluded that Native American (Arawak/Taíno) or/and African ancestry are common among Puerto Ricans, even those who identify as “White”, after four centuries of intermarriage between the island's racial groups. However, the studies did prove that the most abundant chromosomes in Puertoricans are, indeed, of white European ancestry." This statement is false!!!! Got to answers.com to find out about Patrilineal DNA.

I do not know who wrote this but the study of has the male ancester of African orgin to be as high as 20% not less than 5% . also for the female of African descent it is as high as 27%. Many of your darker brtheren found this to be absolutely insulting. If you want you can go to his website http://cacreview.blogspot.com/2005/01/taino-dna-studies-in-puerto-rico.html, among countless others to realize that we are comprised of half native blood the other half African not mostly European ancestry.Puerto Ricans are indeed of white ancestry is completely absurd. I am a Professor of caribeean history and Boricua myself .According to the study funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation, 61 percent of all Puerto Ricans have Amerindian mitochondrial DNA, 27 percent have African and 12 percent Caucasian. (Nuclear DNA, or the genetic material present in a gene’s nucleus, is inherited in equal parts from one’s father and mother. Mitochondrial DNA is inherited only from one’s mother and does not change or blend with other materials over time.) The study concluded most Puerto Ricans are comprised mostly of Native Taino dna not European!

Patrilineal Y chromosome, showed that 75% of all Puerto Ricans possessed a male European ancestor, 20% had a male African ancestor and less than 5% were shown to have had a male Amerindian ancestor. These combinations vary as Puerto Ricans can be of any variety of combined ancestries. Native American (Arawak/Taino) or/and African ancestry are common among "white" Puerto Ricans after four centuries of intermarriage between the island's racial groups.

Dr. Jose Tomas

Patrilineal ancestreal of African Males in Puerto Rico is 20%,European males 5%!!!

If Puerto Ricans are definently of European descent as said on the Puerto Rican page. Then why is it the Mitrochodreal DNA (from the maternal ancestor) was found to be 27% and the Patrilineal (of the male ancestor) is of 20%, in fact the lowest percentile of DNA os from European ancestors. There was actually more DNA of Taino ancestors than any other type of dna. If you type in the topic of Puerto Rican in answers.com you will find the actual findings from the National Science Foundation. This study was done in in 2003 . This was also written properly until someone actually changed the Puerto Rican page on 21 of May , in 2007. They also spelled Puerto Rican absolutely wrong. Why would anyone change the numbers to Say European are they ashamed of something??

DNA citations

Hi guys, there are not many references. This peer-reviewed article deals with the dna issue.

Martinez-Cruzado, Juan C. (2005). "Reconstructing the population history of Puerto Rico by means of mtDNA phylogeographic analysis". American Journal of Physical Anthropology: pp. 131-155. doi:10.1002/ajpa.20108. {{cite journal}}: |pages= has extra text (help); Cite journal requires |journal= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)

-- Luis

Puerto Rico Canarians

Sorry the Puerto Rican canarian article shall be added to this page. Canarians emigrated to puerto rico in big numbers and specially in the north the canarian ascendancy is very noticeable in the guanche words and in some candies like the tosted corn flour with sugar called "El Gofio" common in Canary Islands. The term "guagua" instead of bus or buseta came from canary island also. It is very important to complete the history of this important inmigration to PR.

Nationality

It needs to be included in the article. Puerto Ricans form a nationality, they are not a tribe or a community. This needs to be clarified.--Royptorico 18:21, 26 June 2007 (UTC)

Interesting thought. Look at the Spanish American page as they act in PC fashion and did not clasify us as Spanish American white. The worst part is we argue amongst ourselves when even the Dominican page does'nt have these problems shame. We really need help getting along among all of us no matter what we classify as, and respect each others opinion .Others have aready identified us for themselves.

History of Latinos and Hispanics

Please consider contributing to the article entitled History of Latinos and Hispanics. Thank you! --JuanMuslim ^1m 02:04, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

Us/Canada

Why is it that countries such as Puerto Rico, Cuba, and other former Spanish colonies have 'people', while Canada and the United States, former English colonies, noly have 'demographics'? 12.218.145.112 02:06, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Title should be changed

I think this title should be changed to "Puerto Rican people" or in the "Demographics of Puerto Rico", which is what most countries have. As i think the title puerto rican refers to many other things that are puerto rican...which then has a list of other articles that have a link to all things from Puerto rico..like the American article, Cuban, and English article 86.152.123.87 (talk) 17:32, 4 March 2008 (UTC)

Redirect?

{{WikiProject Puerto Rico|class=Redirect|importance=low}} is at the top of this article. That makes it the only Unassessed article in the WikiPedia Puerto Rico project. I am reluctant to touch this template, but how does the article become assessed? --DThomsen8 (talk) 15:50, 8 September 2009 (UTC)

Leave it alone

I don't think anyone on here commentating is from Puerto Rico or really knows the History so just leave it alone

Borinquen vs Borikén

The original Taino name for Puerto Rico was Borikén later on it became Borinquen by the Jibaros the pre Industrialization farm workers in the Island. ( 2601:58C:C280:7050:458A:D9DA:29D7:1330 (talk) 22:48, 2 January 2022 (UTC)