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Who is Puerto Rican?

Here is something that I found interesting. Fellow Boricua states that if you are not born in Puerto Rico, you are not Puerto Rican, See: User talk:Entre-Nos even if your parents are Puerto Rican and you identify yourself as such. In other words people such as Sunshine Logrono, Wilfred Benitez, Edgar Martinez, Jennifer Lopez, Marc Anthony so on and so forth are not Puerto Ricans. He believes that it would be offensive for the "Real" Puerto Rican actors to have actors of Puerto Rican descent under the category "Puerto Rican Actors".

I don't know, but I have always considered myself a "Boricua" and have enbrced my heritage, even though I was born in the U.S. and would feel offended if someone stated the contrary. I'm not the only one, you ask most persons of PR descent in the U.S. "What are you?" and they would answer "Yo soy Boricua". Otherwise, there wouldn't be a "Puerto Rican Day Parade" in New York, Orlando or anywhere else where there is a large concentration of Puerto Ricans.

Therefore, I ask all of you "Who is Puerto Rican?" and can you help me and User: Entre-Nos understand the meaning of the word "Puerto Rican" Thank you. Tony the Marine 01:39, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

Copied from User talk:Entre-Nos:

The equation to know who is Boricua is easy, if you have Puerto Rican heritage and you feel proud of being Puerto Rican you are Puerto Rican, regardless of where you are born, I doubt the "real" Puerto Rican actors would be offended, a good example provided by Tony is Sunshine Logroño here you have a man that was born in the US but has done a lot for the local actors, hey he's even a nacionalist. I don't think that Benicio Del Toro would be offended by people like him being classified as Puerto Rican. - Caribbean~H.Q. 01:51, 1 September 2007 (UTC)
This is an interesting question, and one that I will admit there is debate about. Certainly there are differences between the cultural evolution of the Puerto Rican diaspora and the island-born Puerto Ricans, but these are much less important than the commonalities, and ultimately are not that different.
However, sociologically, Puerto Ricans are generally viewed as a diaspora culture, similar in a sense to the Jewish people: even Christian Jews remain Jewish, and Jews from the world-over, regardless of citizenship or culture they where born. An Argentinian Jew probably is more into soccer and speaks Spanish with seseo, and a Brooklyn Jew likes baseballs and speaks yiddish-inflected English, but I am willing to bet they both can muster a few words of Modern Hebrew and find much more in common with each other than with their surrounding cultures.
This sociologically accepted view is challenged by political discourse: there is a certain extreme strain of political nationalism that meets on the other side of the coin with a extreme form of annexationism: one denies that the Nation spans borders and even national origin, the other engages in a full denial of the national identity. One narrowly defines Puerto Rican as one who is born in Puerto Rico to Puerto Rican parents. The other speaks - without irony and with a straight face - of "Puerto Rican-Americans".
(Both face the paradox of not calling Puerto Rican an old man selling carne frita con mofongo on Third avenue between 115th and 114th streets in New York City. If that man found out this was the case, it would probably a rosario de la aurora worthy of a front page in El Vocero. But I digress...)
But even outside of the extremes politics play a role: Puerto Rico - arguably the homeland of the Nation - is not independent. This creates a deep political implication for what should be a sociological questions. For example, is a Dominican born and raised in Santurce, is he Puerto Rican? What if he is pro-Statehood? Arguably if he self-identifies as Dominican, the debate is over. Or is it? Could he be similar to those who deny being Puerto Ricans in spite of a huge mancha de platano in their face? Those are question muddied by the lack of independence.
Likewise, if Puerto Rico where a State, would the nation cease to exist? Here other diasporic cultures (Jews, Cape-verdians, et al) have one up: their homelands are clearly defined as separate nations, in spite most of them living outside of their homeland. This is also a question muddied by politics: some advocates of statehood will argue the nation would still exist, as cultural nation. Pro-independence and pro-commonwealth advocates will declare it the death of the nation. But are the Chicano, Americans? Are the Mormons of Deseret, Americans? Is the Seminole, Algonquin, Lakota, etc, American?
I, of course, have opinions on the political questions, but will reserve them for the most part: this is not a soapbox. I will say that I agree with the generally accepted sociological view, and say that the view that Puerto Ricans are defined by a narrow geography rather than a broad cultural allegiance is crap - caca. ;)
I have personal reasons to say this: my mother was born in the USA from American parents, raised by them in an english speaking household in Mayagüez since she was five years old. She went to a bilingual high school and to college in Harvard. However, having lived without interruption in Puerto Rico since 1971, and having married my dad and raised two children in Puerto Rico, and having been a political prisioner and activist, I triple dare anyone to question her being Puerto Rican. To her face. That would certainly make the front page of El Vocero. :P
I am sorry for the long note, but take it a sign of respect for the various opinions on the topic, however outlandish I might find some of them.
BTW Benicio del Toro was born and raised in Puerto Rico, and only in his teens moved to the USA. I can say - de buena tinta - he feels Puerto Rican , but he doesn't want to be "used" as a symbol, an unfortunate tendency we have ;). Thanks!--Cerejota 04:31, 1 September 2007 (UTC)
Oopps! when I said "him" in that sentence I meant Logroño, the full stop was added to avoid a run-on sentence. ¿Mancha de platano? uy! those are the worst :) - Caribbean~H.Q. 04:39, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

If being born in Puerto Rico were a precondition to being Puerto Rican, three of the past four PR Senate presidents would be aliens! Rexach Benítez and Charlie Rodríguez wre born in the States and would be considered "Yankees", McClintock would then have to be classified a "Tory" since he was born in London!Pr4ever 14:29, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

Well, I was taught that a Puerto Rican is a person who is a mixture of three races: African, Taino, and Spanish. But I don't necessarily agree with that. I believe a Puerto Rican is also someone who is a descendant of a "true" Puerto Rican, or someone who has lived for a long time in the island and feels as if he/she is a part of its people. --Boricuaeddie 14:49, 1 September 2007 (UTC)
Thats interesting, and certainly a necessary part of founding the National History (it was political nationalism which first formulated this, and made part of our history by Albizu's formulation of the Dia de la Raza). However, the sourced research in Wikipedia clearly shows that it is a limited view, in particular concerning the simplification of the African and Spanish heritage. What about the "moorish" ancestry? Our the huge influx of Irish in the mid and late 18th century that curiously coincides with the first strong self-references to "Puerto Ricans" as unique Nation, rather than as subjects of Spain (Our first representative to Spain was an Irish/French, Ramon Power y Giralt!)? What about the Jewish ancestry? Or the overwhelming amount of Corsicans who came to define our modern identity? What about Roberto Cofresi (whose page needs fixing and I am sourcing for it), who first flew a Puerto Rican flag as part of the gunrunning operation for Simon Bolivar? His mother was certainly Spanish (And from a hugely important family), but if you accept either version of who was his father you accept he was not a Spaniard.
Even the French (not Spanish!) education of our founding fathers (Betances specially) is huge influence in our intellectual construction!
This why even tho we need to work more in hour immigration articles to bring them up to speed, I don't list them for AfD: people interested in Puerto Rican culture, including many Puerto Ricans who do not understand their heritage, need to see how complex it really is.
Lastly, I find extremely outdated any views that use "race" as a standard of nationality: our culture is one of racial mixture, and speaking of a distinct Puerto Rican race is impossible. Thanks! --Cerejota 18:28, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

Copied from my talk:Entre-Nos:

  • Yes, indeed it is an interesting subject and the best part about our discussion is that we are conducting it in a civil manner.

Generally speaking it is correct to say that if you are born in Puerto Rico, you are Puerto Rican even if it is "by Birth". In other words you can be a Puerto Rican and not a so-called "Hispanic". Am I right? Does not the public and media in general embrace those who have a Puerto Rican heritage, but were born somewhere else. as their own? For example: "El Boricua Edgar Martinez, dio un hit" or "El Boricua" Wilfred Benitez gano tres coronas". These are examples of what you would read in the newspapers. Samething goes on in other forms of the media such as the television where a person of Puerto Rican descent who accomplishes something will be referred to as "El Boricua". Are people of Puerto Rican descent considered Puerto Ricans if the general public in Puerto Rico embrace them as such?

If Rita Moreno is placed under the category "Puerto Rican actors", wouldn't it be also correct to place her under the category "American actors" since all Puerto Ricans are American citizens?

This is interesting. When Greece needed people to compete for them in the Olympics, they decided to apply something similiar to the "one drop rule" and gave any athlete who had at least one Greek grandparent Greek citizenship. This atracted many Greek-American athletes who did not qualify to represent the U.S. I mention this because there are many people born in the U.S. who are classified as "Puerto Ricans" (similar to the one drop rule) by society and therefore identify themsleves as such even though they are "American by birth". My question is the following: Is a person a Puerto Rican only by right of birth? Does a person who was born somewhere else who feels proud of his heritage and who indentifies as a Puerto Rican and who the general public embraces as such, be a Puerto Rican?

Don't worry about answering the questions, because this is a discussion and on my behave I'm a "Boricua" 100% no matter what anyone says. Tony the Marine 21:50, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

I don't think speaking Spanish should be a requsite, there are several people that represent Puerto Rico proudly where they go and know little or no Spanish, for example Carmelo Antrone Lee he knows very little Spanish but he is a member of the National team now on that same line I don't know if I would classify Carmelo Anthony as Puerto Rican even if he has the Puerto Rican flag tatooed in his right hand. - Caribbean~H.Q. 22:02, 1 September 2007 (UTC)
  • Regardless, and not to devert the issue, Anthony is half Puerto Rican, I believe that it is on his mothers side. Anyway, I have a suggestion:

Suggestion

The "List of Puerto Ricans" has an introduction that clearly states that it is a list of Puerto Ricans born in Puerto Rico or of people of Puerto Rican descent. Since the delentionists would surely delete a "Category: Puerto Rican Americans", why not add a similar intro like the LoPR's to the categories? This way it can be made clear that the "Category: Puerto Rican actors" (for example), includes the names of those who are of Puerto Rican descent. This way we can avoid a future debate and the "real" Puerto Rican actors and the "not real" Puerto Rican actors will not be offended. It is easy to do. Plus, we would be safe from the little gang of deletionists who want to delete anything that they consider an ethnicity. EX:

"This category lists actors and actresses of stage, cinema, television who were born in Puerto Rico or people who are of Puerto Rican ancestry."

How does that sound? Tony the Marine 00:11, 2 September 2007 (UTC)


  • This would be like discussing about biological and adoptive parents. Being born in a place doesn't necessarily make you a native of that place. Let's say a pregnant tourist from Slovenia gives birth while visiting Puerto Rico and then takes the child back to her hometown, and that kid never sees Puerto Rico again, does that make him/her a Puerto Rican? Consider that people like Logroño, and some of the others mentioned were either raised here or in a cultural environment equivalent to Puerto Rico (say New York, or something along that line). Thief12 21:03, 10 September 2007 (UTC)

Ramón Emeterio Betances

Congratulations to everyone involved on having the Betances article reach the FA status. Cheers! Thief12 16:23, 23 September 2007 (UTC)

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