Puerto-Rican Pride!
Rosie Perez, a well-known director and activist in racial affairs, produced a documentary entitled "¡Yo Soy Boricua!, (I am Puerto Rican) in an attempt to explain the importance of understanding what being a "Puerto Rican" means. Specifically, she explains what being an American of Puerto Rican descent means, and why Puerto Ricans have been so "obsessed" with their heritage and ancestry. Perez does this by going into detail about her own heritage (as she is also Puerto Rican) as well as the socio-political history of Puerto Rico. However, despite the prevalence it holds in Puerto Rican society, Perez omitted the history of West Africans and their culture in Puerto Rico. Historically, it has been found that "modern-day" Puerto Ricans are actually the result of centuries of cohabitation with people of European, West African and Indigenous descent, especially the last two. Still, there remains a denial of Puerto Ricans being descendants of West African slaves, which can be seen in Perez's work.
It has been common practice throughout history for people to try and negate the presence of the African component while giving much more emphasis to the White American and European component. Perez is no exception. It is important to have pride in one’s heritage, but it’s even more important to embrace your full heritage-- not the “glamorous” half.
Works Cited:
Perez, Rosie. "Puerto Rican Now!." Democratic Underground. Web. 21 Apr. 2012. <http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all>.
It's interesting how Puerto Rico would not embrace their African-American heritage if given the opportunity. That just shows that all races, not just whites, have a lot of prejudice to give up before we can truly have racial unity.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely agree with what you said in this blog. So many people throughout the diaspora choose to deny their AFrican roots. There is so much work to be done in promoting unity
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