Perez Martorell 1

Felix Perez Martorell

Dr. Tabitha T. Clark

First-Year Writing

October 10, 2020

Americans but not Quite America

As the Presidential Election draws near, I prepare to vote for the first time in my life.

Staring at the selection of candidates, my mind inevitably wanders to my friends and family back

home, some who have just reached the age to participate in elections like me, and others who

have witnessed many elections. In either case, they all lack the right to vote because of where

they live. The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is an island located in the Caribbean and home to

3.2 million U.S. Citizens, all of whom cannot vote in the General Election due to its status as a

U.S. territory. Despite being part of the United States, Puerto Rico exhibits customs and

traditions which differentiate it from the rest of the mainland, creating a unique and vibrant

culture but also a place where citizens cannot vote for President and receive less aid compared to

that of the states. The lack of representation, an economic crisis, political corruption, multiple

disasters, and the threat of the pandemic riddle the island’s recent history, testing the people of

Puerto Rico. As Amílcar Barreto, a native of Puerto Rico and the interim chair of Northeastern’s

Department of Cultures, Societies and Global Studies, states: “We are, as a people, resilient, but

resilient to a point,” (Fischer). As Puerto Rico continues to reach its breaking point, we must

look at the people of Puerto Rico, the history of the island in which they live, and the problems

that they face in order to understand their unique culture in conjunction with their unique

problems.
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In order to figure out how Puerto Rico got to where it is today, we look back over 500

years to when Spain colonized the island. Originally called Borinquén by the native Taíno

population, the island was renamed to Puerto Rico shortly after its discovery by Christopher

Columbus in 1493 (“Puerto Rico”). The mix between the Taíno, Spanish Conquistadors, and

later African slaves brought to the island for labor form the genetic makeup of the Puerto Rican

population. The city of Old San Juan serves as a time capsule of Puerto Rico in its colonial

period, Magaly Rivera, another native Puerto Rican, describes how it “has evolved into a

charming residential and commercial district. The streets here are paved with cobbles of

adoquine, a blue stone cast from furnace slag; they were brought over a ballast on Spanish ships

and time and moisture have lent them their characteristic color. The city includes more than 400

carefully restored 16th- and 17th-century Spanish colonial buildings.”

Cobbled road travelling between two restored houses in Old San Juan (Oze).

After looking at Puerto Rico’s history as a colony, now we analyze its relationship with

the United States. Spanish rule lasted until 1898 when Spain transferred control to the United

States after the Spanish-American War. Puerto Rico gradually obtained more and more rights
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from the United States, providing a civil government in 1900, citizenship in 1917, the ability to

elect a governor in 1948, and finally establishing the island as a Commonwealth, increasing its

self-government in 1952 ("Puerto Rico”). Later, the U.S. and Puerto Rico worked together to

industrialize Puerto Rico through Operation Bootstrap, attracting American businesses and

transitioning primarily from agriculture to manufacturing ("Puerto Rico”). Before this point,

agriculture played a large part of Puerto Rican culture with the jíbaro serving as a representation

of the rural farmworkers at the time, El Boricua, a Puerto Rican cultural magazine, describes the

jíbaro as “the poor campesino, uneducated, and illiterate. He lived in extreme poverty. He made

do with what little he had. The jíbaro was not educated, but he was not stupid. He had natural

wisdom,” remaining a popular and enduring symbol as part of Puerto Rico’s history.

El Pan Nuestro de Cada Día by Ramón Frade

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Despite belonging to the United States, Puerto Rico’s native and colonial origins remain

an integral part of its culture. Spanish influence continues to express itself throughout the island

with Catholicism as the dominant religion and Spanish as the primary language followed to a

lesser extent by English. These influences are also exhibited in the art of Puerto Rico either

through their religious themes or inspiration from European styles (Rivera). Art ranges from

works by artisans to modern artists as well as many prominent Puerto Ricans throughout the

history of the island (Rivera).

Vejigante masks in an artisan fair (Tim) El Velorio by Francisco Oller

Similarly, Puerto Rico’s music and dance takes inspiration from all aspects of Puerto

Rico’s history. A popular instrument is the güiro, a notched, hollowed-out gourd originating

from the Taíno people (Rivera). Popular dances include the Bomba which is of African origin

and Plena which blends multiple of Puerto Rico’s backgrounds (Rivera). Finally, Salsa and latin

artists such as Ricky Martin are examples of Puerto Rican music that continue to grow in

popularity (Rivera).

Amílcar Barreto describes what “[he] love[s] the most about Puerto Ricans is a love of

life, a zest, a zeal, even during the toughest times...” qualities that aid Puerto Ricans when
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dealing with many of the problems which plague the island (Fischer). The first of these is an

economic crisis as the island struggled with rising debt but slow growth, eventually announcing

bankruptcy in 2017 which diminished the quality of life of its citizens exemplified through high

taxes and reduced government aid/funding for institutions such as schools and hospitals (“Puerto

Rico”). The situation worsened the same year due to Hurricanes Irma and Maria which

decimated the population with a death toll of almost 3,000 and over $90 billion in damages,

leading to a difficult recovery which was made harder by the Trump Administration’s poor

response (Fink). All these factors contribute to the steady decline of Puerto Rico’s population as

islanders move to the mainland in search of better opportunities and conditions (“The Population

of...”). Another problem arose in 2019 after federal agents arrested Puerto Rican government

officials due to corruption charges shortly followed by leaked messages from a group chat

including Ricardo Rossello, the Puerto Rican governor at the time. These messages included

homophobic and misogynistic rants as well as jokes about Hurricane Maria victims, sparking

public outrage and a series of large protests throughout the island. William Ramirez, a

representative for the ACLU of Puerto Rico, described how “People affiliated with all local

political parties, Democrats and Republicans, single mothers, the elderly, people with

disabilities, all stood shoulder to shoulder with thousands of young people, the LGBTQ

community, and women protesting in the streets,” almost one third of the entire population:
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Crowd of protestors in 2019 (Ramirez).

This resulted in the first time that a Puerto Rican governor has resigned, passing the role

to the Secretary of Justice Wanda Vazquez who is from the same party and who the public also

criticizes (Ramirez). Due to all these problems and recent events, “Puerto Ricans have awakened

from over 500-years of colonial oppression to the realization that power truly lays within us, its

people. We are no longer willing to remain silent when our leaders spew hate and corruption,”

(Ramirez).

One final problem the people face is Puerto Rico’s status as an unincorporated territory.

The lack of statehood leaves Puerto Rico without delegates for the Electoral College, therefore

lacking the right to vote in the General Election (Barden). Puerto Rico only sends one, non-

voting representative in Congress and has historically received less aid in comparison to that of

the states (Barden). This creates a conflict within the island over how Puerto Rico’s status

should be changed, debating between statehood or remaining a commonwealth. The opinion of

the public over this complicated issue has been measured through five referendums with another

one being held for the 2020 election (“Puerto Rico”). The first three in 1967, 1993, and 1998
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demonstrated the people’s desire to remain a commonwealth but the last two in 2012 and 2017

have favored statehood (“Puerto Rico”). However, the structure of the referendum and low voter

turnout have raised the question of the accuracy of these last two referendums, leaving the issue

of Puerto Rico’s status unresolved (“Puerto Rico”).

Although part of the United States, Puerto Rico exhibits a unique culture which

differentiates it from many of the other states, unfortunately this also extends to Puerto Rico’s

unique problems. The lack of representation, an economic crisis, decades of corruption and

mismanagement, multiple natural disasters, and the threat of the pandemic continue to mount on

the people of Puerto Rico (Ramirez). As conditions continue to worsen, many question how

Puerto Rico will resolve its many problems. Amílcar Barreto believes that in terms of the natural

disasters, economy, and decreasing population “...ultimately, things are not going to improve

until the federal government decides to step in and help,” (Fischer).

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Works Cited

Barden, Aaron. “Puerto Rico, Inc.: Implicit Incorporation and Puerto Rico's Right to Vote for

Presidential Electors.” The William and Mary Bill of Rights Journal, vol. 27, no. 3, Mar.

2019, pp. 843–875. ProQuest One Academic, link.ezproxy.neu.edu/login?

url=https://www-proquest-com.ezproxy.neu.edu/docview/2234985038

accountid=12826. Accessed 1 Oct. 2020.

Fink, Sheri. “Puerto Rico: How Do We Know 3,000 People Died as a Result of Hurricane

Maria?” The New York Times, 3 June 2018,

www.nytimes.com/2018/06/02/us/puerto-rico-death-tolls.html.

Fischer, Adam. “COVID-19, Hurricane Maria, and the Looming Threat of Natural Disasters Are

Testing Puerto Rico's Resilience”. 9 Oct. 2020, news.northeastern.edu/2020/10/09/covid-

19-hurricane-maria-and-the-looming-threat-of-natural-disasters-are-testing-puerto-ricos-

resilience/?utm_source=News%40Northeastern.

Frade, Ramón. El Pan Nuestro De Cada Día. 1905. Museo de Arte, Universidad de Puerto Rico,

Recinto de Cayey.

Oller, Francisco. El Velorio. 1893. Museum of Anthropology and History of the University of

Puerto Rico.

Oze, George. Stroll through Old San Juan's Cobbled Streets and See the City through Fresh

Eyes. Alamy Stock Photos.

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“Puerto Rico.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 28 Sept. 2017,

www.history.com/topics/us-states/puerto-rico-history.

Ramirez, William. “After the Power of Protest Ousts a Governor, Puerto Rico Has a New

Leader. For Now.” American Civil Liberties Union, 8 Aug. 2019, www.aclu.org/blog/free-

speech/rights-protesters/after-power-protest-ousts-governor-puerto-rico-has-new-leader-

now.

Rivera, Magaly. “Welcome to Puerto Rico! History, Government, Geography, and Culture.”

Welcome to Puerto Rico!, welcome.topuertorico.org/.

“The Population of Puerto Rico Exceeds the Populations of 20 States.” Puerto Rico Report, 26

June 2020, www.puertoricoreport.com/population-puerto-rico-exceeds-populations-21-

states/.

Tim, Captain. “Artisan Fairs of Puerto Rico: Puerto Rico & Caribbean Travel News.” Caribbean

Trading, 22 Oct. 2015, caribbeantrading.com/artisan-fairs-of-puerto-rico/.

“What Is a Jibaro?.” El Boricua, www.elboricua.com/jibaro.html.