| In
Spanish Harlem
The first great generation of Puerto Rican migrants established
communities in cities throughout the country, including Chicago,
Philadelphia, and Newark, as well as in mid-Atlantic farm villages
and the mill towns of New England. However, since the 1930s, the
capital of Puerto Rican culture in the mainland U.S. has been
New York City. Despite its great distance from the Caribbean,
New York had long been the landing point of seagoing Puerto Ricans,
and the airborne newcomers followed suit. The new migrants settled
in great numbers in Northeast Manhattan, in a neighborhood that
soon became known as Spanish Harlem. Although many had been farm
workers in Puerto Rico, they know found themselves working in
a wide variety of jobs, staffing the hospitals, the hotels, the
garment factories, and the police departments of their new hometown,
and they soon became a significant force in the city’s political
and cultural life.
The migration to the 50 states slowed in the 1960s and 70s,
as an urban recession led to fewer jobs in U.S. cities, and
many of the first generation returned to Puerto Rico. At the
same time, many migrants struggled with poverty, unemployment,
and racial discrimination in their new home. Darker-skinned
Puerto Ricans often found themselves excluded from jobs, education,
and housing, and were frequently attacked by non-Puerto Rican
street gangs. Meanwhile, for most Puerto Ricans the language
barrier sometimes made it difficult to find well-paying work
or to navigate government agencies or other English-speaking
institutions.
As a second generation was born into the mainland Puerto Rican
community, new political movements were born as well. Puerto
Ricans organized to campaign for greater civil rights, for equal
access to education and employment, and for changes in the status
of Puerto Rico. In a 1951 referendum, the Puerto Rican population
had voted overwhelmingly to become a U.S. commonwealth, rather
than remain a colony. Many groups, however, continued to call
for full independence, and later in the decade militant nationalists
fired on the U.S. House of Representatives and attempted to
assassinate President Harry Truman. Political organizations
also sprang up to agitate for social reform and greater economic
aid to the island, which continued to struggle economically.
At the same time, cultural organizations such as the Nuyorican
Poets urged Puerto Ricans on the mainland to become more aware
of their heritage, and produced poems and songs that examined
many of the harshest aspects of the migrant experience.
At the beginning of the 21st century, the Puerto Rican community
has established solid roots in the U.S. mainland. Although the
first generation of migrants faced great obstacles, their labors
helped build institutions that now benefit their successors, including
churches, community centers, schools, businesses, and political
organizations. Today, Puerto Ricans serve New York in the city,
state, and federal governments; in 1992, New Yorker Nydia
Velázquez became the first woman of Puerto Rican descent
to be elected to the U.S. Congress. The Puerto Rican Day parade
has become the largest parade for any national or ethnic group
in the city. Nationally, performers such as Rita Moreno, Raul
Julia, and Tito
Puente have become familiar faces to millions of Americans,
and writers such as Edwin Torres, Nicolasa Mohr, and Judith Ortiz
Cofer have made their mark on the nation’s literary scene.
The Hall of Fame baseball player Robert Clemente, who passed away
in 1972, is still revered throughout North America, as much for
his philanthropy as for his skill in the outfield.
Today, almost as many people of Puerto Rican descent can be
found in the 50 states as on the island itself. Meanwhile, the
nature of the community continues to change. More professionals
and high-tech workers are arriving on the mainland than ever
before, and the fastest-growing Puerto Rican enclave is not
in New York City, but in Orlando, Florida. It seems clear that,
after more than a century as part of the United States, the
Puerto Rican community will continue as a growing, dynamic,
and surprising part of American life for decades to come.
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