Who do you think is more similar to Puerto Ricans- Cubans or Dominicans? (cost, country)
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I live in the NYC area and I live with many Puerto Ricans and Dominicans. We are often times seen as brother cultures. However I don't know if we, as Puerto Ricans, are more similar to Cubans or Dominicans. I don't know since there we only have a few Cubans around here.
I would say each 3 culture are equally fairly close, but I may be unaware of many subtle differences as I am neither Cuban, Puerto Rican nor Dominican. Which do you feel closer to?
Probably DR. Just a guess though. The NYC connection. I think Cuba has a larger Black (not counting mulatto/ mixed) population which leads to a slightly different dynamic than the other two. Communist rule for decades which has obviously changed the culture of Cuba. They are all pretty similar but if you had to choose, I would say DR. Hopefully someone more familiar with these cultures can chime in.
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Originally Posted by whogoesthere
Probably DR. Just a guess though. The NYC connection. I think Cuba has a larger Black (not counting mulatto/ mixed) population which leads to a slightly different dynamic than the other two. Communist rule for decades which has obviously changed the culture of Cuba. They are all pretty similar but if you had to choose, I would say DR. Hopefully someone more familiar with these cultures can chime in.
I'm Cuban & I'd say both, but more the Dominicans...as far as the black population in Cuba, I'd agree to disagree & say that there are more "black" Dominicans than black Cubans. This is also bc Haiti is literally connected right next to DR. Most of Cuba's black population is on the eastern side (Oriente, Santiago) which is closer to Jamaica. Also, most of the white Cubans fled Cuba in the early years of Communism & if you go back now, it is much more Afro-Cuban than not.
I would think Cubans and Puerto Ricans but only because most are white and that even includes Cubans on the island (I have to mention this since most of the white elite left after Castro to the US).
Also in the US I would say Puerto Ricans and Dominicans are more similar because most come from working class backgrounds.
However, it is not fair to compare and contrast Cubans and Puerto Ricans in the US since most Cubans in the United States came from elite and middle class backgrounds sans the newer Cubans who come from a Communist regime, so even that could make them different.
I wonder how traditional Cuban (meaning from the island) and Puerto Rican (again from the island) are similar and if they are more similar to each other than the culture found in the Dominican Republic.
One difference I heard is that Cubans tend to keep themselves more and Puerto Ricans are more open to outsiders. I don't know if that is true though.
Another difference is that Cubans generally want to keep a close relationship with Spain. Meanwhile most Puerto Ricans, from what I observed, want nothing to do with the motherland. In fact that is why it became a U.S. commonwealth.
OP needed to add Venezuela and Panama to the list. The cultural similarities between these two countries and the insular Spanish Caribbean is striking.
If the Caribbean coast of Colombia was an independent country, it too could be added. These places feel more like regions of a single country than five different countries plus a region of Colombia.
In the Northeast, Puerto Ricans and Dominicans are more similar due to neighborhoods and socioeconomics. In the islands, I'd say Cuba and DR are more similar.
I've been to Cuba many times. At least 20% of the population is black or Afro-Caribbean looking...maybe even slightly more. In DR, I'd say it's closer to 30% which isn't far off. Cuba has more whites(30%) but the mulatto populations are the biggest groups in both populations(50%+ of DR, 40%+ of Cuba). Puerto Ricans "white" population is vastly overstated(It's actually about 35% - 40% of the population as opposed to 70%+). However, mixed PR's have WAY more Taino admixture on average compared to DR's and Cubans. I've seen quite a few PR's who look similar to Venezuelans, Cartagena Colombians, and even Hondurans. There's a stronger Tri-racial look among them whereas mixed DR's and Cubans tend to be devoid of Taino admixture.
Also, both DR and Cuba have been influenced by Haitians historically, to the point where there's regional Haitian influenced dialects in both countries. People associate the DR with Haiti but Cuba has had strong ties with Haiti as well historically. In fact, a whopping 5% of Cuba today is of Haitian descent with is only half as high as the DR's percentage(10%). Haitian Creole are the second most common languages in both DR and Cuba today.
Also, Maximo Gomez(DR) played a huge role in liberating Cuba from Spain and Cubans celebrate him as though he were Cuban and Cubans introduced sugar cane to the DR.
Maybe historically Cuba and PR were more similar in the past but I don't get that vibe today. Maybe it'd be apt to say that they're all equally similar to each other today compared to the past where the DR may have been the "outlier" or whatever.
I would think Cubans and Puerto Ricans but only because most are white and that even includes Cubans on the island (I have to mention this since most of the white elite left after Castro to the US).
Also in the US I would say Puerto Ricans and Dominicans are more similar because most come from working class backgrounds.
However, it is not fair to compare and contrast Cubans and Puerto Ricans in the US since most Cubans in the United States came from elite and middle class backgrounds sans the newer Cubans who come from a Communist regime, so even that could make them different.
I wonder how traditional Cuban (meaning from the island) and Puerto Rican (again from the island) are similar and if they are more similar to each other than the culture found in the Dominican Republic.
One difference I heard is that Cubans tend to keep themselves more and Puerto Ricans are more open to outsiders. I don't know if that is true though.
Another difference is that Cubans generally want to keep a close relationship with Spain. Meanwhile most Puerto Ricans, from what I observed, want nothing to do with the motherland. In fact that is why it became a U.S. commonwealth.
Interesting perspective homenj.
After practically living in Cuba for a month, that definitely hasn't been my experience. I found Cuban and Dominican culture very similar and Puerto Rican culture has similarities as well. I just don't see how DR culture is so different. Even in the whiter clubs of Cuba I've been to, there were similarities. Puerto Ricans and Dominicans have influenced each other over the years as well to the point where there's Dominicans salsa and Puerto Rican bachata.
Hell, Cuba has a lot in common with Haiti as well. Haitian culture isn't so alien from the three cultures as much as people think.
It seems like every similarity that can be found between PR's and Cubans can also be found between DR's and Cubans, DR's and PR's, and Haitians and Cubans, etc.
Not sure on Haiti's overall similarity to the other three. I wonder if Haitians would feel more connection with DR & Cuba than say Pacific coast colombians? I know many people of the Pacific coast would object to being called caribbean. They often proclaim with pride that they are from "La OTRA costa", i.e. the other coast and descendants of AFRICA! Further south and across the border in Guayaquil however things change, they like to associate themselves with the caribbean basin, PR, DR, Cuba, etc. even though they're not usually even considered in this "family".
Cali is another funny one. Traditionally an Andean city, it received huge influence from Cuba in the 50's and PR thereafter to the point where it has now displaced the local culture, at least in popular culture. Fast forward 30/40 years and the Pacific coast culture of Colombia also becomes part of the city's identity. The Andean-creole culture Cali was founded upon now struggles to even be seen apart from during the Mono Núñez festival and in some of the local attitudes.
PR and DR seem closer than Cuba, in a global context at least. Cuba is the slight outlier in my opinion.
Last edited by Pueblofuerte; 04-30-2018 at 04:41 PM..
Not sure on Haiti's overall similarity to the other three. I wonder if Haitians would feel more connection with DR & Cuba than say Pacific coast colombians? I know many people of the Pacific coast would object to being called caribbean. They often proclaim with pride that they are from "La OTRA costa", i.e. the other coast and descendants of AFRICA! Further south and across the border in Guayaquil however things change, they like to associate themselves with the caribbean basin, PR, DR, Cuba, etc. even though they're not usually even considered in this "family".
Cali is another funny one. Traditionally an Andean city, it received huge influence from Cuba in the 50's and PR thereafter to the point where it has now displaced the local culture, at least in popular culture. Fast forward 30/40 years and the Pacific coast culture of Colombia also becomes part of the city's identity. The Andean-creole culture Cali was founded upon now struggles to even be seen apart from during the Mono Núñez festival and in some of the local attitudes.
PR and DR seem closer than Cuba, in a global context at least. Cuba is the slight outlier in my opinion.
Haha...true. I think El Choco Colombians, like black Brazilians, are in their own separate category since they're not Caribbean influenced(though African influenced for sure).
Colombians are intruing in the sense that they're either super Andean influenced or super Caribbean influenced. The ones from Cartagena are Caribbean influenced though. I never knew Cuba had anything to do with Colombia so that's very interesting.
Also, Cuba actually influenced both DR and PR cultures to a big degree compared to vice versa so it's kind of an older brother in a sense. Analogically, PR's, DR's, and Cubans are brothers with Cuba being the oldest, DR being the middle child, and PR being the youngest. Haiti is the ignored step brother. Panama, Cartagena, and Venezuela are the first cousins.
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