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I'm from the island of PR, and we have all being taught that we are a even blend of black, white and indigenous. However, in the past three years I've been doing extensive research about my ancestry. I was very shocked to found out about my results, because I would had never thought that my ancestry was completely European.
On my mom's side of the family, it's Italian, Dutch, Catalan, Irish, and Welsh; they changed their names when came to PR in the mid 1800's to sound more local.
On my dad's side, is Basque, Galician, and Scottish; they arrived in the early to mid 1800's. His dad's side is from PR, but his mother is a Mexican from New Mexico (my grandma is not one of those "brown" Mexicans).
I'm almost all white. If you count my Arab ancestry as white, I'm about 99% white then. My ancestry comes from Germany, Galicia, Andalucía, and what was then called Ottoman Syria and one ancestor who was mestizo mixed with Spanish and Taíno from 4 generations ago
There are a lot more Europeans in PR than most people will admit. The Royal Decrees of Graces (Royal Decree of Graces of 1815 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) encouraged a lot of white European immigration to Puerto Rico and Cuba in the 1800's. My paternal great grandfather was one of those who took advantage of it and moved from Italy to the hills of Adjuntas in the late 1800's.
My roots are 100% European and I'm damn proud of it. My wife's roots are 100% African, and she is as proud of it as I am.
"Aquel que no está orgulloso de su origen, no valdrá nunca nada, porque empieza a despreciarse a sí mismo" - Pedro Albizu Campos ("One who is not proud of his origin, will not be worth anything ever, because he begins to despise himself.")
To many Puerto Ricans reared in the U.S. most Puerto Ricans are Black, they only act White or are in denial. How ever those Puerto Ricans that classify themselves as white in the US only "look white" to the rest of America.
Example:
I couldn't believe when Chris Matthews, said on his show once, "Its about time non-whites picked one of their own", referring to Marco Rubio.
In other words, race is dependent on how a specific society looks at you. Hispanics in America are in the non-white category no matter where they came from. Galicia, Andalusia or the Ottoman Empire might be somewhere in Africa for all they know.
The who's white and who's not discussion is tiresome. Same for the I'm black, Dominican, Taino and tired of (fill in here) It's not about our differences but about our commonalities.
Puerto Rico, as we all know is a mix of diverse cultures that works relatively well. I would expect that given enough time, the world would be mocha and this discussion would end... but then then again human nature finds a way to differentiate and discriminate. Dr. Seuss drew his Sneetches story from observed human behavior, behavior that's been around as long as mankind. But... that doesn't mean we're stuck with it or have to practice it. Recognizing the behavior and thinking through it is key.
Like other posters have pointed out..... "proud of being white"...is awkward.
However being proud that you're Puerto Rican is perfectly acceptable.
I'm not proud of neither. Being born in PR is not an accomplishment, it just simply happened; I'm certainly not proud of being Puerto Rican, but I don't feel ashamed about it either. My mom happened to be there despite she could have easily moved earlier to North Carolina to be with my dad (who just got stationed over there when I was born). Being proud of being of a certain race is even more ridiculous than being proud of the place one was born.
To many Puerto Ricans reared in the U.S. most Puerto Ricans are Black, they only act White or are in denial. However those Puerto Ricans that classify themselves as white in the US only "look white" to the rest of America.
Lots and lots of people in the mainland US had have a hard believing I'm from PR, and usually think I'm from southeastern European region.
Quote:
Originally Posted by clip314
I couldn't believe when Chris Matthews, said on his show once, "Its about time non-whites picked one of their own", referring to Marco Rubio.
Before the Nixon administration, Rubio would had been considered just another white dude. No matter how many people don't like to hear it, he is white.
Quote:
Originally Posted by clip314
In other words, race is dependent on how a specific society looks at you. Hispanics in America are in the non-white category no matter where they came from. Galicia, Andalusia or the Ottoman Empire might be somewhere in Africa for all they know.
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