Posted: Tue 27 Jun 2006 11:25 Post subject: Puerto Rico's mestizaje adverse effect in its colored.......
........ population. Part of an essay in the NCLA Publication [Report on the Americas] The Black Americas 1492-1992.
The essay by Norman E. Whitten, Jr. -- and Arlene Torres highlights the problems of MESTIZAJE as a tool of exclusion for the African in Puerto Rico [p.21].
BLACKNESS IN THE AMERICAS
Mestizaje is a powerful force of exclusion of both black and indigenous communities in the Americas today.23 As a consequence, black and indigenous awareness of exclusion and continuous struggle for ethnic power will remain prominent.
These processes are especially evident in the largest vestige of United States colonialism in the Caribbean: Puerto Rico. Puertorriquenos clearly regard their island as a nacion and are as "nationalist" about their identity as are Colombians, Ecuadorians, Venezuelans, Jamaicans, Cubans or Hatians. Emergent Puerto Ricon nationalism under the Spanish rule embraced the ideology of mestizaje, in which the jibaro (Puerto Rican peasant) was the bearer of a nascent Puerto Rican identity and culture. The "mixture" emphasized Spanish-indigenous heritage, with privilege according to the former.
Although in many areas jibaros vary in skin color from brown to black, there is little, if any, "national" emphasis on the African component of Puerto Rican heritage. The 1898 invasion by U.S. troops and subsequent enforced segregation gave impetus to the nationalist ideology of mestizaje and especially to its dimension of blanqueamiento. This was further reinforced by the view that the paternalist social order of the plantation contributed to racial intergration.24
Today black Puerto Ricans, who have maintained their authority since the formation of maroon groupings on the island, are challenging the official interpretation of Puerto Rico's ethnic heritage. Migration to and from the mainland United States has intesified the multifaceted debate by infusing it with features of the U.S. Black Power Movement, and the official U.S. categorization of Puerto Ricans as "minorities" and "people of color".
Joined: 02 May 2006 {Posts: 363 } Location: Île-de-France
Posted: Tue 27 Jun 2006 14:46 Post subject:
I don't think that "there is little, if any, "national" emphasis on the African component of Puerto Rican heritage" is an accurate statement. Maybe it was at one time, but times are changing. I think if anything, the taino contribution was overlooked more that the african. For years, people were tought that all the tainos were killed shortly after the conquest. Genetic evidence has since proved that wrong. From my perspective, currenty all three groups of ancestors are celebrated.
From the perspective of a Black focused website....
Quote:
Visitors can learn about the African cultural influence of Puerto Rico at El Museo de Nuestra Raiz Africana" (the Museum of our African Roots).
Celebrating Puerto Rico's Black Heritage
By Alma Abreu
SeeingBlack.com Contributing Writer
Talk about Black Arts! Click here.
The average tourist visiting Puerto Rico never learns about the African history that is vivid and alive throughout the island. Too often, the Spanish and indigenous roots of Puerto Rico are highlighted to tourists while the African heritage is left unspoken. For many years, the Black history of Puerto Rico was even missing from Puerto Rico's history books. Thankfully as a new generation of conscious Puerto Ricans, both Black and mixed explore their African heritage, this erasure is ending.
"El Museo de Nuestra Raiz Africana" (the Museum of our African Roots) located in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, is where you can learn about the African cultural influence of Puerto Rico. This heritage is celebrated through paintings, artifacts, documents and photographs. According to the museum brochure, "one of the aims of the museum is to preserve, collect, document and spread the history and culture of Puerto Rico that grew out of the Black population's experience on the island."
The museum exhibit is arranged in a chronological order documenting the origin, background and arrival of the African slaves to Puerto Rico. On the first floor the various ethnic groups of the slaves from West and Central Africa are listed such as the Ashanti, Yoruba, Bantu and Congo. There are drawings depicting the middle passage and the brutal treatment of the slaves once on the sugar plantations. Documents and pictures from the 16th and 17th centuries paint a very real picture of the mistreatment of African slaves by the Spaniards, a fact that many Puerto Ricans have failed to acknowledge..
Other displays illustrate what life was like after slavery was abolished in 1868. Blacks had little or no opportunity for advancement and faced discrimination from Whites. A picture of Rafael Cordero tells the story of how he opened the first school for Blacks because they were not accepted into schools. He started teaching Black girls and boys in his house in the community of San German and eventually opened a school in what is now Old San Juan.
On the second floor of the museum, the modern culture derived from the Africa's encounter with the Taino Indians and the Spaniards is explored. The religion of the Yoruba, referred to on the island as Santeria, is a product of the mixing of Yoruba deities with Catholic saints. The way in which this religion manifested itself in Puerto Rico is explained through photographs and sacred religious items.
Drums used in the African derived music of Bomba called "tambors" are on display as well as the traditional dress worn by Bomba dancers. There are artifacts showing how the modern festivals, customs and cuisines trace their roots back to Africa. There is a festive display of local Afro-Puerto Rican art, such as the masks used in the music festivals of the historically Black town of Loiza. In addition there are paintings by Puerto Rican artists Samuel Lind and Antonio Broccoli which depict scenes of the music, dancers and drummers of Bomba y Plena.
The museum sits near the main tourist attraction of Puerto Rico, "El Morro" which was a military fortress built by slaves. There are many art galleries close by displaying Puerto Rican artwork. But they do not show the art of Black Puerto Rico as does "El Museo de Nuestra Raiz Africana. The museum is a start for a long overdue examination of Black Puerto Rican culture on the island.
"El Museo de Nuestra Raiz Africana is located in the Plaza San Jose in Old San Juan next to the entrance of the "Morro". The museum's hours are from 8:30 – 4:00pm Tuesday through Saturday. The telephone number is: (787)724-4294.
-- February 13, 2004
From the Puerto Rico official government tourist web site.
Quote:
When Christopher Columbus stepped ashore in Guánica (or Aguadilla; both towns claim the honor) in 1493 he encountered a flourishing Taíno culture. Within decades the Indians disappeared, but not before leaving their mark on the character that was to become Puerto Rican. African slaves replaced the Indians as laborers, and their traditions also went into the cultural mix forged by more than four centuries of Spanish dominance.
The symbol of the Institute of Puerto Rico Culture depicts these three influences: Indian, African and Spanish. In broad terms, that is an accurate ethnic amalgam, but culture and history are never easy to explain. Into the crucible have to go Chinese workers, who built the railroads and remained; Spanish Loyalists fleeing revolution in South America; Corsicans who populated the coffee country out on the island; French immigrants from Haiti and Louisiana; a smattering of Scots and Irish; and droves of North Americans following the Spanish American War.
What is Puerto Rico? It is an island teeming with beauty and vitality. Some of it is Spanish, some Indian, some African and some… something else. But somehow it all blends together into a culture that you will find fascinating and one-of-kind.
Familiarize yourself with Puerto Rico's Top Attractions and Museums , take a walking tour of Old San Juan , and learn the basics about the island's Culture and History and in the following pages.
I don't think that "there is little, if any, "national" emphasis on the African component of Puerto Rican heritage" is an accurate statement.
I believe the book by Yeidy Rivero [Tunning Out Blackness] points out one of the subtle ways in which non-inclusion manifests itself in the island as well as Latin America [ a smaller scale]. Puerto Rico along with Cuba and Brazil were the last to abolish slavery in the American Continent in the latter part of the 19th century, - and yet the African presence is usually phased out / sacrificed in favor of a national identity. Is quite the contrary when it comes to the Hispanized [Spaniard], and Indigenous [Taino] identities. Bomba y Plena remains the long standing strong reminder of Puerto Rico's African past. Ismael 'Maelo' Rivera, Piri thomas, and probably Tego Calderon infused into the forefront the 'African component' of Puerto Rico.
Sometimes I wonder why isn't Afro-Puerto Rican Arturo A. Shomburg celebrated by Puerto Ricans in the same fashion as the nationalist hereos and sheroes like Don Pedro Albizu Campos, Lolita Lebron, Emeterio Betances, Eugenio M. de Hostos, Julia de Burgos and others. Most Puerto Rican don't know who Shomburg was, and meant to the liberation movement of PR -- as well as the unique compilation of books, documents on the global Story of Africans.
Maybe it was at one time, but times are changing. I think if anything, the taino contribution was overlooked more that the african.
Agree, times in general do change, and evolve. I disagree with the second statement; History in the island usually began with the romancing of Indigenous / Taino way of life before "El Descubrimiento y Conquista." Slavery was a brief introduction. The struggle against Spain, Emeterio Betances and the 'Grito de Lares', as well as the Spanish-American War and the U.S. The 20th century is studied more in depth with the politics of the island.
For years, people were tought that all the tainos were killed shortly after the conquest. Genetic evidence has since proved that wrong. From my perspective, currenty all three groups of ancestors are celebrated.
And still do to some extent. The Indigenous as a cultural group was annihilated / assimilated within roughly fifty years of the so-called Discovery. For some folks, new DNA technology has 'changed' cultural history as we have known it, into what I call a 'biological' history. The reality is that if we're to apply that line of thinking, history should adopt a new curriculum, and societies need to dramatically change the way it classifies its members.
In what fashion are "all three groups of ancestors celebrated?"
From the perspective of a Black focused website....
I'm familiar with the new museum from the posting on another site, but is progressive nevertheless. I haven't had the opportunity to ask my folks in PR about their impressions on it.
From the Puerto Rico official government tourist web site.
Tourism, and government sites are usually a source which highlights points of interests, shopping, hotels, beaches etc.... I rather get the excluded material from the pulse of the writers, who are writing about observation of norms, customs, hierarchy of power, wealth, and laws. I believe that these are strong complementary components to your statement above, sort of a full view of Puerto Rican society idiosincrancy and splendor.
- There's a book which is out of print, and one of my #1 priority when I get to the island again, is called; NARCISO DESCUBRE SU TRASERO [Narcissus Discovers His Behind].
- Below is an article on the Jibaro of Puerto Rico and its meaning in PR society -- from one of my favorite sites:
Quote:
What is a Jíbaro?
Homepage
Jíbaro is a term used to refer to mountain people, who lived "in-land" in the heart of the island, and are the backbone of the Puerto Rican culture.
In 1820, Miguel Cabrera, a poet from Arecibo, writes "Coplas del Jíbaro." In 1835 "xibaro" surfaces in French and American documents. In 1849, Dr. Manuel Alonzo, published his book, "Gibaro (old Spanish)." It is obvious from these writing that "jíbaro" referers to rustic life or lifestyle, and that the term is common in the island.
It should be noted that the term jíbaro, according to the Catholic online encyclopedia, is also the name of a tribal group in South America, it meant "mountain men." Jíbaro means "People of the Forest" in the Taíno language. So the term obviously came with them as they immigrated from South America. However "jíbaro" - as is used in Puerto Rico, is not used the same in Cuba or the Dominican Republic, which were populated with the very same Taíno people.
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