AmeRICAN: The Whitewashing of Boriken

This a picture of the “Puerto Rican” Barbie. It follows a stereotypical image of how many gringos view us. However, the characteristics are a stark contrast from the reality of what the majority on the island look like. This means that the product is marketing towards a particular sector of society, the rich, “white”, elites. However, the majority of poor darker girl are going to want one of course. And thus we see how images are implanted into the mindset’s of children. As children attach themselves to images, knowing themselves they will continue to grow, tend to settle on certain images to strive to be like. These images give them inspiration. And while people will kick the same ol’ “we come in all colors” nonsense, it’s only a automated response, a cut and paste retort taught to them by “the system” of white supremacy that took root once it broke out of the harsh winter’s of Europe. However, the Barbie doll isn’t to blame. It is only another pawn to forward the agenda of the elite. It is another strategy in the on going “whitewashing of Boriken.”

Below are excerpts from two works regarding the blanquemiento or "whitening" of Puerto Rican society. They touch on the various historical and cultural events that played as major factors in the forming of the "white" mentality instilled in many "light skinned" Borikuas. The result, after years of being fed such a poor mental diet, of course results in the internalizing of this image and the stride towards "whiteness" in order to excel and move forward and up in society. It did not happen accidentally. And the masses of Borikuas haven’t always harbored such a perspective of themselves. However, it came about for reason. It was a strategy that ended up a stigma in the self-identification, self-realization and self-determination of the people of Boriken.

"For those familiar with Puerto Rican history and society, this question may seem disingenuous. After all, ever since the island came under U.S. control Puerto Rican elites have worked long and hard to create and maintain Puerto Rico’s image as the "white island of the Antilles." At the turn of the twentieth century, the effort to portray the Puerto Rican population as "white" was partly a response to scientific racism. Confronted with scientific theories that linked prospects for development to a society’s "racial stock," Puerto Rican elites-like their counterparts elsewhere in Latin America- sought to position their society on the road to racial progress. Perhaps even more ominous that the predictions of race science, for Puerto Rican elites, was the specter of what might become of their society were their colonizers to see Puerto Rico as predominantly non-white. The shadow of the Jim Crow south hung over the island of Puerto Rico in the early twentieth century, a constant reminder of what it meant to be non-white under the rule of the United States."

- excerpt from and essay entitled "How Puerto Rico Became White: An Analysis of Racial Statistics in the 1910 and 1920 Censuses" by Mara Loveman and Jeronimo Muniz
You may view the entire paper at: http://www.ssc.edu/cde/demsem/loveman-muniz.pdf

Another article was written by a student named Maria Bruno from Trinity College as an analysis of an essay written by another other, and provides many insightful historical facts and relevancies. Please, do the knowledge and take the best part for yourself.

"In his essay Puerto Rico: The Four Storeyed Country, José Luis González develops a wonderful simile between the construction of a four storeyed building and the reconstruction of Puerto Rican history. González’ simile suggests that the history of Puerto Rico consist of layers or floor from which you must build. This is an excellent interpretation of how Puerto Rican identity has been formed because of it is divided into sections which makes it easy to follow the development of Puerto Rican culture. Through out time Puerto Rican elite’s have reconstructed their history by taking from and rearranging its foundation or early history in order to explain their interpretation of the islands historical and cultural development. In the process the foundation of the building or earlier periods have become obscured by the passing of time and the influence of the elite. The following pages will be my own construction of "The four storeyed country" concentrating on Spanish colonialism and it’s effects on the island."

- to read the entire paper:

Proper Education Always Corrects Errors