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Juanita Torres
Professor Stephen van Dyck
Visual Language & Culture
Sunday, August 24, 2014
Ethnic Identity
My ethnic identity is formed in multiple ways. To begin, my heritage is Puerto
Rican. Puerto Rico is a small island located in the North Caribbean. Many Central
American Latinos share the same identity. It would be difficult to identify which type of
Latino you may encounter by their identity. As Latinos, we identify one another by the
different dialects spoken within the Spanish language. The Puerto Rican flag are the
colors of red, white, and blue; it looks similar to the Cuban flag. Technically a person
would say, our flags are exactly alike except for the position of one color. Our flags are
commonly found hanging in our neighborhoods, cars, clothing to represent the pride of
our culture. Puerto Rican ancient artifacts are a combination of Arawak (Taino) Indian
and African Yoruba artifacts (Novas). Santeria is a common religion practiced in Puerto
Rico. Santeria is a religion combining Catholicism and African Yoruba deities passed
down from Spain and Africa (Novas). Our native language is Spanish. Socially, we love
music and dancing. Salsa was the dance we celebrated on every special occasion. Our
music is also handed down to us from Spain and West Africa. The most important value
Puerto Ricans cherish is the value of family. We are taught to stick together and look
after one another, under any circumstance.
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Puerto Ricans associate ethnicity with food, clothing and heirlooms. Puerto Rican cuisine
has a combination of Spain, Arawak Indian, & West African influence. The variety of
vegetables, beans, and meat served in our food are eggplant, green onions, aii caballero,
watercress, West Indian pumpkin. Cubanelle peppers, cilantro, basils, and much more.
Some of the poultry in our food comes from a variety of sources, such as, pigeon, oxtail,
pork, chicken, the list continues (Wikipedia). Traditionally, Puerto Rican clothing for
women is long colorful dresses that resemble ball gowns. The men wore blue jeans, white
shirt with straw hats (Kapp).
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Works Cited
Novas, Himlice. "Puerto Ricans." Everything You Need To Know About Latino History.
New York: Plume/Penguin Book, 1994. 141-282. Print.
Kapp, Trevor, Sarah Darville, and Erin Durkin. "Annual Puerto Rican Day Parade
Marches New York City." Nydailynews.com. Ny Daily News, 12 June 2011. Web.
25 Aug. 2014. <http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/annual-puerto-rican-dayparade-marches-new-york-city-ave-residents-celebrate-culture-article-1.131435>.
"Puerto Rican Cuisine." Wikipedia:The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia. Web. 26 Aug.
2014. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_Rican_cuisine#Basic_ingredients>.
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Image provided by http://newyorkdailynews.com
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Cool Like Me
I do agree with the author Donnell Alexander when he made clarification
the difference between “blacks” and “niggas”. There is a difference in every culture that
could define those terms. Blacks would be defined as civilized, and “niggas” as being
uncivilized. The same perspective could be thought of in all ethnic identities. I find it
troubling that the author suggests all races that are not “black” feel being black is an
abomination.
Nikki S. Lee
Nikki S. Lee proves ethnic identity is different from culture by inserting herself as
the subject in culturally different case scenarios. A person can be born as a specific race,
but their values, beliefs, traditions, and social behavior may be the exact opposite of their
ethnic identity.
The Hispanic Project
My analysis of “The Hispanic Project” image is obvious the Asian woman in the
image is not Hispanic. I am Latina. I am not offended by the labeling of the image. It was
depicted with truth. I remember when I was in my twenties and wore exactly what she
had on, including, the red hair and hoop earrings. I do not find the image to be racially
offensive. Nikki S. Lee did an excellent job on imitating young Latina women. She
based her imitation toward Latina women from urban neighborhoods.
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Be Different
The code to my personal tastes speaks the desire to not draw attention to myself but to
blend in with the crowd. My style of dress speaks stay at home mom and wife. My code
speaks to everyone in my social and private circle. The piercing in my right eyebrow is
the signal to let people know I am approachable, open-minded, free spirited and young at
heart. People decipher my code by physical appearance, demeanor and verbal
communication. In return, they would decipher my code in the same manner. I would
determine their code in the same manner. My heart and thought process cannot be
decoded through what people see.
Privilege and Whiteness Studies
I am oblivious to this sort of thinking. I do not believe a word of it, although
many of color would go against me on this statement. As a Puerto Rican woman, I have
the same opportunities as whites. I am allowed to do anything they do. No one can stop
me. If I made better choices in my life, I would have had the freedoms to attend Princeton
if I chose the path for myself. I could have been a doctor, lawyer, judge, politician, if I
put full effort into it. If I want to play their sports, I could. If I want to live in their
neighborhoods, I am more than welcome. If I want to hang out with them, they have
welcomed me. If I want to attend their clubs, golf courses, the door is open. If I want to
go to the ballet, opera, art shows. The tickets are there for me to purchase. If I want to
work for NASA, I could have. They have welcomed me with no discrimination. This is
America, the land of the free. If we have been discriminated against, it is because we
have allowed the door to slam on us from ignorant thinking. Some whites may be
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ignorant in thinking, but I will hop over them and pay them no mind. I would deal with
the whites who open doors for me. Please don’t make me read curriculum like this
anymore. It’s a pack of lies. We are all given the same opportunities. It’s up to us to act
on them. I don’t blame my struggles in life on another race. I blame self for them. I don’t
blame the fact I was born in the ghetto and my family was dirt poor on the white man. It
was my mother’s fault for not striving hard in life for her that landed us there. I have no
one to blame and the white man will open the door if you simply knock. The Black man
will open the door for me if I knocked so will the Latino, or Asian. You may have to
knock a few extra times but every door will open if you let it.
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Works Cited
Sue, Derald Wing. "What Does It Mean to Be White?
"http://www.ithaca.edu/wise/whiteness/. University of Wisconsin. Web. 26 Aug.
2014. <https://pantherfile.uwm.edu/gjay/www/Whiteness/sue.pdf>.