Becoming American Becoming Ethnic

A Bicultural Experience

Shana R. Rivas (SUNY Binghamton 1990) A Bicultural Experience Puertorriqueiia 0 moyeta? (Puerto Rican or black?) This is a question I have been confronted with for the past eleven years. Myexperience might be different from others because I am a product oftwo cultures . I sometimes wonder whether I should consider this a gift or the development of an identity problem. In this essay I focus on the migration experience of my father from Puerto Rico to Nueva York and that of my mother from Virginia to New York. I also add my migration experience and show how it has permitted me to identifY my two cultures. Papi was born just before the outbreak of World War II in Orocovis, Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico in the late 1930s, after thirty-five years ofAmerican administration, was a scene of almost unrelieved misery. The urban area of Puerto Rico (San Juan) did not suffer as much as the rural areas. Orocovis was a rural town set in the high mountains in the southeast part ofthe island. The town had a population ofabout two thousand. The town of Orocovis was underdeveloped; housing and agriculture could have been better. The homes ofmany families were made ofcement blocks with tin roofs and usually accommodated a family of five. There were no plumbing systems, and few homes had electricity. Most people in Orocovis made their living through agriculture, teaching, sewing, and selling homemade or homegrown products. Papi came from a family ofnine, including his parents, four daughters, and three sons. He was second oldest and was considered an important asset to the family. The first-born male in Puerto Rican tradition always had 126 Shana R. Rivas to help support the family, especially if they were not well offfinancially. Therefore, Papi was not able to attend school as a child. Papi's childhood experience was more or less "bringing home the bread." He traveled with his father on occasions to different towns selling fruits, vegetables, poultry, and pork to store owners, and other times he spent around the home working in the backyard plot. At the age offourteen , Papi took on full responsibility of the household after my grandfather died. Papi struggled as an uneducated, semi-skilled young adult to support his family. He worked from six in the morning until late in the evening selling his produce and working the land. After several years of struggling to support la familia, Papi decided to enroll in school, but his plans to attend were interrupted. Papi's sister and other family members convinced him to go to New York City. He was not the first ofthe family to go, as my tia (aunt) Sophie had migrated to New York with her fiance in search of a better life. In 1958, at the age of twenty, Papi had convinced himself that he wanted to go to New York City. Leaving my grandmother and siblings with just enough money to survive for three months, Papi began what one would call "the Puerto Rican journey." He left with enough money to purchase a ticket and pay for his stay at my tia Sophie's home. Papi arrived in New York City and made his way to Far Rockaway in Queens. He knew no English except basic phrases such as "I no speeka English." He began searching for employment but that was very difficult for him as well as many other Puerto Rican males who came to New York City at that time. He was unskilled in many areas. Though he did not know many of the skills most employers were demanding during that period of time, Papi knew a great deal about agriculture and other outdoor jobs. Time was drawing near to the end of the three months of support money Papi had left with his family back at home. He had to find a job to support himself and his family back on the island. In the summer of 1958 he landed a job as a gardener in Queens and Long Island. During the time he was laid off, Papi was a dishwasher in a diner. As the year went by, Papi realized New York City was not what he had pictured it to be. He mentioned many times that Puerto Ricans, especially those with darker skin, were treated differently and discriminated against. For Papi, lack of education, lack of skills, and having dark skin worked against him in employment. The color of one's skin as a Puerto Rican...