Another of the classes that I’m taking is a class in
Latino/a Literature. I came to UCONN thinking that this would be a course on
Literature of southern America, but it in fact covers literature written by
Hispanics living in America. Not what I was expecting at all. In fact I very
nearly dropped it in order to do Native American Literature. But, I stuck with
it and it is proving to be one of the most interesting classes! Did you know
that Latinos are the largest minority in America? And that there are more
Puerto Ricans in America than there are in Puerto Rico? And that Hispanic is
the only ethnicity recognised in the United States according to the 2010
census? Strange huh?!
This week we’ve been looking at the text A Puerto Rican in New York by Jesus
Colon, which is a collection of what I assume to be newspaper columns from
throughout his immigration to, and life in, you guess it, New York. So this week’s
focus has been Puerto Rico. Other than making a brief spin through the airport
a few years ago on my way to Antigua I know absolutely nothing about Puerto
Rico and I’m pretty sure that the majority of people don’t either. So, here’s
what I’ve learnt...
It’s a colony. That’s right, the same country that revolted
against the British for being a colony is now an empire itself with control
over Puerto Rico, Guam, Samoa and I’m sure a few others. Anyone else not find
that strange? Now if I randomly go missing and no one ever sees me again it’s because
the FBI have grabbed me... not supposed to be advocating their independence and
all that malarkey but actually, after today’s class I’m not sure Puerto Rica is
ready to be independent.
What has been basically ignored in the media, not only in
England, but even in the US, the country which is supposed to be in charge, is
the obscene corruption and fascist like events that have been occurring. In the
same way that many nations across the world have experienced protests and
demonstrations recently, so too has Puerto Rico. However, unlike our charming
English rioters, the Puerto Ricans way of protesting is almost like a
celebration, a carnival. However when Fox news did do a brief report on it they
showed footage of the Athens uprisings and not the San Juan protests, and never
even rectified it! In addition, the police responded with brute force and unnecessary
use of tear gas and violence. In fact last year the FBI launched a raid on the
Puerto Rican police department and over 200 officers were arrested!!! In
addition the University has tried to ban public speaking and forcefully removed
journalists from government buildings and denied them the right to report on
certain meetings.
While I am very conscious of the fact that my Professor is from
Puerto Rico and so may possibly be giving me a slightly biased view of all I
still feel that it was something worth sharing.
So there you go, you learn something new every day!
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