Puerto Rican Migration Introduction greater Antilles puerto rico cuba Hispaniola jamaica mostly third wave 1920 present An In between status U S citizens congressional representatives no voting subject to the draft can t vote in federal elections race spanish african Spanish Colonial Puerto Rico 1493 columbus native population forced labor decimated west african slaves 1897 autonomy from Spain 1898 Spanish American War Treaty of Paris 1898 Spain ceded Puerto Rico Guam and the Philippines to the U S Ratified in 1899 Building an empire U S Citizenship refused Gonzalez vs Williams 1904 Isabel Gonzalez pregnant puerto rican women tried to enter the U S but was question of citizenship for all Puerto Ricans Court ruled she was not an alien didn t make a decision on citizenship for Puerto Ricans Insular cases Puerto Rico as a U S Territory U S appointed governors English required in schools The Jones Act 1917 Citizenship Military draft jobs in U S factories 1948 Puerto Ricans began electing governors 1952 Commonwealth status run their own schools make legal codes elect their own governors Economic Issues early 1900 mostly small Puerto Rican owned farms Industrial Incentives Act of 1947 Operation Bootstrap industrialized high income taxes destroyed local farmers late 1940s 1950s largest migration cheaper air travel searching for jobs Location and Population 1920s present New York City Spanish Harlem 1950s 250 000 Puerto Rican in New York 1956 577 000 the garment industry and manufacture Return Migration 1970s U S recession Migration back to Puerto Rico return migration revolving door today almost equal numbers in Puerto Rico and the mainland West Side Story Best Picture 1961 2nd highest grossing movie academy awards etc West Side Story Background updated Romeo and Juliet White gang vs Puerto Rican gang based on Stereotypes originally planned as a Jewish Catholic conflict WWS Creators a collaborators all jewish inspired by Mexican gangs n L A No knowledge of Puerto Rican culture 1957 Broadway play very successful wanted it to be set in New York City so they chose to use Puerto Ricans The Film 1961 and skin color white actors in brown make up skin tone stereotypes later productions still used brown make up Critics originally praised the sympathetic treatment of and interracial relationship America and stereotypes juvenile delinquents criminals overly sexual hot blooded argumentative men Macho bullfighters Animal sexuality proud of heritage women flirts sexual emotional materialistic superficial money over heritage Puerto Rican Reactions to WWS at the time seemed radical to some mixed reactions in Puerto Rican newspaper Recent decades critical analysis by scholars Francis Negron Muntaner Alberto Sandoval Sanchez Conclusions U S citizens don t have al of the privileges biggest migration period mid 1940 s Early 1960s West Side Story influenced perceptions stereotypes recent decades attempts at more accurate representations documentaries news programs
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