Who Gets To Be White?

Debbie, who is a student at Wells and a Woman in Life Long Learning (WILL student), emailed me with a great question for a boricua on sabbatical. Here is what Debbie wrote:

"I know you do not consider yourself white, but here is my question......if it was the early 20th century, were Italians also not considered white? My grandfather, who was a very dark Italian married my grandmother who was Ukrainian(white) and that was a huge deal at that time. Or maybe there is more to all this than I understand. Of course, I swear you're more Italian than anything! LOL I’ve seen you talking with your hands just like I do!!!!"

Well, Italians did immigrate to Puerto Rico in the 1800's, so I might be a little Italian... But you raise the interesting question of who is white and who can be counted as "white" in the U.S. and when.

Here is an excerpt from Wikipedia on Boricuas. Now, I'm not encouraging you to use Wiki as a primary source for your term papers, but this overview below isn't too bad:

"Puerto Ricans, who also commonly identify themselves as Boricua, are largely the descendants of native Taíno Indians, Europeans and African slaves, a blend which has produced one of the most multi-cultural and diversified people in the Americas. Their population is estimated to be between 7.7 and 8 million worldwide, with most living within the islands of Puerto Rico and in the United States.

The Puerto Ricans’ original ancestors are the Taíno Indians, the native people who inhabited the island of Puerto Rico at the time of the European colonization, called the island of Boriken. However, as in other parts of the North and South American continents, the native peoples soon diminished in number after the arrival of European settlers, by creating exploitation and warfare, and bringing with them diseases, including measles, chicken pox, mumps, influenza and even the common cold. These factors would prove detrimental for the Taínos in Puerto Rico and surrounding Caribbean islands, so much so that by the early 1500s, very few pure-blood Taínos existed on the island. However the University of Puerto Rico later discovered that over 60% of students tested contained Taino ancestory. The Spanish, as well as the [word missing] , quickly began to import Sub-Saharan African slaves to work in expanding the colonies in the Caribbean.

In the 16th century, a significant part of Puerto Rican culture began to take shape with the import of Sub-Saharan African slaves by the Spanish, as well as by the French, the English, the Dutch and the Portuguese. Thousands of Spanish settlers also immigrated to Puerto Rico from the Canary Islands during the 18th and 19th centuries, so much so that whole Puerto Rican villages and towns were founded by Canarian immigrants, and their descendants would later form a majority of the Spanish population on the island. These were followed by the arrival of Corsican immigrants along with smaller waves of French, Dutch, Chinese, Greek, Italian, Maltese, Portuguese (especially Azoreans) and German immigrants. In recent times, Puerto Rico has been the destination for immigrants from Cuba, the Dominican Republic, South America and Spain, as well from islands of the West Indies. In 1791, the slaves in Saint Dominique (Haiti), revolted against their French masters. Many of the French escaped to Puerto Rico via the Dominican Republic and settled in the west coast of the island, especially in Mayagüez.

Racial mixing, even before abolition, was more common in Puerto Rico than in Cuba or the English and French colonies. In the mid 19th century, Spain revived the Royal Decree of Graces of 1815 which permitted the immigration of Italians (principally from Corsica), Germans, Irish, and the Chinese (who started arriving on the island as rail-road workers), settling mainly in the southern cities of Puerto Rico. A census conducted by royal decree on September 30, 1858, reveals the racial and national diversity among the Puerto Rican population at this time, with 300,430 identified as white, 341,015 as free-colored, and 41,736 as slaves. More recent arrivals include inhabitants from nearby islands, including Dominicans and a substantial population of Cuban immigrants after 1959

The Puerto Rico of today has evolved, as have all other former Spanish colonies, to form its own social customs, cultural matrix, American influences, historically-rooted traditions and its own unique pronunciation, vocabulary, and idiomatic expressions within the Spanish language. Even after the attempted assimilation of Puerto Rico into the United States in the early 20th Century, the majority of the people of Puerto Rico feel pride in their nationality as "Puerto Ricans", regardless of the individual's particular racial, ethnic, political or economic background. Puerto Ricans are consciously aware of their blend of African, Caribbean or American Indian, and from European ancestry. This diversity can be seen in the everyday lifestyle of Puerto Ricans, such as the African and Taíno influences in the local food and arts (including dances, music, literature and visual works), and the profound European influences in Puerto Rico architecture.

In the 2000 U.S. Census Puerto Ricans were asked to identify which racial category with which they personally identify. 95.8% answered with only one choice. The breakdown is as follows: [1]. These figures demonstrate that racial terms are relative, not absolute, and highlight the potential for confusion when they are used in a definitive and distinct way.However, a 2003 U.S. National Science Foundation funded study that measured Puerto Rican ancestry through both patrilineal and matrilineal ancestry exposed a much more mixed ancestral heritage. About 95% of the population consider themselves to be Puerto Rican (regardless of race or skin color). Broad U.S. census categories allows the mixed ancestry of most Puerto Ricans to be officially acknowledged. For an example an American in Puerto Rico would choose if he/she is 'Hispanic' or 'Latino' then they would choose from the variety of races. for instance they can choose one or more of the following choices, white, black, or Amerindian/Native American. A 2003 U.S. National Science Foundation funded study measured Puerto Rican ancestry through both patrilineal and matrilineal ancestry. Matrilineal mtDNA ancestry revealed 67% of all Puerto Ricans were shown to have a female Amerindian ancestor, 27% to have a female African ancestor and 12% to have a female European ancestor. Patrilineal Y chromosome, showed that 75% of all Puerto Ricans possessed a male European ancestor, 20% had a male African ancestor and less than 5% were shown to have had a male Amerindian ancestor. These combinations vary as Puerto Ricans can be of any variety of combined ancestries. Native American (Arawak/Taino) or/and African ancestry are common among "white" Puerto Ricans after four centuries of intermarriage between the island's racial groups."

So, even "white" Boricuas aren't White. So, who gets to be white?