Are the Boricua Ready for Statehood?

By J. Schlasner

Artífices by Edwin Báez Carrasquillo is a perfect visual representation of the history of Boricua culture.

The Puerto Rican people are known to one another as Boricua, which essentially means “Puerto Rican”.  I personally love the word.  Since most Puerto Ricans are a mixture of Taíno, African, and European, race is relatively ambiguous on the island. Instead, Puerto Ricans identify as a race through their culture. This culture appears to be evolving, however, and Puerto Rico is now nearly split down the middle on whether or not to join the U.S. as a state.

Puerto Rico has been a U.S. commonwealth for about two generations, just over fifty years.  If its time as a colony is included in this equation, Puerto Rico has been under U.S. influence for over one hundred years.  During that time, its culture has been evolving to include more Americanized habits.

This change is partially due to the U.S. occupation in 1898 as well as subsequent attempts to impose American habits on the population.  Now, proximity to the U.S., a travel industry frequented by American citizens, an ever-growing population of Puerto Ricans dependent on jobs in the U.S., and increasing participation in American politics seem to be pulling the Boricua into a more Americanized way of life.
I met a boy and his mother who were returning to the island after a job search in Colorado.  The boy’s mother had been working in the U.S. for years already. Though he was born in San Juan, the young boy had no memory of the island.  Still, he loved his home and spoke with me excitedly about it the whole trip.

Today, the number of Puerto Ricans who live in the U.S. exceeds the number of Puerto Ricans who live in Puerto Rico by about a third. There are many more children like this one who identify as Puerto Rican but who haven't been on the island in their memorable past.  As part of the Boricua diaspora, these children learn about their home and their Puerto Rican culture from their family, but are influenced daily by their American surroundings. 
For those still on the island, visiting the U.S. to see family is becoming more common.  Miguel, a tour guide in Fajardo, said that he has family in the U.S. whom he visits regularly.  He also mentioned that he enjoys playing video games, which is considered to be a more stereotypically American activity.  He claims that it was his cousins in the U.S. that introduced him to it.
With so many Puerto Ricans now sprinkled across the United States, it was only natural that Puerto Rico take a look at joining the Union themselves, as a state.  The U.S. has shown past support of such a move when they passed the Puerto Rico Democracy Act of 2010, which allows for a Puerto Rican citizen's vote on the issue of statehood.
Last November, Puerto Rico held this vote.  Though the results showed that 54 percent of Puerto Ricans fully support pursuing statehood at this time, over 480,000 voters left their answer blank, skewing the results.

U.S., Puerto Rico flags fly at equal height before the PR capital.

Thanks to these empty votes, the U.S. is now trying to raise money to arrange another plebiscite to decide whether or not the people of Puerto Rico wish to pursue statehood or not.  This will be the first time the U.S. has funded a status vote for Puerto Rico.
The Puerto Rican culture is Americanizing rapidly, but the newest generations seem to have found a balance of Boricua and American that works for them. Will finding that cultural balance be enough to win them statehood, or has enough time passed for the Boricua to forgive the nation that conquered them?


All photos by J. Schlasner (2013)