Drops of Inclusivity

Milagros Denis-Rosario

Description

Drops of Inclusivity examines race and racism on the island of Puerto Rico by combining a wide-angle historical narrative with the individual stories of Black Puerto Ricans. While some of these Afro-Boricuas, such as Roberto Clemente and Ruth Fernández, are well known, others, such as Cecilia Orta and Juan Falú Zarzuela, have been largely forgotten, if remembered at all. Individually and collectively, their words and lives speak to the persistent power of racial hierarchies and responses to them across periods, from the Spanish-American War at the turn of the twentieth century to Martin Luther King, Jr.'s visit to the island in the early 1960s. Drawing on rich archival research, Milagros Denis-Rosario shows how Afro-Boricuas denounced, navigated, and negotiated racism in the fields of education, law enforcement, literature, music, the military, performance, politics, and more. Each instance of self-determination marks a gain in inclusivity—gota a gota, or drop by drop, as the saying goes in Puerto Rico. This study pays homage to them.
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments

Introduction: The Illusion of Living in a Non-Racist Racist Society

1. A Revised Account of the New "Colored" Possession: 1898–1920

2. Reshaping Education, Race, and Citizenship: 1920–1930

3. The Twisted Evolution of National Identity: 1930–1940

4. Intersecting Race and Modernization: 1940–1950

5. Strategizing Modernity: 1950–1965

6. The Liga Opened Pandora's "Black" Box: 1950–1965

Epilogue: Drop by Drop

Appendixes
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Sujets

• Ethnic Studies
• West Indies
• 20th Century
• Latin American
• HISTORY
• Histoire
• USA
• United States of America
• América del Sur
• General officer
• Social sciences
• South America
• Latin America
• History of the Americas
• Central America
• SS Central America
• General
• United States
• États-Unis
• Caribbean

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 01 juillet 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781438488707
• Langue: English

Extrait

DROPS OF INCLUSIVITY
SUNY series, Afro-Latinx Futures
—————
Vanessa K. Valdés, editor
DROPS OF INCLUSIVITY
RACIAL FORMATIONS AND MEANINGS IN PUERTO RICAN SOCIETY, 1898–1965
MILAGROS DENIS-ROSARIO
Cover: De la Central a Loíza by Ramón Bulerín, mixed media, 2020
Published by State University of New York Press, Albany
© 2022 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.
For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY
www.sunypress.edu
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Name: Denis-Rosario, Milagros, author.
Title: Drops of inclusivity : racial formations and meanings in Puerto Rican society, 1898–1965 / Milagros Denis-Rosario.
Description: Albany : State University of New York Press, [2022] | Series: SUNY series, Afro-Latinx Futures | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: ISBN 9781438488691 (hardcover : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781438488707 (ebook)
Further information is available at the Library of Congress.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For El-Shaddai, the God Almighty.
For my niece Camila and her son Nicolás, and my nephew Félix Juan.
Contents
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Introduction: The Illusion of Living in a Non-Racist Racist Society
Chapter 1 A Revised Account of the New “Colored” Possession: 1898–1920
Chapter 2 Reshaping Education, Race, and Citizenship: 1920–1930
Chapter 3 The Twisted Evolution of National Identity: 1930–1940
Chapter 4 Intersecting Race and Modernization: 1940–1950
Chapter 5 Strategizing Modernity: 1950–1965
Chapter 6 The Liga Opened Pandora’s “Black” Box: 1950–1965
Epilogue: Drop by Drop
Appendixes
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Illustrations
Table I.1 Selected Figures from the U.S. Census of Puerto Rico, 1899–2010
Figure 3.1 Former logo of Partido Popular Democrático (PPD)
Figure 5.1 The Puerto Rican singer Ruth Fernández on stage at the Caborrojeño Social Club in New York City, October 17, 1956.
Figure 5.2 “Escudo del ICP” (Emblem of the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture.) Lorenzo Homar. 1955, linoleum.
Figure 5.3 Cecilia Orta’s art consultant business logo from a piece of her stationary.
Figure 5.4 Letter from Cecilia Orta to Luis Muñoz Marín, August 2, 1964.
Acknowledgments
I want to thank my God, the Almighty, Protector, and Deliverer, for giving me focus, motivation, and physical and spiritual strength while writing this book. This journey was not an easy one. Without Him, this book project would not have become a reality. The original idea for the manuscript was part of my doctoral thesis, which underwent many revisions. I am indebted to my dissertation committee members at Howard University: Dr. Selwyn H.H. Carrington (RIP), Dr. Franklin W. Knight, Dr. Vincent C. Peloso, and Dr. Jeanne M. Toungara. All of them were very supportive and encouraged me to continue to explore my topic. I am also very grateful to the then Chairs of the History Department, Dr. Ibrahim K. Sundiata and Dr. Emory Tolbert. It was there at Howard that I met Elaine Viterose Vanhuis. Her friendship and optimism were pivotal during those years.
This book would not be possible without the constant support of Dr. Rebecca Colesworthy, the SUNY Press acquisition editor, and Dr. Vanessa Valdés, the editor of the series Afro-Latinx Futures. They have been incredibly patient and encouraging. They identified the right reviewers, to whom I am grateful for their constructive feedback. Thanks to the developmental editor, Kirstin Fritz, who proposed a more dynamic format for the book that would connect the title and topics while introducing the stories of the Afro-Puerto Ricans featured as examples of “drops of inclusivity.”
The book’s cover is a mixed-media piece titled De La Central a Loíza by the Afro-Puerto Rican artist Ramón Bulerín. When I shared the theme of my book with the artist, he sent me several images of his recent pieces. I was captivated by the De la Central a Loíza . The work depicts the known and unknown people in transit from his hometown of Canóvanas to the town of Loíza. Canónavas was the site of the sugar mill, Central Canóvanas/Loiza, which operated from 1880 until 1965. In 1910, Canóvanas separated from Loíza and was recognized as a municipality in 1970. The dynamics of race, class, gender, and political power are part of the municipality and Central Canóvanas’ history.
Canóvanas calls itself the “Indian municipality” because it was part of a Taino cacicato or chiefdom. However, its history illustrates a constant tension among Spanish, Black, and indigenous identity. During the Fiestas de Loíza, people from Canóvanas made a pilgrimage from a town that was gradually distancing itself from its African identity to another, Loíza, which represented blackness and Africanness. Loíza is considered a quintessential Afro-Puerto Rican town. For me, De la Central a Loíza connects deeply with the arguments in this book, which counters the mainstream efforts to silence and exclude people of African ancestry by telling the stories of individuals and towns to ensure that the reality of their experiences cannot be erased. The faces in this art piece could represent the men and women I refer to in my book and the many other Afro-Puerto Ricans whose lives and stories need to be rescued in future projects.
I am also indebted to my parents, Juan and Alejandrina, who are resting with the Lord. I recognize them for bringing me to this world. Despite their difficult circumstances, my parents managed to raise a family of three children (two girls and a boy) during the mid-1960s and 1970s. To take care of my sister Yvonne, my brother Juan, and me while they were working, my parents relied on immediate and extended family, including my maternal grandmother Doña Fela and aunt Titi Camby. That Afro-Puerto Rican working-class environment instilled in me the principles of family nurturing, friendship, and Black Puerto Rican identity. My close and extended family and my faith are the foundation of my life. In the early 1970s we moved from a low-income housing building to urbanización —a housing development. I recall we were one of just three Afro-Puerto Rican families on our street in Carolina. We were not the perfect family. As an adult, I expanded my support circle, which today includes good friends known from my school years, such as Adriana Rodríguez and her family, who have provided me with moral support through the years. There are others I met in my University of Puerto Rico days, such as Gloria Rivera and her family. During that time, I worked several part-time jobs to pay my tuition. During those difficult days, I had the privilege of knowing Neida Arroyo. She has been very supportive and has sent me newspaper articles from Puerto Rico on the island’s culture and racial topics. She and her brother Víctor also helped me to fill out applications to graduate schools in the United States. Another brother, Edwin, and his wife, Annette, sent me a box with essentials for my first winter in Ithaca. While I pursued a master’s degree at Cornell, I was blessed to meet another set of friends: Dr. Ayele Bekerie, Mwalimu Abdul Nanji, Margaret Mbwana, and Sylvia Nyana. Sylvia, a librarian at the John Henrik Clarke Africana Library, was instrumental in providing me with sources about Puerto Rico.
After I finished my doctorate at Howard University, I got a job at Rutgers University in the Department of Latino and Caribbean Studies. I want to thank Dr. Aldo Lauria Santiago for giving me that opportunity. The experience there gave me a better sense of the Puerto Rican, Caribbean, and Latino Studies fields. At Rutgers, I met Drs. Ana Yolanda Ramos, Carlos Decena, Edgar Rivera Colón, and many others, but it was also with them that I shared my research project. In one way or another, they have each supported my academic growth. When I moved to the Bronx from New Jersey, I met Dr. Carlos Vázquez, who had just begun his academic journey. We became good friends in addition to being neighbors. He critically read one of the versions of my manuscript. Additionally, I met Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa and her husband Jonathan, who also provided moral support.
I am delighted to acknowledge the intellectual support of many. The Department of Africana, Puerto Rican, and Latino Studies at Hunter College is where I expanded my pedagogical and research skills and met new colleagues. Many thanks, especially, to current colleagues who supported me at Hunter College, including Professor Joanne Edey-Rhodes, Dr. Ehiedu Iweriebor, Dr. Luis Álvarez-López, and Ms. Barbara Saunders the Department Administrative assistant, who have all been instrumental in keeping me focused on my research. And thanks to Dr. Arlene Torres and Dr. Anthony Browne for the creation of seminars titled “Race and Ethnic Inequality in the ‘Post Racial’ America” that helped me to share my work in a peer academic setting. At the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College, I had the privilege of meeting Dr. Carlos Vargas-Ramos, who is the Director for Public Policy, as well as Jorge Matos Valdejulli, Félix Rivera, and Pedro Juan Hernández who were at the library and archives. Hunter College Library holds a manuscript collection from which I have benefited as well. Then-director Julio Hernández Delgado was instrumental in pointing out some of the collections that became source material for my articles. While this manuscript was taking shape, the different editing rounds and reviews of the manuscript were funded by two grants I received from my institution, Hunter College.
During a combi