Reflection Post

The island of Puerto Rico and its people, like many other Latinos, have faced many political, social and economical changes in the couple hundred years since the US came into being and well even before that when colonist were arriving into the Americas. During those years they faced discrimination, colonization, and persecutions. While the Spaniards imposed their cultural and religious beliefs on the island while it was under their possession, once the United States annexed the island it began a long history of economic imperialism in the Latin Americas. Some tried to assimilate into this new dominant culture, but still found racism and discrimination; others fought for independence because they saw that the US was more interested in Puerto Ricans resources than the people who lived there. These are the ideologies that come into play during the Latino Politics that arise during the 1950s and through the 1960s. With the formation of groups like LULAC, showed Latinos attempts to try and assimilate into this ideal American standard, so that they would receive the same freedoms and liberties that had for so long been denied them. The Puerto Rican Nationalist Party, while their ideas were radical, they were pushing back against the US "Americanization" attempts on the island and in order to save their cultural heritage. These two clashing views created this internal conflict among the Puerto Rican people. This was evident in the documentary "Pa’lante, Siempre Pa’lante" which discussed a group of young, Latino Americans who wanted to change the struggles Latino Americans living moving into urban areas faced. It also provided a different point of view that was occurring during the Civil Rights Movements in the US. Many times, history tends to focus on the African American struggles, but more often than not the Latino struggles occurring at the time are for the most part glossed over in the textbooks. The Young Lords’ party was an innovated and goal oriented group that helped bring some major issues into view. These were also a group that rejected the idea of assimilation and wanted to retain and embrace their culture without facing discrimination for it. They believed in the same ideologies as the Nationalist in Puerto Rico, and supported the liberation of Puerto Rico, even though the members within the group were mainly born and raised in the States.
However, it was with the ideologies that followed groups such as Partido Popular Democratico, led by Luis Munoz Marin, in which a compromise could be made with the US. Marin knew that Puerto Rico could not survive on its own if it became independent from the US and yet he still wanted his people to be able to retain their rich cultural heritage and still be treated as equal among American citizens.
I thought these were great examples of the kinds of issues Latino politics are based on. It also shows why there is such a broad spectrum of Latinos in the United States because for so long, they have fought to retain their individual culture from their respective countries of origin but even so it shows how Latinos are trying to come together in order to overcome racism and discrimination they face in the United States.