I'm the only minority in my program!Any Puerto Ricans out there?

HeyHeyitsMaay · Jun 23, 2008

I live in Bloomsburg..LOL! 10 years ago, there were absolutely NO people other than white in NEPA, not just Bloomsburg. I'm dead serious. My mother moved up here when I was a sr. in h.s.

I was born and raised in the south, where there's quite ab it more culture and a WHOLE LOT less racism.

I was shocked at the not-niceness I experience when I first came here when it came to other cultures.

Honestly, it's been my experience that the stereotypes associated with southern racism aren't true at all, and that people up here perpetuate them themselves, imo.

K98 · Jun 23, 2008

The families of both of my grandparents moved to Pennsylvania from southern Germany shortly before the first world war. Funny thing is, after they settled in Evans City, Butler County, they didn't think of themselves as Germans...they thought of themselves as Americans. I suspect if they had wanted to be surrounded by fellow Germans, they would have stayed in Bavaria. Diversity can be a good thing, it can also be a bad thing when it goes too far. We become a nation of competing small groups that can accomplish nothing.

HeyHeyitsMaay · Jun 23, 2008

Puerto Ricans are United States Citizens. We're the only hispanics in the world with an independent culture that can claim that title without someone in our family or ourselves having been naturlized first.

This stated, depending on whether or not you're from the island or have been here for generations, there are various cultural differences that other Americans don't share.

I am half Puerto Rican. I was raised on a farm, in the south. The cultural differences from South to North are HUGE. I will never fully adjust to living up north.

American or not, if it's not home, and the culture you're used to isn't there,

it's going to be a struggle sometimes. Just as we claim that we're 'originally from x state' Puerto Ricans do so as well. There's no difference.

Mytime2shine · Jun 24, 2008

i just wonder about your statement,"diversity can be a good thing, it can also be a bad thing when it goes too far" can you clarify what you mean by this? i don't see how diversity can be bad, after all that is what the united states is about. i love being the naturally tan girl in my class and how people stare at me when i walk in the room because i am so different, but i am not that different and i think that's the point i'm trying to get across. it's a difficult subject to put into words because unless you've been there you don't know and will never understand.

Mytime2shine · Jun 24, 2008

:redbeathe:redbeathe:redbeathenurses come in all shapes, sizes, and colors and so do our patients. :heartbeat

we can work together and learn from each other. peace~

K98 · Jun 26, 2008

i just wonder about your statement,"diversity can be a good thing, it can also be a bad thing when it goes too far" can you clarify what you mean by this? i don't see how diversity can be bad, after all that is what the united states is about. i love being the naturally tan girl in my class and how people stare at me when i walk in the room because i am so different, but i am not that different and i think that's the point i'm trying to get across. it's a difficult subject to put into words because unless you've been there you don't know and will never understand.

we become a nation of competing special interest groups, all looking for special recognition and treatment. yes, everyone is welcome here. however, we are americans. we speak english. a house divided will not stand. people come to the united states of their own free will. they can live where they wish, they are free to leave at any time. i have travelled a large portion of this globe courtesy of uncle sam, and i am always happy to be home, and grateful to be an american. peace to you as well .

HeyHeyitsMaay · Jun 26, 2008

As far as I'm concerned, there shouldn't be a narrowed focus upon racial/cultural differences with respect to individual identity. This is how division is caused, and results in serious problems, IMO. In simple terms, I'm secure enough in myself, and everyone *should* be, enough so that we don't need to separate ourselves from others unnecessarily because we're a little bit different.

As long as you have a strong family background and support system, being secure in your racial and cultural identity will be a non issue because it becomes intrinsic.

However, some people haven't been afforded the benefit of these strong relationships, or are perhaps far from home and family and just want to take part in something familiar sometimes. And, whatever the reason may be for someone to ask if there's anyone else that shares the same place of birth or culture, that doesn't mean that they're somehow separating themselves from everybody else, or that they 'don't speak english' (I was seriously insulted by that by the way). It means that they want something familiar, and people that share the same habits.

If I posted a thread asking if there were any southerners up here in Pa. close to where I live, would that raise the same response from you as the one that you left re: Puerto Ricans?

They're both U.S. Citizens and both speak english. So I'm a little confused.

There's a strong difference between being proud of one's parentage and cultural isolationism. To bring that up in the face of an innocent question asking if there was anybody else who understood her culture with respect to the original topic of this thread, is kind of assuming quite a bit.

In the end, when I say that I'm 'proud' to be Puerto Rican, I don't holler about it. No one knows unless they directly ask or perhaps hear me speaking spanish, or listening to salsa or something.

But if the subject does come up, that doesn't mean that I don't want to speak english or that I'm less American, or have any of the problems that you've alluded to by referencing your German grandparents. Like it or not, there are United States citizens living on American soil in a place where the predominant language isn't English. And never has been. They respect you enough to learn the language and for the most part understand that they're just like we are and don't expect any sort of special favors.

And, whether you realize it or not, most of us do speak english and don't have much patience with those who refuse to learn the language. We even pay taxes!

Honestly, Way too many assumptions. You don't appear to know what a Puerto Rican is when you talk about 'speaking english' and your German grandparents. Especially considering that again, Puerto Ricans are born United States Citizens, and Germany is another country?

At the end of the day, I've never heard of chicken and waffles or shoe fly pie, which are both commonly eaten at least where I live in Pa.. And there are days when I'd do anything just to share a meal that's familiar with somebody that likes the same kind of food. That's all. You took this into a place where it should've never gone, and that's kind of sad.

Hispanic or not, everybody likes to have the comfort of familiarity. The person who originally posted the question about Puerto Ricans didn't expect or mean anything more than that. I hope that maybe I helped you understand a little more about where the other side is coming from.

=) thanks!

HeyHeyitsMaay · Jun 26, 2008

For the record, I don't plan on replying any more to this topic because I know that I come across as inflammatory and I seriously apologize for that. I don't mean to.

But when YOU don't even think about it on a regular basis, because it's part of who you are, and others say things like 'we speak english' as if somehow I don't, after years of dealing with that, it's hard to understand how it's perfectly acceptable to be so vocal about those sorts of beliefs, but not o.k. to defend the fact that nobody else thinks that way except the very people who are creating it.

Negative race and cultural issues/ differences are something to be ignored. They're honestly not worth the breath it takes to refute that sort of negativity. It's amazing to watch, and discuss in terms of the geographic differences in the varying extremities of the manifestations of these ideas. And honestly, it'll never go away.

That's o.k. too. Nothing will ever be perfect. But I mean,

sometimes, it's really difficult to swallow that it's perfectly acceptable to passively insult someone for something they haven't done.

I lived in Miami for awhile, and I'M HISPANIC. But I longed for my Pappaw and, sitting on the porch stringing beans..the culture shock was really difficult for me to deal with sometimes. The polarity of that is that there were times when I couldn't wait to go back to my daddy's house, because nobody at home spoke spanish and they didn't understand the food I liked or the music I sometimes listened to. This isn't a racial divide, it's a simple part of the human condition that transcends race.

Absolutely nothing racist about that, whatsoever. So, conversely,

it's really difficult to hear what was posted here and not want to correct the attitude.

K98 · Jun 27, 2008

For the record, I don't plan on replying any more to this topic because I know that I come across as inflammatory and I seriously apologize for that. I don't mean to.
But when YOU don't even think about it on a regular basis, because it's part of who you are, and others say things like 'we speak english' as if somehow I don't, after years of dealing with that, it's hard to understand how it's perfectly acceptable to be so vocal about those sorts of beliefs, but not o.k. to defend the fact that nobody else thinks that way except the very people who are creating it.
Negative race and cultural issues/ differences are something to be ignored. They're honestly not worth the breath it takes to refute that sort of negativity. It's amazing to watch, and discuss in terms of the geographic differences in the varying extremities of the manifestations of these ideas. And honestly, it'll never go away.
That's o.k. too. Nothing will ever be perfect. But I mean,
sometimes, it's really difficult to swallow that it's perfectly acceptable to passively insult someone for something they haven't done.
I lived in Miami for awhile, and I'M HISPANIC. But I longed for my Pappaw and, sitting on the porch stringing beans..the culture shock was really difficult for me to deal with sometimes. The polarity of that is that there were times when I couldn't wait to go back to my daddy's house, because nobody at home spoke spanish and they didn't understand the food I liked or the music I sometimes listened to. This isn't a racial divide, it's a simple part of the human condition that transcends race.
Absolutely nothing racist about that, whatsoever. So, conversely,
it's really difficult to hear what was posted here and not want to correct the attitude.

I know nothing? I'm a racist? Come on. Look in the mirror.

justwannabanurse · Jul 5, 2008

Hello, I live in Lebanon which is near Hershey (south central PA), and mija this little town reminds me of my days growing up in the bronx! I am Puerto rican, and like you I have had come across some prejudice....not here but when I moved from NY to Baltimore. Here in PA I feel right at home there are so many hispanics here, and I am currently in school for my LPN, and there about half of the class are hispanic. Don't get discouraged, Keep up the good work but I know how it feels to feel like the odd one out. Good luck!:bdyhdclp: