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Deciphering the notion of a raceless nation: Racial harmony and discrimination in Puerto Rican society

Descifrando la noción de una nación sin razas: Armonía racial y discriminación en la sociedad puertorriqueña

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Abstract

This article critiques the idea of Puerto Rico as a raceless nation by tracing its sources and looking at the discourses of intellectual and political elites during the “nation-building” process in the first half of the twentieth century, discourses in which race was generally either distorted or overlooked. I first analyze three incidents in which black Puerto Ricans were denied entrance to elite social clubs in San Juan because of their race. These events suggest that the racelessness idea was intertwined with actual discriminatory practices and a broad structural racism. Second, I examine the role of academic and cultural institutions such as the University of Puerto Rico, the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, and the División de Educación para la Comunidad in promoting the notion of racelessness. That can be seen as part of a broad denial of racial discrimination in the attempt to forge Puerto Rico as a white nation.

Resumen

En este artículo criticamos la idea de que Puerto Rico es una nación sin razas rastreando las fuentes y examinando los discursos de las elites intelectuales y políticas durante el proceso de “construcción de nación” en la primera mitad del siglo XX: discursos en los que generalmente se distorsionaba o se omitía la raza. Primero analizamos tres incidentes en los que a unos puertorriqueños se les negó entrada a clubs sociales de la elite en San Juan por ser negros. Estos eventos sugieren que la idea de la nación sin razas estaba ligada a prácticas discriminatorias concretas y un racismo estructural abarcador. En segundo lugar examinamos el papel desempeñado por las instituciones académicas y culturales como la Universidad de Puerto Rico, el Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña y la División de Educación para la Comunidad en la promoción de dicha idea, lo que puede verse como parte de una negación generalizada de la discriminación racial con el fin de crear una visión falsa de Puerto Rico como nación blanca.

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Acknowledgements

Antes que nada, I want to thank God for allowing me to live another day. This article would not have been possible without the support of many individuals and my academic institution. The Department of Africana and Puerto Rican/Latino Studies at Hunter College is my intellectual hub. Teaching and mentoring students or engaging in substantial conversations with my colleagues or participating in seminars enables me to continue doing what I do and make it pertinent. I am blessed and privileged to belong to such a historic place. Hunter College’s Fellowship Leave initiative facilitated my taking a semester off to focus on developing some projects, including this article. I want to express my gratitude to Lourdes Torres, editor of Latino Studies for her vision and professionalism. Also, thanks to María Ochoa, managing editor of the journal for her prompt communications. I am grateful to the reviewers of my article. Their constructive comments helped me improve my arguments and its focus. Muy agradecida.

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    Milagros Denis-Rosario

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Correspondence to Milagros Denis-Rosario.

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Denis-Rosario, M. Deciphering the notion of a raceless nation: Racial harmony and discrimination in Puerto Rican society. Lat Stud 18, 45–65 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41276-019-00235-6

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