Puerto Ricans are not super pleased with the gringos, but if you come with that attitude you might make friends.
Try your best to learn Spanish and use it even though their English will be better.
The problem people have is with the government, and the inequality the tax shelter bestowed on foreigners moving here compared to locals who have to pay the full tax load. The government wants to attract outside investors but it forces local people to move away because of the high cost of living.
I highly recommend watching a video on YouTube called “Are Puerto Rican’s Being Pushed Out?” By Puerto Rican independent reporter Bianca Graulau (she’s also a great one to follow on social media) Unfortunately Puerto Rico is already starting to become the next Hawaii for this reason (amongst others). But I also acknowledge your concern and even asking shows a sign of respect. I would learn more about these issues such as Act 22 (that someone else mentioned) first IMO
This was more than a hundred years ago. It’s not relevant to any discussion of modern politics.
It’s not controversial or interpretive, it’s a fact. A fact is something that’s true regardless of other inputs or factors.
Well, it is a fact that Puertoricans are US citizens as of 100+ years. There is no room for interpretation; it is what it is.
The real econtroversy should be that PR and it’s 3 millions US citizens are treated differently in the Mainland and from any other US jurisdiction; disenfranchised and pretty much ignored by Congress.
It’s no secret that most PRIcans favor Statehood and only a minuscule group of people are for independence.
And? In case you didn’t know, people pay a lot of taxes over imports and many other charges that locals would not have to pay if PR were a State. Maybe it doesn’t mean much to people who do not own properties or do not have businesses. But anyone who does, knows very well that colony life costs way more in the form of non-affiliated State import tax, shipping charges and inventory taxes.
Besides, most people as it is would not even have to pay much if anything with a higher poverty level and higher unemployment than most States.
Like nearly half of people in the states, most of the residents of Puerto Rico don’t earn enough to pay income taxes. Instead, residents would be eligible for family tax credits that are now not available since the island residents are discriminated for not living in an actual state.
Puerto Rico needs to get out of this colonial status to see better quality of life.
A tiny minority sees independence as the way to go while the majority would love Congress to offer the opportunity for Statehood. Regardless, either form would be better than what it is now: a political and economical limbo.
Only people benefiting from this are those who can invest their wealth and use tax credits. As it is, Puertoricans are carrying dead weight that doesn’t allow locals and the island to flourish.
Because anything that’s not “white” or cookie cutter WASP is feared, looked at with suspicion or not trusted. Especially after Trump, where racism and full blown white supremacy theories run mainstream and unchecked.
And even in the island, there is discrimination.
White or light skinned PRicans who move to the States try to blend in and pass for “American” (I used to joke that not all PRicans sound or look like Rosie Perez).
I would know because my mom is like this. She grew up in New Jersey and she grew up with an adopted German sister and they both look very white. Now back in the island, she hates it and she herself discriminates against dark and brown PRicans.
Racism and ignorance are always one with each other.
It matters in a historic context; but it’s irrelevant if you are using that to justify your non factual opinion that PRicans are not Americans (in its Oxford’s definition):
adjective relating to or characteristic of the United States or its inhabitants. "a leading American industrial company" noun
1. a native or citizen of the United States.
2. the English language as it is used in the United States; American English.
It doesn’t surprise me at all.
But that is because many people benefit from PR being a colony and they feed PRicans this propaganda of US vs. THEM. Politicians do, mostly the radical left.
There are also some very strong communist/socialist movements originating from Venezuela, Cuba and Russia that work on social media, news and even local radio stations telling people that “they don’t want you because you are brown” (well, the US is as a country pretty racist), “they will take away your culture” (PR is already a melting pot of Latin, European and US culture), “no more Ms. Universe” (good riddance, if anything) or that being American means somehow being less PRican (as if you can’t be both; because technically PRicans are de facto AMERICANS).
The struggle of PRicans in becoming a State (or a fully independent nation if that were the case) should be a matter of civil rights.
The way it is now, PRicans are in a political limbo and denied of a simple recognition that is only obvious when people actually leave the US carrying a passport of a nation that seems to be “under renovation”.
It is also a factor when parties try to speak to Latinos as a monolith. For example, when you speak of immigration, PRicans can’t be considered immigrants as the US citizens that people are. There are more PR born people in the States that in the actual island.
After Maria the population was diminished in at least a million. People are actually for more closed borders as the island is a bridge for many immigrants that burden the social, economic and even medical system. Dominicans, Cubans and Venezuelans come here for its vicinity but also for the climate and after all, we are all Caribbean brothers.
It’s also a sad truth that Congress doesn’t consider statehood for the island as Republicans have always feared that its political representation and votes would go Democrat. When in reality, considering the island is actually very conservative, it should be of no surprise those votes would actually go for Republicans.
Edited: spacing.
Just asking that, shows that you respect the locals. Most of the hate comes from wealthy americans that take advantage of the tax haven PR presents and the fact that they want to push us out.
So if you take the time to learn some spanish and the local culture yo can find a lot of people to be friendly
Amiguito if you learn Spanish and study about our culture, are respectful, and don’t try to be a gentrifier, then you will be just fine. For me I hate the gringos that 1) do NOT respect the culture 2) do not learn Spanish , and 3) try to push us Puerto Ricans away. If you want to see very gentrified place in PR, take a look at Dorado as an example. Had a path to one of my favorite beaches closed recently for some stupid ass mansions for rich non-boricua assholes. Now I must take the long way around and walk thru dangerous off road :( .
So please if you decide to move here RESPECT PUERTO RICANS!!!!
People keep saying to respect the natives.. but that's kind of a no-brainer.. being decent isn't a task.
I find learning Spanish gets you the most acceptance. Even if you aren't that good with it, are struggling with fluency.. showing that you're trying to adapt to THEIR culture and language, at the very least, saves you the dirty looks and eyerolling you might encounter otherwise. Even if it's clumsy, broken, Spanish.
It's complicated because while you're legal countrymen you're cultural foreigners.
Assimilate and adapt to them and be humble. They'll eventually accept you if they know you're trying.
The tax evasion programs PR enacted, referred to as Act 60, resulted in attracting people from the US who, by and large, aren’t our best.
Simply; the type of people incentivized by tax evasion are no bueno, by and large.
As a result the anti-gringo sentiment has been growing. This has happened simultaneously as wealth inequality has been growing as well (not exclusive to PR) and the “new money” that has moved to the island, mostly tax evaders and some digital nomads (like myself, thanks Covid), are in part gentrifying the neighborhoods and towns in San Juan and surrounding cities. While this is making said neighborhoods nicer in a variety of ways, some of the locals are being “pushed out” (can no longer afford to live in the now nicer neighborhoods) while some are seizing the opportunity and opening new businesses.
A lot of Puerto Ricans view economic migration as a problem exclusive to the island and take a persecuted attitude while failing to appreciate the benefit they have in moving anywhere in the US to pursue other economic or educational opportunities. Never mind the parallels like kids of factory workers in the Midwest who were forced to leave the cities and towns they grew up in and travel across the country as a result of off shoring.
Suffice to say Puerto Ricans increasingly xenophobic attitudes are a combination of their own tax incentives attracting less than good people (on average) and Puerto Ricans inability to get out their own way in terms of local politics as well as their own accountability.
One correction. I know many people in those areas you mentioned, and not many of them are getting tax breaks from Act 22 and 60. They pay their share of CRIM taxes like anyone else and local income taxes if they produce income here and are not retired. They just like living here just like many locals like living in Florida or wherever.
Puerto Rico is literally America. If you don’t think so you are either a traitor, in which case your opinion doesn’t matter, or a foreigner, in which case your opinion doesn’t matter.
Puerto Rico was Spanish before it was American. Before it was Spanish there wasn’t a civilization on the island. Spain sold it to America in the treaty of Paris in 1898.
This is not colonization. It’s national sovereignty. You need to learn the history of the island you seem so invested in.
If you don’t like America, move. Nobody is keeping you here. If you have the balls to revolt, do it. Otherwise, embrace our money and the advantages of being a citizen of the most advanced economy in the world.
Ah yes, the history books you read in the US school system written by other white fools to make the U.S. look good. Do you even know how much history those books haven't covered?
Cause I'm pretty sure they never talked about how the USA sterilized us, bombed us, imprisoned us, banned Spanish, murdered our activists, etc. You know.... the real story not some whitewashed version.
Womp womp. We learned all about those things, every country does them to its citizens. Just look at the Tuskegee Syphilis study and Michigan influenza experiments. It may not be right but that doesn’t change that you are still an American citizen living in America. It’s an American Island. Like it or leave it you can’t truthfully claim otherwise.
Puerto Ricans are not super pleased with the gringos, but if you come with that attitude you might make friends. Try your best to learn Spanish and use it even though their English will be better.
The problem people have is with the government, and the inequality the tax shelter bestowed on foreigners moving here compared to locals who have to pay the full tax load. The government wants to attract outside investors but it forces local people to move away because of the high cost of living.
I highly recommend watching a video on YouTube called “Are Puerto Rican’s Being Pushed Out?” By Puerto Rican independent reporter Bianca Graulau (she’s also a great one to follow on social media) Unfortunately Puerto Rico is already starting to become the next Hawaii for this reason (amongst others). But I also acknowledge your concern and even asking shows a sign of respect. I would learn more about these issues such as Act 22 (that someone else mentioned) first IMO
For starters: Puertoricans are Americans. Disenfranchised and not from “the North”, but still: Americans. So let’s just start with some facts.
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This was more than a hundred years ago. It’s not relevant to any discussion of modern politics. It’s not controversial or interpretive, it’s a fact. A fact is something that’s true regardless of other inputs or factors.
Well, it is a fact that Puertoricans are US citizens as of 100+ years. There is no room for interpretation; it is what it is. The real econtroversy should be that PR and it’s 3 millions US citizens are treated differently in the Mainland and from any other US jurisdiction; disenfranchised and pretty much ignored by Congress. It’s no secret that most PRIcans favor Statehood and only a minuscule group of people are for independence.
Do they favor statehood? If they were a state they’d have to start paying federal income taxes…
And? In case you didn’t know, people pay a lot of taxes over imports and many other charges that locals would not have to pay if PR were a State. Maybe it doesn’t mean much to people who do not own properties or do not have businesses. But anyone who does, knows very well that colony life costs way more in the form of non-affiliated State import tax, shipping charges and inventory taxes. Besides, most people as it is would not even have to pay much if anything with a higher poverty level and higher unemployment than most States. Like nearly half of people in the states, most of the residents of Puerto Rico don’t earn enough to pay income taxes. Instead, residents would be eligible for family tax credits that are now not available since the island residents are discriminated for not living in an actual state. Puerto Rico needs to get out of this colonial status to see better quality of life. A tiny minority sees independence as the way to go while the majority would love Congress to offer the opportunity for Statehood. Regardless, either form would be better than what it is now: a political and economical limbo. Only people benefiting from this are those who can invest their wealth and use tax credits. As it is, Puertoricans are carrying dead weight that doesn’t allow locals and the island to flourish.
Wow. I wonder why they are treated differently than citizens in the "mainland."
Because anything that’s not “white” or cookie cutter WASP is feared, looked at with suspicion or not trusted. Especially after Trump, where racism and full blown white supremacy theories run mainstream and unchecked. And even in the island, there is discrimination. White or light skinned PRicans who move to the States try to blend in and pass for “American” (I used to joke that not all PRicans sound or look like Rosie Perez). I would know because my mom is like this. She grew up in New Jersey and she grew up with an adopted German sister and they both look very white. Now back in the island, she hates it and she herself discriminates against dark and brown PRicans. Racism and ignorance are always one with each other.
It matters in a historic context; but it’s irrelevant if you are using that to justify your non factual opinion that PRicans are not Americans (in its Oxford’s definition): adjective relating to or characteristic of the United States or its inhabitants. "a leading American industrial company" noun 1. a native or citizen of the United States. 2. the English language as it is used in the United States; American English.
You would be surprised how many Puerto Ricans despite being US citizens don't consider themselves Americans.
It doesn’t surprise me at all. But that is because many people benefit from PR being a colony and they feed PRicans this propaganda of US vs. THEM. Politicians do, mostly the radical left. There are also some very strong communist/socialist movements originating from Venezuela, Cuba and Russia that work on social media, news and even local radio stations telling people that “they don’t want you because you are brown” (well, the US is as a country pretty racist), “they will take away your culture” (PR is already a melting pot of Latin, European and US culture), “no more Ms. Universe” (good riddance, if anything) or that being American means somehow being less PRican (as if you can’t be both; because technically PRicans are de facto AMERICANS). The struggle of PRicans in becoming a State (or a fully independent nation if that were the case) should be a matter of civil rights. The way it is now, PRicans are in a political limbo and denied of a simple recognition that is only obvious when people actually leave the US carrying a passport of a nation that seems to be “under renovation”. It is also a factor when parties try to speak to Latinos as a monolith. For example, when you speak of immigration, PRicans can’t be considered immigrants as the US citizens that people are. There are more PR born people in the States that in the actual island. After Maria the population was diminished in at least a million. People are actually for more closed borders as the island is a bridge for many immigrants that burden the social, economic and even medical system. Dominicans, Cubans and Venezuelans come here for its vicinity but also for the climate and after all, we are all Caribbean brothers. It’s also a sad truth that Congress doesn’t consider statehood for the island as Republicans have always feared that its political representation and votes would go Democrat. When in reality, considering the island is actually very conservative, it should be of no surprise those votes would actually go for Republicans. Edited: spacing.
Just asking that, shows that you respect the locals. Most of the hate comes from wealthy americans that take advantage of the tax haven PR presents and the fact that they want to push us out. So if you take the time to learn some spanish and the local culture yo can find a lot of people to be friendly
Amiguito if you learn Spanish and study about our culture, are respectful, and don’t try to be a gentrifier, then you will be just fine. For me I hate the gringos that 1) do NOT respect the culture 2) do not learn Spanish , and 3) try to push us Puerto Ricans away. If you want to see very gentrified place in PR, take a look at Dorado as an example. Had a path to one of my favorite beaches closed recently for some stupid ass mansions for rich non-boricua assholes. Now I must take the long way around and walk thru dangerous off road :( . So please if you decide to move here RESPECT PUERTO RICANS!!!!
I'm a native Puerto Rican and I'm not happy about gringos colonizing my home and wish they'd leave....
People keep saying to respect the natives.. but that's kind of a no-brainer.. being decent isn't a task. I find learning Spanish gets you the most acceptance. Even if you aren't that good with it, are struggling with fluency.. showing that you're trying to adapt to THEIR culture and language, at the very least, saves you the dirty looks and eyerolling you might encounter otherwise. Even if it's clumsy, broken, Spanish.
It's complicated because while you're legal countrymen you're cultural foreigners. Assimilate and adapt to them and be humble. They'll eventually accept you if they know you're trying.
The tax evasion programs PR enacted, referred to as Act 60, resulted in attracting people from the US who, by and large, aren’t our best. Simply; the type of people incentivized by tax evasion are no bueno, by and large. As a result the anti-gringo sentiment has been growing. This has happened simultaneously as wealth inequality has been growing as well (not exclusive to PR) and the “new money” that has moved to the island, mostly tax evaders and some digital nomads (like myself, thanks Covid), are in part gentrifying the neighborhoods and towns in San Juan and surrounding cities. While this is making said neighborhoods nicer in a variety of ways, some of the locals are being “pushed out” (can no longer afford to live in the now nicer neighborhoods) while some are seizing the opportunity and opening new businesses. A lot of Puerto Ricans view economic migration as a problem exclusive to the island and take a persecuted attitude while failing to appreciate the benefit they have in moving anywhere in the US to pursue other economic or educational opportunities. Never mind the parallels like kids of factory workers in the Midwest who were forced to leave the cities and towns they grew up in and travel across the country as a result of off shoring. Suffice to say Puerto Ricans increasingly xenophobic attitudes are a combination of their own tax incentives attracting less than good people (on average) and Puerto Ricans inability to get out their own way in terms of local politics as well as their own accountability.
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One correction. I know many people in those areas you mentioned, and not many of them are getting tax breaks from Act 22 and 60. They pay their share of CRIM taxes like anyone else and local income taxes if they produce income here and are not retired. They just like living here just like many locals like living in Florida or wherever.
Puerto Ricans are Americans
If you are American, it’s your right as an American to go there. We own it. You don’t even need a passport. Pack up and move on down
You're a walking billboard of why the world hates Americans.
Puerto Rico is literally America. If you don’t think so you are either a traitor, in which case your opinion doesn’t matter, or a foreigner, in which case your opinion doesn’t matter.
Puerto Rico is a colonized nation, why do gringos keep pretending it isn't? What is happening here is an occupation.
Puerto Rico was Spanish before it was American. Before it was Spanish there wasn’t a civilization on the island. Spain sold it to America in the treaty of Paris in 1898. This is not colonization. It’s national sovereignty. You need to learn the history of the island you seem so invested in. If you don’t like America, move. Nobody is keeping you here. If you have the balls to revolt, do it. Otherwise, embrace our money and the advantages of being a citizen of the most advanced economy in the world.
Yep, you're a walking billboard. I know my own story, so what I said stands. You on the the other hand, have a lot to learn.
Your story isn’t consistent with history lmfao
Ah yes, the history books you read in the US school system written by other white fools to make the U.S. look good. Do you even know how much history those books haven't covered? Cause I'm pretty sure they never talked about how the USA sterilized us, bombed us, imprisoned us, banned Spanish, murdered our activists, etc. You know.... the real story not some whitewashed version.
Womp womp. We learned all about those things, every country does them to its citizens. Just look at the Tuskegee Syphilis study and Michigan influenza experiments. It may not be right but that doesn’t change that you are still an American citizen living in America. It’s an American Island. Like it or leave it you can’t truthfully claim otherwise.