Puerto Ricans

Located in the Caribbean , the archipelago of Puerto Rico comprises the major island of Puerto Rico and a number of other minor islands

The Spanish words that mean `rich port , Puerto Rico was colonized by the Spanish and the people were forced to work in the harshest of conditions . The Spaniards were also known to bring in illnesses that when combined with the hard labor of the Puerto Ricans were causing several deaths on the island . It was at this period in history that the first group of Puerto Ricans moved to New

York in the mid 19th century therefore making them immigrants

After the Spanish-American War , Spain had no choice but to cede Puerto Rico to the United States . Puerto Rico began the twentieth century under the military rule of the United States

This caused a wave of Puerto Ricans to move to New York . The Jones-Shafroth Act of 1917 gave Puerto Ricans U .S . citizenship and allowed them to travel without the need of a passport between the island and the United States mainland , thereby becoming migrants . However , the largest wave of migration came about in the 1950s in what became known as "The Great Migration " with the advent of air travel

Post this period , Puerto Rican 's were subject to severe problems of discrimination and prejudice to say the least . In 1945 , after the Second World War , the people of Puerto Rica were subject to the torture of having to work in a dual labor-market , one that housed an oligopolistic sector and a fiercely competitive sector . The oligopolistic section of the market ensured stable labor laws and capital , productivity and wages were substantial . The competitive sector was filled with .low-wage , menial jobs in labor-intensive industries . Caribbean migrants were massively recruited in the competitive sector . The great majority of the 1940 's and 1950 's Caribbean immigrants were Puerto Ricans recruited for low-wage jobs in the postwar expansion of the competitive capitalist manufacturing and service industries in New York City

As if this weren 't enough , Vieques , Puerto Rico , was open ground to display discrimination against them . Many environmental justice issues are taking their toll on Puerto Ricans , some of which are environmental health impacts , brownfields redevelopment and Superfund . What 's hard to believe however , is that for decades now , the U .S . Navy has been using Vieques as a bombing range

Despite existing regulations , the Navy has used live bombs , depleted uranium and napalm on the range and allowed foreign allies to test weapons . The Navy has ignored environmental laws , severely destroyed the natural environment and has introduced health hazards to the residents of the island

Subtle forms of racial discrimination were practiced without batting an eyelid . Essential services and products were either denied to the Puerto Ricans or they were charged exorbitant and hence unaffordable sums of money for what they wanted . This redlining was most commonly seen in mortgage discrimination . During the year 1966 , the racially biased policies of real estate brokers and speculators and...