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fhimet's review against another edition
4.0
Abraham Rodriguez tells a short story about a boy that refused to salute the flag of the United States because he considered himself Puerto Rican, so it made perfect sense to him that the flag wasn’t his. This situation happened in his school, the teacher called his dad, and it is in this encounter where the boy was stunned to find that his father sided with the teacher.
It may appear seemingly trivial, but it represents a fundamental conflict immigrants encounter. There are different forms of cultural assimilation in the U.S leading to this dissonance between family members, some of those who immigrate eventually truly feel bound to the new location. It is not that they lose their identity, but they come to terms with the new nationality to survive and do better. It is a form of truce in which you understand that to get by; you have to blend in. How sad is this that we have to feel like we need to relinquish a part of ourselves, our roots, to survive? But for those who have migrated it is a familiar discord at some point. The father in the story portrays that truce because he wants his boy to have a safe transit and be treated better as he grows older.
For disclosure, I know P.R is a U.S territory. Still, our national identity is not as easily defined as sociopolitical boundaries but a complex product of colonization. And for many reasons, some (conflicting experiences, distorted narratives, longing, idk) that many still feel mainly Puerto Rican. The way we hold on to our puertorriqueñidad so tightly speaks volumes of our inner resistance.
It may appear seemingly trivial, but it represents a fundamental conflict immigrants encounter. There are different forms of cultural assimilation in the U.S leading to this dissonance between family members, some of those who immigrate eventually truly feel bound to the new location. It is not that they lose their identity, but they come to terms with the new nationality to survive and do better. It is a form of truce in which you understand that to get by; you have to blend in. How sad is this that we have to feel like we need to relinquish a part of ourselves, our roots, to survive? But for those who have migrated it is a familiar discord at some point. The father in the story portrays that truce because he wants his boy to have a safe transit and be treated better as he grows older.
For disclosure, I know P.R is a U.S territory. Still, our national identity is not as easily defined as sociopolitical boundaries but a complex product of colonization. And for many reasons, some (conflicting experiences, distorted narratives, longing, idk) that many still feel mainly Puerto Rican. The way we hold on to our puertorriqueñidad so tightly speaks volumes of our inner resistance.
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