VivirLatino

My Puerto Rican corazon is bursting with mixed emotions today. The Sotomayor Supreme Court nomination is historic and important. My mother, who came to NY from Puerto Rico as a child, was beside herself with excitement and I can’t even imagine what my dad, who came to New York from la Trocha de Vega Baja with dreams of becoming a lawyer, must be feeling. Pero that pride that is usually reserved for Rican Weekend is tempered with being disturbed at how Sotomayor’s nomination is being used to play identity politic games while denying some of the real work that needs to be done in terms of Puerto Rico’s status, the role of Latinos in politics, and the move towards real change in the current immigration system.

Like I said yesterday, I still have to study Sotomayor’s record before I pull out the wepa welcome wagon, pero Latinos and many people of color are excited and rightfully so. Just as the Obama presidency is historic and is viewed as an example for young men of color, Sotomayor’s nomination and hopefully her getting on the bench, is an example for young women of color. Pero the question then is who gets to claim that example?

According to some, NOT immigrants. One of the things that shocked me the most and personally pissed me off, was how many Latinos, including Puerto Ricans, were adamant that Sonia Sotomayor’s experience wasn’t an immigrant experience and that linking her family history to an immigrant narrative was a disservice. This argument is based in the idea that Sotomayor’s parents, as Puerto Ricans, are U.S. citizens, and therefore even if they moved from a U.S. colony, with it’s own culture and history and claims to nationhood, they are not immigrants. That because Sotomayor’s parents hold a U.S. passport, they are not immigrants.

Pero what does Sotomayor say? From a lecture she gave in 2001 (thanks for the link Manny):

Who am I? I am a “Newyorkrican.” For those of you on the West Coast who do not know what that term means: I am a born and bred New Yorker of Puerto Rican-born parents who came to the states during World War II.

Like many other immigrants to this great land, my parents came because of poverty and to attempt to find and secure a better life for themselves and the family that they hoped to have. They largely succeeded. For that, my brother and I are very grateful. The story of that success is what made me and what makes me the Latina that I am. The Latina side of my identity was forged and closely nurtured by my family through our shared experiences and traditions.

For me, a very special part of my being Latina is the mucho platos de arroz, gandoles y pernir – rice, beans and pork – that I have eaten at countless family holidays and special events. My Latina identity also includes, because of my particularly adventurous taste buds, morcilla, — pig intestines, patitas de cerdo con garbanzo — pigs’ feet with beans, and la lengua y orejas de cuchifrito, pigs’ tongue and ears. I bet the Mexican-Americans in this room are thinking that Puerto Ricans have unusual food tastes. Some of us, like me, do. Part of my Latina identity is the sound of merengue at all our family parties and the heart wrenching Spanish love songs that we enjoy. It is the memory of Saturday afternoon at the movies with my aunt and cousins watching Cantinflas, who is not Puerto Rican, but who was an icon Spanish comedian on par with Abbot and Costello of my generation. My Latina soul was nourished as I visited and played at my grandmother’s house with my cousins and extended family. They were my friends as I grew up. Being a Latina child was watching the adults playing dominos on Saturday night and us kids playing loteria, bingo, with my grandmother calling out the numbers which we marked on our cards with chick peas.

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