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I'm Puerto Rican filmmaker Robert Garcia Christie (see IMDB.com), and I couldn't help but respond to the article on Boricuafirst.com (by Manuel Hernández). While I know you mean well with your article, quite frankly, it sounds too much like the typical "woe is me I'm a victim" kind of talk. As always, it's just too easy to find blame, though we know there is enough to go around.

I myself am a Nuyorican, but at the same time a native Boricua....born in Cayey (in 1947), raised in New York City.  I was raised in Spanish Harlem and, again to be totally honest, I never wanted to be a "Nuyorican". In fact, I hated it. Somehow I just never fit with the rest of the bunch. To me, Nuyoricans were always this angry, restless and, at times, arrogant bunch.  Seems like they always had this chip on their shoulder... always trying to prove something.  And I always noticed how every time a native Puerto Rican moved to New York, it was only a matter of time, before they, too, had the same chip on their shoulder.  Indeed, some of them wouldn't even stay.  They'd moved back to Puerto Rico and never returned.

But if you think some forms of discrimination happen on the island, you should see what would happen, at times, to island natives who came to Spanish Harlem. We used to call them things like "jibaros", or people who "just got off the boat", etc.  Indeed, Puerto Ricans in New York City could be just as harsh toward their own kind, as natives can be toward Nuyoricans.  Believe me, I know...  I was one of the "jibaros".   Thanks to the harsh treatment and all of the name-calling, it took me years to find my own identity, which I had no trouble with in P.R. itself.

So, to me, neither side is really all that innocent.  I hate to get into all of this "blame" crap, but if we are going to blame, let's put it in the right place.

In my humble opinion, America is the problem, not necessarily the Puerto Ricans. Seems like, whenever minorities move to America, it's only a matter of time before anger, bitterness, and inner turmoil becomes a way of life.  And while some of it is caused by outside forces, i.e. discrimination and racism, we need to finally wake up and realize that some of this is caused by us.  If you remember, in the musical "West Side Story", there's a scene where the Puerto Ricans (Nuyoricans) sing about their beloved island... only in not-so-beloved terms.  The lyrics go something like this "Puerto Rico, my heart's devotion, let it sink into the ocean!"   Granted, that was written by a bunch of Anglo business moguls, but let's face it, they did pick up on something.  Contrast this with what I saw recently when I was in the island.

Puerto Ricans in Puerto Rico, for example, seem to be much more easygoing, friendly, passive, and very festive.  Yes, I know, Puerto Rico isn't perfect, but its people didn't seem to be nearly as torn up inside as their New York counterparts.  And I was even more impressed over the fact that so many young people in Puerto Rico have no desire to leave the island.  They seem to be perfectly contented where they are.  Indeed, tourists love the friendliness and festive atmosphere of this little island.  Puerto Rico is downright famous for it. Remember, I've lived in both worlds, I can compare.  We can say what we want, but there is a difference in the behavior of the two.  Yet, to me, Nuyoricans and Puerto Ricans are kind of like the island's famous coqui...   simply put, two different species of the same order.

I've even found that many Puerto Ricans who move from New York to PR, don't want to return to New York.  I spoke to a Cayey store owner who was raised in Brooklyn, N.Y., and he says he's never been happier than he is in P.R.   In his own words, "I may visit New York from time to time, but I'll never live there again".   Interestingly, this store owner is only in his late 20s to early '30's, and not someone from my generation.  It says something about this easygoing, festive Island.  And I can understand why.

The original natives of Puerto Rico were a tribe of Indians known as the Tainos. Christopher Columbus, in his memoirs, said this of the Tainos,   "...the houses in the village are so pretty... they love their neighbors as themselves... they have the sweetest speech in the world... and they are gentle, and they are always laughing." 

And this is what I've seen in Puerto Rico.  No, not perfect.  But, although we do have the Spaniard blood in us, it is also clear that we still have the Taino genes... the gentleness, the friendliness, and the festive laughter.  And although I don't mean this to be merely a pitch for the Tainos (I myself am considered to be one of the 'white' Puerto Ricans), we need to remember our Taino ancestors and go back to our more gentle ways.  Enough of finding blame or accusing each other.  Because, whether we're from the Spaniard line, the Taino line, or the African line, we all have a common ground... the Tainos, the gentle people of our ancestry.

We don't need to blame (as most minorities in America are always doing).  We need to change our own attitudes... whether in New York, or in Puerto Rico.... let's keep to our gentleness and laughter.

Robert Garcia Christie, filmmaker

(I'm in Columbia, Md... near Baltimore)