Whitey Finally Gets A Clue

I agree with a lot you said, but being from near the Fordham Rd. area, I think that many of the "Puerto Ricans" you see there are actually Dominicans. Yeah, Dominicans may be friendlier but that is probably because they have more to gain by it (hint: Dominicans are not citizens of the US by birth like PRs are). I also don't know if I'd call them hard working. Their hard work is more along the lines of wheeling and dealing. To the outsider it looks like they are quite industrious with their bodegas, bakeries, selling trinkets on the street, and taxi services. In reality, most of what they sell is stolen, bodegas and other "legit" businesses are often bought via drug money, many of the "hair dressers" and "bakers" collect welfare money thanks to their American-born children, and many taxistas don't have licenses, no less a visa to legally be in the United States.

I am not Puerto Rican nor am I Dominican, so I am neutral to them, which gives them the feeling of security to rip each other's culture and ethnicity to shreads in my presence trying to convince me that each group is better than the other. Most also are not aware that I'm pretty much fluent in Spanish and will say thinks in front of me among each other that show their true colors. To me they are like two sides of the same coin.

I think Dominicans are less violent towards outsiders than Puerto Ricans, for example, but when they get angry they love to beat or liquidate their girlfriends and wives (read the newspapers blotter and this happens almost every week in Washington Heights). Puerto Ricans sometimes play victim using their minority status because of their similarity to African-Americans, while Dominicans have a sense of enbreastlement period. Try telling a Dominican to learn English or that you think it's disgusting how they cut hair and bake cakes off the books for cash and collect welfare at the same time. I think PRs are also more upfront and not as sneaky. A Puerto Rican waitress will treat you like poo if that's her prsonality. A Dominican waitress will act sweet as pie and them when you pay the bill with a $20 and ask for your $10 change, suddenly she has forgotten how to speak English and has no clue what you're saying in an attempt to pocket your money. A Puerto Rican department store or fast food manager will probably give you the benefit of the doubt if you apply for a job there. A Dominican will not hire you because you are not Dominican and then come out with a spiel about it's because you don't speak Spanish (even if you can) and that they need to better serve the Latino community (yeah, THEIR community). A Puerto Rican will approach you and even if he's ghetto, do the "Can I get to know you?" routine. A Dominican man will hiss at you, make a crude comment about your privates, breasts, or butt in Spanish, follow you down the street (in his car if he's got one), and then call you a "stuck-up White unpleasant woman" in ENGLISH after you tell him to f*** off. A Puerto Rican will tell their daughters not to marry a Black man but will eventually come around if she does. A dark-skinned Dominican will call "Black people" monkeys in one breath and then insult Whites in the next, yet claim they are "Spanish" and try to date the Whitest person in sight.

You said:

Actually, I was referring to Puerto Ricans, not Dominicans. Dominicans are mostly hard working people. Puerto Ricans are not, especially the women. Dominicans tend to be friendly, Puerto Ricans do not, especially the women.

Puerto Rican girls, no matter what they look like, seem to have been told their whole lives that they are gorgeous beings who deserve to be treated like princesses. Hence their pooty atbreastudes, noses in the air, refusal to ask customers if they need help because they are too busy talking to their co-workers (when they actually do have a job), refusal to make room for you on the sidewalk when you are coming towards them, etc., etc. I never understood where they see themselves as being so worthy of special treatment. They all dress exactly the same, have their hair in the same pasted down-pulled back hairstyle. All clones of the same girl, pooty atbreastude and all.

I used to live in a predominantly Latino apartment building. The loud music, beer drinking, domino playing and hanging out was a nightly occurrence. There were actually sofas out in front of the building so people could hang out in comfort! When I would leave for work in the morning, the streets would be completely empty. It seemed no one in the building even had a job but me.

Now I live in a building with a mix of people, and the Puerto Ricans that live here are still the ones home every day, playing their music loud, walking around on Fordham Road with their baby carriages and cell phones. The same people are home every day that *I* have a day off, so I know that can't be a coincidence.

So call me a racist if you want, but I am going by what I have seen in every day life. If you haven't lived it, then your opinions are moot. If you are Puerto Rican and live in a predominantly PR neighborhood, then there is good chance that you find the care-free-work-free way of life acceptable. If you are Puerto Rican and do NOT live in a predominantly PR neighborhood, then you must agree with what I am saying since even YOU don't want to live around your own people.

One more year of college and I'm out of here...

* this is in or around Dominican Heights