NYRICAN

[podling]

I saw this license plate today. NJ license, "NYRICAN". Now, I'm pretty sure they requested this, given that it spells out a word (of sorts), but what *exactly* is it that they're trying to say?

Is it a play on "american", like, "I'm from NY, yet american and patriotic"? Or is it more vague than that, like, I'm from puerto rico (hence, puerto RICAN) and from NY, giving us NYRICAN? Discuss.

Comments

[schoolboycrush.livejournal.com]

It's probably New York-Puerto Rican.I had a girlfriend who was from the Bronx & Puerto Rican & she was very proud of this.She seemed to believe in an odd caste system.Example: Mexicans were the lowest class of Hispanics in her family's opinion.

[podling]

See, what's weird is that that was actually my first thought. Puerto Ricans are proud people. I work with several, and I remember my visit to Puerto Rico (which was really cool, I so totally would like to go back there). There totally is an odd caste system in place though, I see it with the guys here all the time. I mean, they all associate and more or less get along, but there's definitely a difference in attitude towards other nationalities.

I think what confused me about the license plate was that it was a NJ plate saying this. But I guess that's not so odd, it's not like we're that far, and I work in NYC.

Not MEANT to be not PC...just to inform.

[mowglikat]

Being a mix of hispanic and garden-variety white, I've had to really examine the caste system and kind of dissect it to understand it.

As near as I can figure, the closer your country is to Europe, the higher the caste you are. Spain being the highest. South Americans are the second tier, and central americans are the lower tier. (This is obviously not the viewpoint of Central or South Americans...but they seem to be aware of the public opinion of the system. it seems to be this really generic across the board thing.) And each of those three is broken down by country as well, and they all fall in different places on the caste system.

To complicate things, there are those that believe that, once you become an American (specifically a North American) that you become better than your original caste. So using my mom as an example....she's Peruvian. Once she moved here and got married she became American. Peruvian blood always made her higher level than Central Americans (but not as good as "Pure Castilian Spanish") but now being an "american" meant she shunned all things south american...and was now above Peruvian (And almost on a level with Castilian...but not quite.)

All of this is never really openly discussed for some reason...it's just a generic unspoken message. But among the group that thinks they're better because they're american, it's considered "lower" in some way to speak to other spanish people in spanish when you see them on the street, even if it would be plainly easier. Puerto Ricans will do this more often, and I've seen other spanish people turn their nose up at it. It's really crazy. The attitude has always been something like, "What did you expect? They're Puerto Rican." (While rolling their eyes)...but Puerto Ricans also seem to be the most reluctant to give up their history and their home ideals...alot of pride as a whole...I don't understand why that should be a bad thing...I think it's really cool.

I've also heard there's a similar cast system among the black populace involving Jamaicans vs. Haitians vs. Africans vs. whatever...but I don't know the ins and outs of it. I've just come to the conclusion that all minorities probably have it. who knows...?

Re: Not MEANT to be not PC...just to inform.

[kiwitayro.livejournal.com]

i had a huge argument with a student today who is convinced he is Puerto Rican because... get this... his grandmother is "black." (whatever that means.)

he absolutely would not listen to me. pulled the 14-year-old "whatevers" and insisted that the daughter of my new-england WASPy biracial friends was a "porderrican" - and yes. i explained the concept of mulatto. he then insisted he was black. punkass idiot. :)

Re: Not MEANT to be not PC...just to inform.

[podling]

Well, I can understand his wanting to self-identify as something else from a certain perspective. I know where I grew up (in Worc.) the term "mulatto" was generally used as a racial slur, in much the same way that Italians are called "wops". From my understanding, it may be a regional thing. People in NJ do NOT use it unless it's as a term of denigration. (littlefrogling and I had a fight with one of her boyfriends when he called her one. However, a friend from TN had never heard it used in a negative fashion at all.

Of course, that kid was still probably just a punkass idiot. :)

Re: Not MEANT to be not PC...just to inform.

[podling]

I think there are generic unspoken caste systems with pretty much all of the racial groupings. I mean, really, look at the history of racial stuff in Boston. At one point, the Irish were moving there in droves. And people wouldn't even hire them. Then they became status quo and accepted, as Italians became the newer minority. It's a cyclical thing. And even though most, if not all, of the people in Boston at that time were of European descendents, they still had a caste system of sorts going on. So it's not really a surprise that various minorities of Spanish (mostly) descent have the same sort of thing.

And I think it's good to keep a sense of history and home ideals, but there are many immigrants who do see that as somewhat wrong. For instance, my father absolutely refused to let us learn Italian. He had many reasons for this, but part of it was that he wanted my brother and I to be american children.