Ethics Final Paper
Jaclyn Morales
Professor Kristy Aristy
Stereotypes of the Puerto Rican Culture “As of 2003, there were more Puerto Ricans living in the United States than on the island of Puerto Rico- 3.8 million on the mainland and 3.6 million in Puerto Rico” (Rohan, 2006). There was an abundance of Puerto Ricans that migrated from their mainland to the United States. Most were poverty stricken and lacked formal education. This lead them to be unemployed or on public assistance, causing other cultures to stereotype Puerto Rican’s. “Stereotypes are belief systems or cognitions held by one social group about another social group. Stereotypes are often held by one race, ethnicity, or society about other groups of people who are from another race, ethnicity, society, or social group”, (Schaefer 2012). A stereotype is a term that is used to define all different people of certain beliefs, into the negative category that reflect on all racial demographics. Stereotypes go hand in hand with discrimination, prejudice, and bias. Which is why, people should be more educated in what they speak of. All people of different nationalities have been victims of being stereotyped. Society may not understand a certain type of race, so they put them into classifications. Individuals that are suppressed financially or due to lack of education tend to be stereotyped. This may cause an individual to become further suppressed or encourages them to prove otherwise. As I interviewed four people from different nationalities, I found a common observation with regard to the level of education of a Puerto Rican. Each interviewee from Italian, Spanish, Irish, and Puerto Rican background seem to agree that the highest level of education was High School. I further inquired as to why they thought this to be a accurate or fair observation and they were not able to justify their response. As of the year 2008, Puerto Ricans in the United States encountered one of the most extraordinary improvements in their
Professor Kristy Aristy
Stereotypes of the Puerto Rican Culture “As of 2003, there were more Puerto Ricans living in the United States than on the island of Puerto Rico- 3.8 million on the mainland and 3.6 million in Puerto Rico” (Rohan, 2006). There was an abundance of Puerto Ricans that migrated from their mainland to the United States. Most were poverty stricken and lacked formal education. This lead them to be unemployed or on public assistance, causing other cultures to stereotype Puerto Rican’s. “Stereotypes are belief systems or cognitions held by one social group about another social group. Stereotypes are often held by one race, ethnicity, or society about other groups of people who are from another race, ethnicity, society, or social group”, (Schaefer 2012). A stereotype is a term that is used to define all different people of certain beliefs, into the negative category that reflect on all racial demographics. Stereotypes go hand in hand with discrimination, prejudice, and bias. Which is why, people should be more educated in what they speak of. All people of different nationalities have been victims of being stereotyped. Society may not understand a certain type of race, so they put them into classifications. Individuals that are suppressed financially or due to lack of education tend to be stereotyped. This may cause an individual to become further suppressed or encourages them to prove otherwise. As I interviewed four people from different nationalities, I found a common observation with regard to the level of education of a Puerto Rican. Each interviewee from Italian, Spanish, Irish, and Puerto Rican background seem to agree that the highest level of education was High School. I further inquired as to why they thought this to be a accurate or fair observation and they were not able to justify their response. As of the year 2008, Puerto Ricans in the United States encountered one of the most extraordinary improvements in their
Bibliography: * Aud, S. (2010). Status and trends in the education of racial and ethnic groups. U.S Department of education. * Borjas, G. (2007). The new face of the low-wage workforce. (Master 's thesis, Harvard University). * Rohan , T. (2006). Health disparities between island and mainland puerto ricans. (5 ed., Vol. 19, pp. 331-332). * Schaefer, R. (2012). Puerto rican americans. (Vol. 2, pp. 1082-1084). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.