Joseph D. Morales Vargas 801-10-4760 INGL 3285-001 Prof.

Katherine Miranda Composition 2: Bernardo Vega and Jess Coln and their life experiences At the turn of the 20th century, Puerto Rico was in dire need of economic relief. Sadly, there was no escape valve for Puerto Ricans to develop their economy inside the Island, and for that reason, many were taking the opportunity to find better offers of employment in different parts of the United States. For example, Bernardo Vega and Jess Coln both left with the illusion of work and a better life up in the North. However, through their writings Memoirs of Bernardo Vega and The Way it Was, we know that such fallacy was indeed wrong, that work was scarce, and worse, the social surroundings in White America made being a Puerto Rican a bad decision in a nation that underestimated and marginalized the unwanted. In this era of social angst and the mythical find myself in spite of social division, both Vega and Coln suffered such racism and discrimination: the former because of his ethnicity, especially, and the latter because of his race or color. First of all, Vega states that the reasons for his departure from Puerto Rico where not entirely economic, for [] the girls parents, brothers, relatives, and well -wishers declared war on me. Thats not exactly why I decided to leave, but that small-town drama of Montagues and Capulets did have an influence (3), referring to a struggle he had with his girlfriend and all related in one way or another to her, which was the decisive element for his leaving Puerto Rico. He states that since a small age he was a cigar roller, and thanks to his blue eyes and fair skin, he did not look like an immigrant at all. In New York, he intended to continue his trade while taking part in the socialist movements in the area. However, his plans went awry when, as a foreshadowing of his later experiences and thoughts, he arrives at New York and presents a grim image: The skyscrapers seemed like tall gravestones. I wondered why, if the United States was so rich, as surely it was, did its biggest city look so grotesque?(7). He earned some work, after an extended period of unemployment in his craft, in a munitions factory, and only barely did he get out alive as the factory exploded a few weeks after he quit. Even after all that, there is a paramount experience that he describes in the beginnings of the 5th Chapter of Part I of his Memoirs. As part of his desire to better himself, Vega enrolled in

a public school so that he could get an education. During one of the lectures, he asked how he, a Puerto Rican without a recognized national citizenship, could get an American citizenship without renouncing first to the inexistent. He continues the narrative, voicing A bit flustered, the teacher could only reinstate what she had said before: that you just have to give up your own citizenship, follow the steps, and there you have it. And it was for everyone who was a resident of the United States! Yes, for everyone, I said, except for Puerto Ricans. (27). His suffering would continue, partly in part of his status as an immigrant in such a city, yet somehow he found the will to go on, and became a very influential figure in his countrys history. On the other hand, on the excerpts extracted from Colns The Way it Was, Coln narrates more of a color-segregation driven story. Being dark colored, his life was vastly marked by racial discrimination, and his writing is greatly influenced by it. For example, in the story Angels in My Hometown Church, the tale is situated in Cayey, Puerto Rico, and Coln is revisiting a church that was painted inside by Don Ramn Frade, a famous painter. Be that as it may, Frades work was systematically substituted: in his queer way, Frade envisioned angels as multiracial white, black and brown skinned. Still, when Coln stepped inside the church, such display of liberal thought was removed because, in the words of a well dressed white lady, Puerto Rico [was] becoming a great tourist center. [And] many, many Americans [were] visiting our hometown and our church every year (54). What could Coln do in the face of such a blatant display of racial inequality and bigotry? Could he say that she erred, or that this world should be equal, or that Frades ideals were pure? Another example of this racial disparity is seen in the emotional story of Little Things Are Big. In this situation, Coln is presented with the choice of helping a white lady with her things, but the situation is difficult: it is late at night, and the lady had luggage and three children to take care of before going down a flight of stairs. Coln says But how could I, a Negro and a Puerto Rican approach this white lady who very likely might have preconceived prejudices against Negroes and everybody with foreign accents, in a deserted subway station very late at night? (61). And, as his brain is fighting with the thought of putting aside his own preconception, he exclaims This is what racism and prejudice and chauvinism and official artificial division can do to a people and a nation! (61). Again, racial discrimination created this well defined official artificial division, or in simple terms, segregation. Under such a circumstance, even if such basic need to help were seen, such

as Coln gazed, the normal, the expected, and the continuing response, would be to leave the place as fast as you can. Therefore, both Vega and Coln have valid ideas and stories related to their racial experience in the United States. On one hand, Vega saw the need to describe his surroundings such as he saw them: a big, ugly city, with a cold dark heart towards its refugees. Even more, he pushes the envelope on the national identity of Puerto Ricans of that era, for nationality was not a reality for Puerto Ricans in the United States. Marking a distinct polarity, Coln takes more of a personal side to his narrative: an edgier, more intimate approach to the social problems impregnated in the unequal stitches of the American society. Both authors present their views from a racial point, yet both take different methods, creating a rounded argument towards racial inequality. Vega, with his fair skin and blue eyes, could easily mislead everyday people that his ethnic background agreed with the everyday opinion of the simple American. Nevertheless, Coln could not suffer such luck, and was constantly reminded of his racial difference and inequality, for in official artificial divisions, difference is not tolerated.