Us According to Them

Stateside Portrayals of Puerto Ricans and Their Culture, 1898-2010

Ligia T. Domenech

• Publisher: University Press of Mississippi
• Year: 2025
• Topic: Literature
• eBook ISBN:
  9781496854629
• Subtopic: Latin American & Caribbean History
• Index: Literature

The acquisition of Puerto Rico as a colony in 1898 prompted the interest of many in the United States—the military, correspondents, investors, missionaries, politicians, scientists, and tourists. Wanting to know more about Puerto Rico, its inhabitants, and its potential utility, many of these curious but untrained observers visited the island and documented their experiences for the benefit of future visitors. Decades later, readers continue to revisit these writings and create new accounts that explore the "effects of American civilization" on Puerto Rican society.

In Us According to Them: Stateside Portrayals of Puerto Ricans and Their Culture, 1898-2010, Puerto Rican historian Ligia T. Domenech exposes the distorted mirror turned on Puerto Rico, one constructed through the eyes of foreigners. Each of the eighteen chapters focuses on a different aspect of mainland US descriptions of Puerto Rican culture—from gender, race, and class to music, religion, and food. Accurate or not, books on Puerto Rico have contained perceptions about Puerto Ricans and their world that continue to shape opinions held by US citizens dwelling stateside. This book explores the lasting impacts of these repeated stereotypes on the collective understandings of both the colonizer and the colonized.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: “Oh, Dear Lord, Why Didst Thou Ever Inspire Me to Go to Puerto Rico to Teach?”: About the Selected American Authors
• Chapter 2: “They Considered Them Conquered Animals”: On How Colonialism Permeates All
• Chapter 3: “Living from Hand to Mouth”: On the Poverty of Puerto Ricans
• Chapter 4: “Neither Aliens Nor Americans”: The Convoluted Politics of the Colony
• Chapter 5: “We Think We Are Better Than Other People”: On the Onset of the Relationships Between Colonizers and Colonized
• Chapter 6: “From the Yellow Pine of Castile to the Mahogany of Africa”: On the Racial Types and Social Classes
• Chapter 7: “Song, Laughter and Mañana”: On the Myth of the Lazy Puerto Ricans
• Chapter 8: “Lust Was Written in the Very Faces of the People”: On the Morality of Puerto Ricans
• Chapter 9: “Known by Their Fruits”: On Violence, Illegality, and Policing
• Chapter 10: “The Body Was There but Not the Soul”: On the Puerto Ricans’ Religious Practices
• Chapter 11: “A Poor Specimen of Manhood”: On Matters of Health and Death
• Chapter 12: “Satan Himself Would Dance If He Could Hear Them”: On Puerto Rican Entertainments
• Chapter 13: “We Iss One Happy People”: On Puerto Ricans’ Values and How They See Life
• Chapter 14: “People Who Will Always ‘Be There’ ”: On Puerto Ricans’ Relationships with Family, Friends, and Strangers
• Chapter 15: “Those Indescribable Eyes”: Puerto Rican Women
• Chapter 16: “Bright-Eyed Little Fellows”: Puerto Rican Children
• Chapter 17: “They Want Rice and Beans First”: Food, Drinks, and Smokes
• Chapter 18: “Dear Me! What a Busy, Noisy Place!”: On Commerce and Animal Treatment
• “To Be Born in Porto Rico Is, for Me, a Privilege”: Conclusion
• Appendix 1: General Nelson A. Miles Proclamation
• Appendix 2: Bibliography of Analyzed American Authors
• Appendix 3: American Authors’ Informative Table
• Notes
• Works Cited
• Index
• About the Author