Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America

As the title of the chapter indicates, Puerto Ricans have a unique situation, as they are the only Latin American group to be United States citizens by birthright, even if they were not born on the mainland. Yet, despite this citizenship, they are not treated as full citizens. To explore this paradox, the author focuses on his own family’s history.

Gonzalez’s great-grandparents came to Puerto Rico from Spain and worked as coffee farmers. However, the Spanish-American War and the military occupation that followed destroyed the coffee and tobacco industries, which were at that time the backbone of Puerto Rican society. In the wake of these industries’ demise, United States sugar companies began to form and subsequently took over more and more of the land and its workers.

In 1932, Gonzalez’s grandfather, Teofilo Gonzalez, died, leaving Teofilo’s wife to care for their six children alone. Unable to cope with this, she gave away her children and placed Gonzalez’s father, Pepe, in an orphanage. Pepe was later sent to live with a teacher, who sexually abused him.

During the Great Depression in the 1930s, Puerto Rico struggled as low wages and unemployment devastated the country. Nationalist fervor swept the land. The Ponce Massacre, which took place on Palm Sunday, March 21, 1937, saw 19 civilians and two police officers killed and remains the largest massacre in modern Puerto Rican history.