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The racial conversation among Hispanics is rather cumbersome indeed. I must say that the racial identity as taught in most public schools are as follow.
Hispanics = Spaniards and Lusitanians (From the Hispania Region Portugal, Spain, Bsque, and small portion of France)
Iberians = Spaniards
Hispanic Americans = People in the Americas of Spanish, Portuguese, and Basque (Spain and France) descent
But as far as racial names there are quite a few definitions:
Mulatos = Mixed whites and blacks
Mestizos = Mixed whites and indigenous
Zambo = Mixed Black and indigenous
I would say that from a genetic point of view, Latin America has a complex history of racial classification, but based on the information above that may be the reason why most Puerto Ricans define themselves as whites.
P.S. I'm not from Puerto Rico, but where I come from slavery and colonial history during elementary school was.........intense.
And forgot to mention, I encounter this conundrum myself when I moved to the States nearly 25 years ago. My mom is French and father Italian, but I was born in Venezuela. Every time I had to answer the ethnicity part of any form I was filling out; I had to stop and didn't quite know how to answer what for many was a rather simple question.......=)
Ed Guitar,
Damn, it's all so confusing, on my Census Form, regarding ethnicity , I merely wrote in "beige"
It's going to take a lot more than some ethnic cuisine to bring people into Paterson. Clean up the trash from the streets, do something about the beggars/homeless people, and get a grip on violent crime.
Totally agree. I lived by The Falls for 6 years, moved out in 2003 to NC, went back to visit in 2008 and was horrified at the amount of trash on the streets, men hanging out with no shirts on, drinking, smoking and blasting music. Graffiti all over the place, violent crime. It pained me to see this. Paterson has always gotten a bad rap but it was livable. I hardly visit after that trip.
" Graffiti all over the place, violent crime. It pained me to see this. Paterson has always gotten a bad rap but it was livable. I hardly visit after that trip."
And it is far worse, yet, I continue to live there. Must be in a rut. The place is great just horrible behavior from many of the down & out, druggies, vandals, etc. THE PHYSICAL PLACE IS GREAT. Not much going on there; however, I am surrounded by "upscale towns" , Fair Lawn, Glen Rock, Ridgewood, very expensive to live in North Jersey, even in Paterson. People who can afford to live in NJ are leaving--mainly because of the real estate tax situation. Hell I could buy a house in Cleveland, Ohio for under $200K, with taxes being about $5,000, first of all --one could hardly buy anything in NJ for under $200K and the basic tax on 3/4 BR 1.5 baths and perhaps house not so great, taxes would be at least $9,000 +. even in Paterson.
I have a major problem with littering, slobs, and vandalism. Seems as if the city caters to the "down & out", druggies, homeless. To hell with the "working poor". Over 50% of people in Paterson are on a subsidy of some king, Sec. 8-Welfare, food stamps, disability, SSI, etc. I feel, therefore, that a city of "takers" turns to s t, very little civic pride, just waiting for the mailman !.
What Paterson needs is more amenities, a crackdown on crime and better access to the City. People commute to the City from similar distances like Rahway and Ridgewood and even farther places like Monmouth County, so I don’t think Paterson is too far to be a viable option for commuters...
What Paterson needs is more amenities, a crackdown on crime and better access to the City. People commute to the City from similar distances like Rahway and Ridgewood and even farther places like Monmouth County, so I don’t think Paterson is too far to be a viable option for commuters...
It's not that Paterson needs "amenities", Paterson needs a reason to exist. It was once an employment center, Silk City. My grandparents met working in the mills, children of Dutch immigrants.
Now:
Paterson: Economy
Largest employers Number of Employees
St. Joseph's Reg. Medical Center 4,700
City of Paterson 3,000
William Paterson University 1,117
Marcal Paper Products 1,000
Accurate Box 180
It's not that Paterson needs "amenities", Paterson needs a reason to exist. It was once an employment center, Silk City. My grandparents met working in the mills, children of Dutch immigrants.
Now:
Paterson: Economy
Largest employers Number of Employees
St. Joseph's Reg. Medical Center 4,700
City of Paterson 3,000
William Paterson University 1,117
Marcal Paper Products 1,000
Accurate Box 180
What I meant by amenities is something useful to draw people there. Although I went to visit family in St. Joe’s recently and that area has a lot of development going on. This is a potential area Paterson can use to make a comeback.
What I meant by amenities is something useful to draw people there. Although I went to visit family in St. Joe’s recently and that area has a lot of development going on. This is a potential area Paterson can use to make a comeback.
St. Joe's is a good hospital.
Glad to hear that. I used to go to the weekend farmer's market in that area. It would be nice to see Paterson improved.
It does need something useful to draw people there, but there is nothing much in the way of employment opportunity. If they got some sort of new industrial center and somehow lured some companies to set up shop there, that would be good.
THE PHYSICAL PLACE IS GREAT. Not much going on there; however, I am surrounded by "upscale towns" , Fair Lawn, Glen Rock, Ridgewood, very expensive to live in North Jersey, even in Paterson. People who can afford to live in NJ are leaving--mainly because of the real estate tax situation. Hell I could buy a house in Cleveland, Ohio for under $200K, with taxes being about $5,000, first of all --one could hardly buy anything in NJ for under $200K and the basic tax on 3/4 BR 1.5 baths and perhaps house not so great, taxes would be at least $9,000 +. even in Paterson. !.
Our tiny homes taxes were $5000 back in '03'. Can't even imagine what they are now.
I moved to NC and pay $1600 yearly taxes on a .35 lot. Homes here have been steadily climbing because of the massive migration from other states but you can still get a home for $200k where in Jersey a similar home will cost you $500k.
Didn’t Paterson used to have a large Italian population? That’s what my grandparents always told me. However, this was when Elmwood Park was known as East Paterson.
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Paterson
