Reader: Natalie Canino
Respondent: Lynn Starkey
Recorder: Angela Branch
02/11/02 

“In the Good Old U.S.A.”

by

Jose Angel Villalongo, Sr.

(Unsettling America, p. 328)

Bibliographical Information:

Villalongo was born in New York City.  He is of Puerto Rican descent, but refers to himself as Afro-Puerto Rican.  Villalongo is a photographer and a poet.

Objectives:

Cultural Objective 8: To monitor the importance of public education to the assimilation stage of the narrative.

Education is something America is known for.  When Villalongo writes “This was my first lesson in racism 101” it is a reference to education, to college, as that is how courses are identified.  He continues on to write,

            During my first two years of college

            one of my teachers said,

            “You won’t make it here,

            you’re just another spic…

The college system and education system in general in America is supposed to be one of the country’s assets.  Also, entering college is progress toward assimilation or, at least, an attempt to assimilate.  However, this person’s experience with college was not positive, and although it was an attempt to assimilate, as was the hair straightening and name changing, it was a failed attempt.  He did these things “So that I could be accepted by White America.”  However,

            It did not matter

            I was still a young Brown boy with nappy hair.

            I could not hide my Puerto Rican heritage

            passed on to me by generations.

Failed attempts at assimilation are common in the minority narrative.  As we saw in Patricia Smith’s “Blonde White Women” (77), assimilation often does not work for minorities. In fact, stage 4 of the immigrant narrative, assimilation to dominant American culture, has an addendum to this effect “departs or differs from minority experience” (syllabus p. 3).   This leads us to Cultural Objective 1a.

Cultural Objective 1a: To compare and contrast the immigrant narrative with the minority narrative.

Because the minority narrative begins with forced participation in American society as opposed to voluntary participation, we often see difference in the minority and immigrant narratives.  Where immigrants often want to forget the past which they chose to leave behind in coming to the New World, minorities often feel their past was torn away from them and therefore want to reconnect with their past “like a wound that needs healing” (class handout).

Because Villalongo is of Puerto Rican and African descent, this poem skips back forth between the immigrant “American Dream” narrative and the minority “American Nightmare” narrative.  We would expect  to see aspects of the immigrant narrative due to his Puerto Rican background and aspects of the minority narrative due to his African background.  However, the pattern seems to be reversed in this piece.  He attributes the prejudice he experiences to his Puerto Rican heritage rather than his African heritage.  I believe this is because he experienced more prejudice for being Puerto Rican due to the fact that he was living in Paterson, New Jersey.  In the 1950’s, large numbers of Puerto Ricans immigrated to Paterson.  Because of this large influx, Puerto Ricans were seen as a threat and were met with much prejudice as a result.

Literary Objective 3d: Examine how lyric poems represent the different stages of the Immigrant Narrative.

Stage 1: Leave the Old World:  not present

Stage 2: Journey to the New World:  not present

Stage 3: Shock, resistance, exploitation, and discrimination:  The poem begins at this stage and remains there until it reaches stage 4 (below).  The poem starts off angry with a satirical and facecious 1^st line.  By the 2^nd line, we see the anger and realize the sarcasm of the 1st.

Here in the good old U.S.A.

            where being Puerto Rican is taboo.

            Where the language passed on by generations

            is a curse.

            Where our culture is a prison term given

            for life.

            Where I am a prisoner with no rights to my own identity.

            I wonder how America welcomes us all?

In terms of physical geography, immigrants are welcome by the Statue of Liberty, for America is land of the free.  This is exactly the paradox Villalongo wants us to ponder: in the land of the free, he is a prisoner because of things he can not even control: his culture, language, and genetics.

We then see a specific example of discrimination by his white girlfriend’s father.  This is what he terms his “first lesson in racism 101’ (see cultural obj. 8 above).

Stage 4: Assimilation to dominant American culture and loss of ethnic identity:

            So I tried to change my accent,

            to hide my Puerto Rican culture

            and changed my name from Jose to Joseph;

            I even straightned my hair with Classic Curls

            So that I could be accepted

            By White America.

Stage 5: Rediscovery or reassertion of ethnic identity:

            Today, I am no longer ashamed.

            I am proud of being Afro-Puerto Rican.

            I am proud of my heritage.

            my language,

            my brillo hair,

            and my name.

Question

Why do you think that he feels or speaks more like a minority than an  immigrant even though he refers to himself as Puerto-Ricant?

Discussion

Susie     The immigrant might have minority feelings because he is referred to as a “nigger”.  The American people do not differ.

Ginger    I don’t think this poem is as angry as last week’s.  

Lynn      There is freedom at two levels for the immigrant.  These are his wants, but he still has the minority feelings because of his hair and skin, which are both curses.

Unknown   There are two cultures working against him.

Natalie   He is shot down every time he tries to assimilate.

Dr White  Intermarriage is the acid test, if it happens assimilation will eventually occur.

Kelly     Some Puerto Ricans look Hispanic and some look more black.

Ginger    The language passed on could also be a curse.  Should the native language be taught in the new world?

Dr White That brings in the objective of education.  This is a new objective to the course.

Natalie   The writer of this poem gets off of the soap and water and brings in education differences.

Dr White  Minorities often feel that American education betrays them. Malcolm X is a good example of this because he wanted to become a lawyer until his teacher suggests that he become a carpenter.

Natalie   The poet comes back to the past because assimilation does not work for him.

Lynn      Through these experiences, he will be happy where he is.

Dr White  The main aspect is that the poet appears as an immigrant not a minority.  The immigrant narrative is used as a tool to measure.