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Race And Your Community

I vividly remember when I came to this country in 1952. The minute I stepped off the plane and entered the streets of New York, I felt like this was the beginning of a new life with my family. We had made arrangements with family members already in the states to find an apartment for us. The neighborhood we initially moved into was predominantly White. Being in a new environment with no one we knew and having nothing in common with our neighbors, we quickly moved to the Bronx where the neighborhood was predominately Puerto Rican. We felt more at home in an area that had people like us that knew our language, culture and customs. It allowed my family and me to assimilate to our new surroundings.
My mother found a job working at a garment factory with other women from Puerto Rico. They worked long hours for very low wages. My father started working at the Biltmore Hotel, one of the most luxurious hotels at that time (Wiki Answers, 2008). He worked there until he retired in 1980. I personally was never exposed to prejudice but I know my parents were. The owners of the garment factory where my mother worked was Jewish and, according to my mother, he favored the White employees over the Puerto Rican employees. I am not sure how long my mother stayed employed at this particular factory but I remember the stories she would recall about working under such deplorable conditions.
My parents and many Puerto Ricans in the Bronx felt an enormous relief when Herman Badillo was elected Bronx Borough President in 1965 (Office of the Historian, n.d.). They were so proud of the fact that there was Puerto Rican in a position of power and authority. They felt as if they had a voice to end the discrimination they were facing. Change was not immediate but slow and steady. In 1970, Herman Badillo was elected to the U.S. House of Representative representing the 21st district in the South Bronx. It was then that he was able to pass legislation to have job training for...

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