Puerto Rican Woman

by Vanesa ‘Littlecrow’ Colon-Ortiz
November 1999

I am a mixed-blooded citizen

of the United States of America,

as was my great-great grandmother,

my great grandmother before me,

my grandmother and my mother.

This is how I know I’m an American.

But you, young man whose

grandparents lived in Europe

long before they went to Ellis Island,

Disagree with my viewpoint, vehemently.

You want me to go back to Mexico

even though I never lived there.

You claim that true Americans

speak English only and that

I should forget my other languages.

So it really doesn’t matter that

I read Cervantes and Shakespeare

to pass the my idle time while

you consider Jerry Springer

a wealth of valuable information.

In your mind, the American Way

is the path towards stupidity.

In your mind, I am simpleton because,

I have an accent and people who speak

“good English” don’t.

(At least, they think they don’t.)

In your eyes, you see me as a hostile

dark-skinned foreigner even though

my blood is as mixed as yours and

my roots here are longer than yours.

So, even if you do mind, I’ll

vehemently disagree with your views.

Perhaps you haven’t noticed,

but America is a Spanish variant

of an Italian man’s name.

The natives of the land

before the Spanish named her

     weren’t of British blood.

 

Vanesa is an artist, cartoonist, professional model, and owner of VasLittlecrow.com

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Also by Vas Littlecrow

• Smart Cookie
• Yin Yang
  

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  Copyright © 1999 Vanesa ‘Littlecrow’ Colon-Ortiz. All rights reserved.