http://www.jstor.org/stable/27647906 .

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of
content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Sage Publications, Inc. is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Latin American
Perspectives.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 150.244.23.10 on Thu, 24 Apr 2014 19:30:53 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

"If God Were Black and from Loiza"

in a Puerto Rican

Identities

Managing

Town

Seaside

by
Samiri Hern?ndez
Translated byMariana

Hiraldo
Ortega-Brena

a municipality
on the northeast
coast of Puerto
is principally
Rico,
its majority
its strong African
black population,
tradition
(expressed
the community
celebration
and its
primarily
through
of Santiago
Ap?stol),
limited development.
In recent years
it has attracted
attention
media
slow,
Loiza,

known for

because

its high

of

highly
social

and

local

to develop
of loice?os

efforts

The

within

tourism

to improve
their
in terms of the for

industry.
efforts
can be productively
condition
viewed
which
involves
between
local,
complex
of identity,
relationships
identities
and cultural
and those based on
transnational,
religious,

competitive
and economic

mation
national,

skin color

and ethnic

formation

on a daily

Keywords:

identity,

Known
roots,

rate

crime
tourist

and

background
basis.

culture,

development,

for its preponderantly

the Puerto

town

Rican

Puerto

Africanness,

black population

of Loiza,

that drive

of power

relationships

on

located

identity

Rico

and its strong African

the northeast

coast

of

the

island, is also notorious for its slow development, which many Puerto Ricans
In
attribute to the local population's backward and superstitious mind-set.
town
that
the
is
full
of
In
the
few
fact, many say
years,
brujos (witches).
past
Loiza has attracted media attention for its high crime rate and the controversy
surrounding the development of local tourism. Rather than focus on the
potential veracity of these standard depictions or their origin, I intend to look
at themanagement of identity in daily interactions and the role of identity in
to

efforts

improve

Latinos.

town's

socioeconomic

and

religious

conditions.

in anthropology
from the University
of Michigan
of the Program for the Analysis
of Religion
among
in Loiza during 12 months
collected
of fieldwork
1996 and 2003. The author thanks the residents of Loiza, her assistants, Eva Villal?n,

Samiri Hern?ndez
in 2000.

the

Hiraldo

received

her Ph.D.

is currently a research fellow

This paper is based on material
She

between

Zulem Echevarr?a, and Sundra Arroyo,

at the University of Michigan. Mariana
Ithaca, NY
sciences.

She specializes

her family and friends in Puerto Rico, and her colleagues

is a freelance editor and translator based in

Ortega-Bre?a

in academic writing,

LATIN AMERICAN PERSPECTIVES,

DOI: 10.1177/0094582X05283516
? 2006 Latin American Perspectives

particularly

Issue 146, Vol. 33 No.

in the areas of humanities

1, January 2006 66-82

66

This content downloaded from 150.244.23.10 on Thu, 24 Apr 2014 19:30:53 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

and social

Hern?ndez

Hiraldo

/ "IF GOD WERE

AND

BLACK

FROM LO?ZA"

67

Although local experience inLoiza cannot be reduced to a single topic, I sug

gest that identity is a very significant factor and that its management?
whether

conscious

or

not?strategically

an

employs

intricate

net

of relations

between diverse identities and competing socioeconomic,

political, and reli
In
that
this
echoes
of
Schilder
sense,
my approach
(1994) in
gious agendas.
his study of theMundang of Cameroon, Kipp (1993) in her study of theKaro
in Indonesia, and Burdick (1998) in his examination of popular Christianity
in Brazil.

(1993: 64) definition of identity as

My analysis is informed by Connolly's
a set of socially recognized differences. Butler (1993:12) has already pointed
out, with regard to gender identity, that direct individual agency is the para
doxical result of following the requirements of social sch?mas. My approach
is similar to that in Lorentzen's Chiapas study (2001: 91) in taking into con
sideration the complexity of internal local dynamics and Butler's (1993: 2)
and Connolly's notions of power relations and their importance in the fluctu
ating process of identity. I am also influenced by Flores's (2000: 20) recent
work on Puerto Rican and Latino identity in the United States. Flores regards
local

culture

popular

as a system

of

a process

interactions,

that

transgresses

the limits and spheres of cultural practice, and argues that it is the researcher's
task to capture the interplay between these limits and spheres. Only then can
we

rescue

popular

local

culture

from

an archaic

and

residual

role

in modern

global society.

THE OFFICIAL CONSTRUCTION

OF AFRICAN AND LOICE?O IDENTITY
The importance of such study can be assessed by considering the existing
research on Loiza, particularly on itsAfrican and black traditions, and on the
history of Puerto Rican slavery. As D?vila (1997: 93) points out, popular dis
course has officially identified Loiza as a prime example of African and black
traditions at their most folkloric. Ra?ces (Roots), a 2001 production of the
Banco Popular1 focusing on the Afro-Puerto Rican musical forms of bomba
and plena, pays particular attention to Loiza and introduces it as the town
with the country's largest cimarr?n and free black populations. The Puerto
Rican archaeologist Ricardo Alegr?a has suggested thatLoiza has retained its
traditional

character

because

until

recently

there

was

only

one

road

to the

I distributed a questionnaire tomy anthropology students at the

of
Puerto Rico during the 1997 autumn term, they established a
University
direct connection between being from Loiza and being a black person of
town. When

African

and slave descent with strong traditional roots and limited resources.

This content downloaded from 150.244.23.10 on Thu, 24 Apr 2014 19:30:53 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

LATINAMERICAN PERSPECTIVES

68

Studies of Loiza's black heritage fall within the scope of the research on
Puerto Rico's African tradition that resulted from the systematic governmen
tal effort during the 1950s to promote an official idea of Puerto Rican national
culture. This concept, which had been gradually developed over the years
(Duany, 2002: 21), was based on the harmonious coexistence of the Spanish,
indigenous, and African legacies, and today every Puerto Rican child learns
it in school (D?vila, 1997: 4-5). The j?baro, usually characterized as a light
skinned,

sun-tanned

male

from

the mountainous

interior

and mostly

associ

ated with the popular Spanish heritage, became another element in the arche
It was around this time that the
typal construction of puertorrique?idad.
Instituto de Cultura Puertorrique?a (Institute of Puerto Rican Culture?ICP)
was established to endorse the official agenda. Ricardo Alegr?a became the
institution's first director, and cultural centers were built across the nation
(D?vila, 1997: 79).
In a sense, this initiative was part of a plan of accelerated industrial devel
opment that started in the 1940s under the aegis of the Partido Popular
and led to the establishment
Democr?tico
(Popular Democratic party?PPD)
of Puerto Rico.
of the Estado Libre Asociado (Free Associated State?ELA)
was
to
this
cultural
conceived as a
agenda
According
Duany (2002: 281),
response

to

the United

States's

rationale

regarding

the

occupation?that

and lacked a definite

Puerto Ricans were incapable of self-government
cultural identity. It reflected concerns with regard to the new relation of
dependency and the purported threat that this posed to the Puerto Rican
an argument supported by the left and the
essence and self-determination,
movement
(Scarano, 1993: 724-726).
proindependence
As elsewhere
Rican

research

(Hern?ndez Hiraldo, 2001:108),

can be divided

into

a number

of

I suggest thatAfro-Puerto
tendencies.

One

of

these

rec

ognizes the island's African and black heritage (Babin, 1973; Zen?n, 1974;
Centro de Estudios de laRealidad Puertorrique?a,
1992). A second suggests
that Puerto Rican racism has been mild (Blanco, 1985 [1942]), while a third
of the African tradition (Buitrago,
seeks to demonstrate the marginalization
1982:103-106; Morris, 1995: 103; D?vila, 1997: 43,
233). Some research highlights the African heritage
more fundamental than the others (Gonz?lez, 1993),
those who claim that Puerto Ricans are "really, really

71-73; Guerra, 1998:

and suggests that it is
and, finally, there are
black" (Torres, 1998).
Loiza and, in particular, its barrios Median?a Alta and Median?a Baja have
been the subject of linguistic studies (Mauleon Benitez, 1974), research on
the fiesta of Santiago Ap?stol, which originated inMedian?a Alta (Alegr?a,
1954; Zaragoza, 1995), and studies of witchcraft (Vidal, 1989). There have
been attempts to demonstrate that cultural practices in Loiza are African in
origin (Steward et al., 1956) and that the people are relatively indifferent to

This content downloaded from 150.244.23.10 on Thu, 24 Apr 2014 19:30:53 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Hern?ndez

/ "IF GOD WERE

Hiraldo

BLACK

AND

FROM

69

LO?ZA"

their heritage because of Protestant influence (LaRuffa, 1966). Of one thing

we can be sure: Loiza's sizable black population is not exclusively
linked to
the sugar

use

industry's

of African

slaves.

loice?os

Also,

took

occu

up other

pations, while shifting from peasants to proletariat (Giusti, 1994).

The official national discourse on Puerto Rican identity has substantially
attitudes
academic
shaped
move
the recognition
toward

toward

Loiza.

there

However,

of alternative

narratives

been

a recent

Rican

experi

has

of Puerto

ence within a national framework that takes into consideration the island's
current political status (Duany, 2002: 23). In this regard, it is impossible to
ignore Craig's (1982) observation that the Caribbean experience has been
forced into a rigid set of sch?mas and Trouillot's (1992: 36) assertion that
these depictions are mostly located within the experience of the Western
world.

For

this

rather

reason,

than

focus

on

the notion

of Puerto

iden

Rican

tity, Iwant to look at how a particular Puerto Rican group experiences iden
tity. Along with Guerra (1998) and Morris (1995), I assume that national
identity

a factor

is as competitive

as color,

local

ethnicity,

traditions,

commu

nitarian loyalty, and even personal uniqueness, but it is important to bear in

mind D?vila's
(1997) and Duany's (2002) view that Puerto Rican national
is
constructed
(for Duany, in a transnational context).
identity

IDENTITYAND DAILY INTERACTION

Most
touristic

and

academic

thought Iwas
archaeology.

attention.

some

of

community

800

is particularly

This
near

persons

the

town

true
center.

in Las
Some

Cuevas,
residents

there to examine "more of the same thing": their folklore and

("Anthropology" is commonly thought of as synonymous with

interests

of

because

mainly

"archaeology,"
research

residents I talked with were proud to be the focus of

of the Loiza

clear

I had

Alegria's

to compare

myself

excavations.)

To

to a social

worker,

make

my

someone

who usually addresses general social and economic conditions, but this
account did not explain my interest in interacting with the local community.
A good number of residents appeared to have a rather defensive attitude
toward the research, which they hoped would discredit stereotypes. A very
revealing incident took place when I suspended my research for some
months (from December 1997 toMarch 1998) in order to look for funding. A
police raid had taken place a few days after I left Loiza, and it had been
rumored

that

I was

embarrassment?"Ah,

police

agent.

but here

When

in Las

the
Cuevas

truth was
we

still

there was

discovered,
think we

are better

than

others, and then people rightly think less of us"?and I received a substantial
number of collective and individual apologies. People were interested in

This content downloaded from 150.244.23.10 on Thu, 24 Apr 2014 19:30:53 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

LATINAMERICAN PERSPECTIVES

70

participating
and

Cuevas

in my

research

a positive

in order to provide

image of Las

Loiza.

Countless hours of conversation and daily interaction revealed the varied

and complex ways inwhich people from Loiza managed identity. In order to
testmy intentions, residents at first emphasized negative aspects such as lack
of trust, the high crime rate, and drug abuse. In a practice reminiscent of the
strategies of the Hispanic market in the United States (D?vila, 2001: 41-42),
the people of Las Cuevas critically engaged with these and other typifications
such

as

conformism,

laziness,

and

dependency.

Generally,

to

sought

they

preserve their self-esteem without

They often pointed to the backward
ofMedian?a Alta, mocked their way
"almost from another world." This

in conflict.
becoming directly
and superstitious mentality of the people
of speaking, and even referred to them as

was

of Loiza's

seen

as a big

part

of

the cause

involved

attitude of the people of Median?a Alta

slow

progress.

They also described the residents of Median?a Alta as "way black" or

"blacker," employing for themselves a variety of color or racial classification
described for the San Juan barrio of Gandul (Duany, 2002: 236) and for
Arembepe, Brazil (Kottak, 1992: 68-69).2 According toGuerra (1998: 233),
the use

of

these

terms

reinforces

social/racial

hierarchies

that

serve

to negate

classification as black. However, more than half of Loiza's inhabitants (57.9

percent) classified themselves as black in the 2000 census. Whereas Kottak
(1992: 68-69) has argued that the variety of racial terms used in Brazil indi
cates the minimal
importance of racial differences relative to social ones,
Duany (2002: 20, 246) has pointed out for Loiza that a fluid classification
system is not indicative of a lack of prejudice against blacks or other
racialized people. During my stay in Loiza I witnessed verbal and physical
confrontations

between

gangs,

teenagers,

and

children

over

skin

color,

body

features, and place of origin in schools and even church meetings.

At the same time, I also witnessed affirmations of blackness, such as the
sermons I heard at the local mission, which belongs to the Iglesia Fuente
de Agua Viva, a Protestant church that was founded in the 1980s and is the
fastest-growing and most prosperous on the island. It has been strongly criti
cized by other Protestant churches for its emphasis on material prosperity
and an alleged similarity with new age ideas. The main church, whose con
elements
gregation ismainly light-skinned, has focused on Afro-Caribbean
in recent years, despite criticism that too much emphasis on Afro-Caribbean
traditions

is an obstacle

to Loiza's

prosperity.

is common in Puerto Rico, residents of Las Cuevas, especially the

elderly, said that the town had become increasingly polluted by modernity
and licentiousness and identified a link between the past and a healthy life
style. The lack of respect, discipline, and moral values widely ascribed to
As

This content downloaded from 150.244.23.10 on Thu, 24 Apr 2014 19:30:53 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Hern?ndez

/ "IF GOD WERE

Hiraldo

BLACK

AND

FROM LO?ZA"

71

youth were significantly attributed to outside influences. Some people wished

thatLoiza could have remained isolated from the rest of Puerto Rico as itwas
for many

years.

underscored

however,

Many,

the

communal

hospitality,

in this town in contrast to

ethos, and family life that are still experienced
case
The
of
the
of
the
island.
other
many
parts
Iglesia de Dios Pentecostal
illustrates the importance of these factors. As in the case of the rural Sri Lan
kan communities studied by Brow (1996), the congregation attributed a per
of the Holy Spirit and
ceived reduction in recent years in the manifestations
an increase in devilish ones to the lack of unity and family life and an increase
in materialism

and

in the congregation

the town

as a whole.

The

local

empha

sis on family life was contrasted with the individualist, consumerist, and ego
tistical mentality in other parts of the island. Some residents also compared
the kind of "natural life" still possible inLoiza with the polluted environment
elsewhere.

INDIGENOUSAND AFRICAN TRADITIONS

to historical

According
from

the caves

excavations,

Alegr?a's

sources and the archaeological

for which

Las

collected

evidence

Cuevas

is named

housed

an indigenous settlement at the time of Spanish colonization. Some people of

Las Cuevas have embraced this information with zeal, focusing on Loiza's
proud indigenous roots to the detriment of itsAfrican traditions. Many Las
Cuevas

have

residents

to represent

tendency

as different

themselves

from

and even superior to other Loiza neighborhoods, particularly Median?a Alta.

This response is understandable given the privileged and romantic view of
indigenous culture in Puerto Rico (Buitrago, 1982: 103-106; Duany, 2002:
Chap. 11) and is similar to the situation in other Caribbean and Central Amer
ican

such

countries

as

(Moore,

Guyana

1999),

and

Nicaragua,

Honduras

the emphasis on indigenous heritage is

town
toward Cano vanas, a neighboring

1977). Here, however,

largely due to local animosity
originally sprung from Loiza.
Because of its rapid (though socially uneven) economic development,
Loiza was officially acknowledged as the island's seventh-largest town in
1719. In 1910 a group of landowners and local administrators decided to
move the political and parish headquarters to the barrio of Can?vanas, 8 kilo
(Helms,

meters

and

away

closer

to the

island's

center.

Can?vanas

was

a prosperous

town with a large white population descended from Spanish and Irish immi
stagnant because of its dis
grants,3 while Loiza had become economically
tance from themain market and lack of transportation. The old administrative
center

acquired

the

name

"Loiza

Aldea,"

and

as

the

relocation

This content downloaded from 150.244.23.10 on Thu, 24 Apr 2014 19:30:53 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

increased

72

LATINAMERICAN PERSPECTIVES

Can?vanas's prosperity Loiza Aldea continued on a downward trajectory. By

the 1940s any interest in returning the administrative headquarters to its orig
inal site in order to regain control of the town and ameliorate its general con
dition had been lost. Years later the struggle had turned into an effort to
stability independent of Can?vanas. The separation of
acquire municipal
Loiza

and Can?vanas,

sanctioned

by

the governor's

Junta

de Planificaci?n

(Planning Committee), became official in 1971, although it did not take place
until 1973, after the 1972 elections. The agreement favored Can?vanas and
left Loiza in the worst financial situation in the country, the island of Culebra
Loiza

excepted.

residents

the

accepted

separation

in

for

exchange

the

promise of state government help and the development of tourism in the area.
A good example of governmental attitudes toward Loiza can be found in a
document inwhich, in an attempt to justify the separation and its conditions
(which

less

allotted

ment

land,

resources,

infrastructure,

services,

and

employ

to Loiza

the Junta de
opportunities
despite its larger population),
Planificaci?n concluded that the two towns were socially and culturally dif
residents reportedly
ferent. Their respective
also held this opinion.
Can?vanas was described as more economically developed and close to the
area

metropolitan

and

as

its inhabitants

self-sufficient,

distanced

from

tradi

tion, independent, practical, more individualistic, and puritanical (because of

the local growth of Protestantism). Loiza residents were described as subor
dinated to the social group (which was presented as cohesive, integrated,
and isolated) and inclined toward a bohemian lifestyle, alco
homogeneous,
1968: 21-22). In
hol, carnal pleasures, and free love (Junta de Planificaci?n,
this case there is no doubt that diverse identities indicate differences and
hierarchies

of value

and

power.

During the process of separation, which was opposed by many Can?vanas

residents because of the great loss of natural resources it entailed, Loiza had
the support of the Partido Nuevo Progresista (New Progressive party?PNP).
This recently founded party fiercely opposed the ruling populist PPD and the
Partido Independentista
(Puerto Rican
Puertorrique?o
Independence
to
Puerto Rican autonomy and
which
emblematize
sought
party?PIP),
autochthonous culture. I suggest that in its support of Loiza the PNP was
seeking to go beyond the PPD's populist discourse by associating itself with
one of the most ethnically and culturally marginalized
sectors of society.
(Some

residents

were

encouraged

by

the PNP's

support

of permanent

associ

ation with the United States, which had recently embarked on a battle against
racism and in favor of civil rights.) Its timely support came during a time
when the town and its folkloric traditions in particular were receiving consid
erable media attention (ElMundo, July 13, 1968), and, prompted by this
interest, the ICP began to develop a new folklorist approach to Puerto Rican

This content downloaded from 150.244.23.10 on Thu, 24 Apr 2014 19:30:53 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Hern?ndez

culture (D?vila,
became

Hiraldo

/ "IF GOD WERE

after

shortly

AND

FROM

The results of the PNP's

1997: 64-69).

apparent

BLACK

the

when

separation,

the

73

LO?ZA"

support of Loiza

town's

first mayor,

member of the PNP, launched a series of charges regarding the PPD's alleged
racism (ElMundo, January 28, 1973). PNP's aid won the party themajority
of the votes in the locality, but Loiza's support of it was also significantly
related to the large following the PPD had inCan?vanas?consistent
with an
earlier tradition inwhich Can?vanas backed the Republicans whereas Loiza
supported the Socialists. The differences between the two localities, which
the

has

separation

only

lead me

exacerbated,

to suggest

that Loiza's

struggle

for municipal
independence and stability reflected its residents' desire to
assert its identity as a basis for the acquisition of resources and services.
The

case

of Loiza

and

Can?vanas

recalls

the previously

mentioned

and

very similar situation of two Sri Lankan communities whose conflicts and
prejudices were based on the consequences of unequal development (Brow,
1996). The residents of Las Cuevas pointed out that the people of Can?vanas
had always thought of themselves as blanquitos and better than their Loiza
neighbors. I often heard that in previous decades local dances had had one
dance

floor

for

and

canovan?nses

another

for

loice?os,

and

there

were

also

favored the former, forcing loice?os to depend on

complaints
home remedies, healers, and even witches. In the light of these perceived
slights, the people of Las Cuevas had the feeling that the residents of
Can?vanas had taken possession of the indigenous heritage as if it belonged
that physicians

to them
nous

only.

The
and

couple,

Can?vanas
the

Can?vanas." A woman
mixed,

educated,

with

entrance

inhabitants

gate
refer

boasts
to

from Las Cuevas who

a critical

and

courageous

large

themselves

of an indige

statue
as

"the

Indians

of

identified herself as "racially

mind,"

and

the opposite

of

familiar Loiza stereotypes explained the situation as follows: "They are so

intent on blackening us that they forget about our indigenous heritage." At the
same time, Loiza's inhabitants resent the fact thatmany people think that they
still live in boh?os, and there is a general rejection of the name "Loiza Aldea"
because the word aldea (village) is associated with a primitive lifestyle. Dur
ing the fiesta of Santiago Ap?stol, costumed children dressed up as genuine
aborigines represented indigenous identity, and the use of children empha
sized the tender and spiritual notion of the indigenous tradition.4
African identity was also represented in the Las Cuevas fiesta and sought
the same affirmative effect, mostly through folkloric, abstract and symbolic
elements. This was consistent with the refusal of most loice?os to deal with
the subject of slavery and with D?vila's (2001: 121) remark that, in the con
text of the Hispanic market, Latino blacks are not considered representative
of a generic latinidad. Still, according to Zaragoza (1995: 55-56), there is
great social, political, and psychological interpretive potential in this folkloric

This content downloaded from 150.244.23.10 on Thu, 24 Apr 2014 19:30:53 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

74

LATINAMERICAN PERSPECTIVES

and abstract/symbolic disposition. The vejigante, a batlike figure with amask

made out of coconut and very colorful clothing, is an example. Despite the
fact that it embodies the evil that the saint must fight, the vejigante has
the most

become

success.

tional

representative

figure

In the aforementioned

of

the

Ra?ces

fiesta,
video,

a national

and

interna

the Loiza

artist

Samuel

Lind suggests that the vejigantes stand for the free spirit of Loiza's African
roots. When I talked to him in his studio, he pointed out the need for the pro
cess that Jensen, in his study of Brazilian Catholicism
( 1999), has termed "re
to Lind, the African elements should be high
Africanization." According
lighted as evidence of the cultural uniqueness of loice?os. At the same time,
he pointed to the importance of maintaining
the visibility of other cultural
elements both in the fiesta and in his own work, since these represented the
traditions that Loiza shared with the rest of Puerto Rican culture and society.

THEMARKETING OF CULTURE
The municipal government's interest inLoiza has related to its goal of pro
moting the town as a "capital of tradition" in the hope that the development of
tourism will rescue it from financial crisis, unemployment,
and even a high
is possible because in Puerto Rico, according to D?vila
the African
(1997), culture?especially
j?baro culture?sells.
Emphasizing
more
without
the
other
traditions
is
considered
effective
component
ignoring
than trying to highlight it on its own (D?vila, 1997: 71). The island's cultural
market grew in significance during the general crisis of the 1970s; as Scarano
(1993: 815-816)
points out, many Puerto Ricans earned their livelihood
the
informal
economy, including pursuits related to popular culture
through
or folklore. Folklorization had opened the door to the recognition of theAfri
can tradition, and the town's folklore had been portrayed in themedia as both
a source of pride and a means of survival (ElMundo, July 13, 1968).
crime rate.5 This

In

the

Loiza's

last

several

the

years

even

popularity?and

exoticization?of

folklore has reached a new high. In 1997 the advertising

rate Communications,

Inc.,

hired

to attract

new

to a mall

clients

firm Corpo
in the affluent

mostly white town of Guaynabo, organized an exhibit featuring several

towns whose fiestas, like that of Santiago Ap?stol, showcased African tradi
tions. The fiesta of Santiago has become emblematic of loice?o identity and
the locality's cultural tradition. The figure of Santiago has been added to the
emblem, and a vejigante mask is part of the large welcoming
municipality's
sign

at

the

entrance

to the

town.

The

local

government's

interest

has

sup

ported an increase in the length of the fiesta, which used to last three days and
now

lasts

ten. This

requires

large

production

team

to coordinate

This content downloaded from 150.244.23.10 on Thu, 24 Apr 2014 19:30:53 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

the diverse

/ "IF GOD WERE

Hiraldo

Hern?ndez

AND

BLACK

and the support of local and international

attractions

75

FROM LO?ZA"

and the

businesses

media.

has faced challenges

the local government
However,
regarding its
Its
for
to
of
tourism.
tourist
facilities
in the
the
plans
development
approach
area of Pi?ones have met with serious opposition from competitors such as
area

a tourist

Isla Verde,
national

in the

town

near

of Carolina,
another

constitute

environmentalists

rival

San

faction,

Local

Juan.
and

and
favor

groups

ing the development of tourism such as Emancipaci?n de Loiza (Emancipa

de
de Residentes
tion of Loiza) have called them racist. The Asociaci?n
of Pi?ones) and other communities perceive
Pi?ones (Resident Association
the development of tourism in the area as a threat to their cultural heritage and
economic survival (many own stalls in themarket and make their living sell
ing local handicrafts). Emancipaci?n de Loiza has accused the national gov
ernment

of

the

subjecting

town,

more

than

other

any

to an

municipality,

in

depth fiscal investigation every time a development project is submitted (El

Nuevo D?a, March 23, 2002).
Las Cuevas residents argued that Loiza suffered from a kind of govern
mental

it was

discrimination:

easier

for

them

to receive

for

money

cultural

purposes than for basic services such as a medical building. A Las Cuevas
resident who identified himself as a proindependence
community leader had
returned after 15 years from New York, where he had experienced discrimi
nation and worked in the construction business even though he had a degree
as a social

worker.

He

insisted

that

this municipal

was

administration

culti

vating loice?o culture in order to divert attention from the discriminatory

practices of the ruling party, to which it belongs. The mayor, sitting under a
large photograph of Governor Pedro Rosell?, indicated that Loiza could not
continue to be victimized and had tomove forward, with the support of the
PNP. The increase in the private sector's economic
government's

privatization

efforts

popularity of issues pertaining

to play

the race

card

to obtain

since

the early

influence due to the PNP

nineties

and

a surge

in the

to racism have caused the Loiza government

state

funding

and,

according

to many,

conceal

its corruption.

Many residents of Las Cuevas and other communities I visited maintained

that the construction of high-cost residences and tourist facilities had been
prioritized over housing for the poor and the locals. At least during my stay in
Loiza, five out of six construction projects were directed toward the develop
ment of high-cost tourism while many Las Cuevas families lived in poor,
sometimes unfinished residences. Problems with the water supply are added
to other tribulations, which include damaged residential areas and ecosys
tems by the extraction of sand for purposes of development. Residents also
suffer because of the disagreeable odors produced by the stagnant water and

This content downloaded from 150.244.23.10 on Thu, 24 Apr 2014 19:30:53 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

76

LATINAMERICAN PERSPECTIVES

the nearby
was

and

treatment

sewage
recently

treats

which

plant,

constructed

without

the

other

sewage

municipalities'

town's

prior

and

knowledge

consent. Despite all of this, during my last visit to Loiza in 2003 some resi
dents expressed hope forMayor Ferdin's plan to attract high-cost tourism in
order to increase themunicipal budget and create jobs and low-cost housing.
Others

attributed

recent

the

low-cost

construction

housing

and

restoration

efforts to governor Sila M. Calder?n's PPD administration, whose Special

Communities program had financed work in poor residential areas.
The

town's

center

cultural

has

offered

or alternative

complementary

way

of bettering Loiza's situation. Its main goal is to provide the town's young
people and their families with a basic knowledge of their culture and heritage
in order

to

their

increase

self-esteem.

The

center's

view

of

as

self-esteem

related to progress is similar to that of many Latino programs in the United

States (D?vila, 2001: 239) and involves a series of projects and activities such
as

history

munity
ative

seminars,

handicrafts

Its director,

service.

to preserve

freedom

vocational

workshops,

Laura

was

Mel?ndez,
as a museum

Loiza

for

grateful

of African

com

and

guidance,

the center's
At

heritage.

rel

the same

sword.
time, she recognizes that this freedom is a double-edged
Some of the support for the fiesta of Santiago Ap?stol comes from the
nonresident or absentee loice?os who are honored on one of the days of the
fiesta. There is also a group called the Friends of Loiza that includes people
who have never lived in the town, some of whom participate fully in the fiesta
while others' contributions are marginal. This last group includes parents
who get involved in response to their children's interest and are seeking to
provide them with healthier entertainment options than drug selling. There
are those who criticize the fiesta but still enjoy the general rejoicing from
their balconies and receive visits from friends and family, some of whom
travel from the United States expressly for the occasion. Others oppose the
celebrations because of the opportunities they provide for criminal activity.
The municipal government and the state police have adopted strict security
measures,
entrance,
past

few

support

and
have
years.

some
become
This,

these measures,

of

such

these,
routine

in turn, has
while

as

the

in Loiza

given

created

others

the

at the

of vehicles

stopping

increased
of

controversy
are concerned

its own.

that

rates

crime

Some

so much

police

town's
of

the

people
pres

ence will give an exaggerated impression of the amount of crime in the local
ity. Some Baptist and Pentecostal congregations engage in fasting and prayer
during

the celebrations

in an effort

to prevent

crime

and

protect

themselves

from the forces of evil that are associated with the fiesta's African elements.
A largely Catholic group has expressed a desire for the fiesta to focus on
"decent"

and

"serious"

linked with Catholic

aspects,

but

the

fact

that

the

fiesta

is not

ritual allows them to participate freely.

This content downloaded from 150.244.23.10 on Thu, 24 Apr 2014 19:30:53 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

necessarily

Hiraldo

Hern?ndez

/ "IF GOD WERE

BLACK

AND

77

FROM LO?ZA"

RELIGION AND TRADITION

Padre Antonio, a light-skinned Trinitarian priest who served the Esp?ritu
Santo y San Patricio parish from 1973 to 1997, attempted to revive local
Catholicism by having the church "cleansed" of witchcraft,
spirits, and
is
with
the
and
associated
Yoruba
deities
santer?a,
Shango and
Santiago
As
he
of
his
has
reminded
his
part
cleansing campaign,
Ogun.
congregation
that St. Patrick has been the real patron of Loiza since the seventeenth cen
to distinguish
the efforts of Catholic
leaders in Miami
tury. Recalling
between the Virgin of Charity and the Yoruba santer?a goddess Ochun
(Tweed, 1999: 142), he has described the fiesta of St. Patrick as "religious"
(or "spiritual") and that of Santiago as "traditional." At the same time, he
clearly

considered

Catholicism

Puerto

Rico's

"national"

and

"traditional"

religion. Loiza began celebrating the feast of St. Patrick in 1980, and it has
become an annual event that emphasizes the Spanish and j?baro cultural ele
ments. It receives the support of governmental
institutions and the local
who

administration,

see

it as an opportunity

to please

the

town

and

attract

tourism. In an attempt to legitimize St. Patrick without ignoring the town's

the artist Samuel Lind to paint the saint with dark
identity, he commissioned
skin. The painting, which can still be seen in the parish, contrasts with
depictions of Santiago, who is always portrayed as white.
It is impossible to overlook the fact that the founding of theMedian?a Alta
parish of Santiago Ap?stol took place in the same year (1971) that the parish
of Comerio

was

abandoned

to spread subversive
1993). Considering
churches at the time,
the parish of Santiago

because

of charges

that

the mass

was

being

used

leftist propaganda through j?baromusic (Diaz-Stevens,

the accelerated growth of the Baptist and Pentecostal
I suggest that Catholic support for the establishment of
Ap?stol was a response to the critical need to earn local

sympathy that could then be channeled toward a religious revival. Given that
theMedian?a Alta residents considered themselves extremely marginalized
and discriminated against by the urban downtown Catholic community, there
is no question but that the church sought to go beyond the PNP's initiatives.
to some members
of the Santiago Ap?stol parish and other
According
Median?a Alta residents, favoritism was apparent during the restoration of
the Esp?ritu Santo y San Patricio parish in the 1940s and 1950s, which even
tually allowed the parish to regain administrative powers at the beginning of
the 1970s.
The founding of the Santiago Ap?stol parish situated the residents of
Median?a Alta on a par with the rest of the local and national urban Catholic
community, but it also entailed the silencing of some local traditions. Emi
grants from Loiza have established

themselves

inNew Haven, Connecticut,

This content downloaded from 150.244.23.10 on Thu, 24 Apr 2014 19:30:53 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

78

LATINAMERICAN PERSPECTIVES

where the fiesta of Santiago Ap?stol is now a resounding success with both
Latinos (including Puerto Ricans who travel to participate in the celebra
tions) and others. The New Haven fiesta highlights the tradition's African
elements and has become a great incentive for sociopolitical
activity, far
more than in Loiza. Members of its organizing committee (Fiestas de Loiza
en Connecticut en Honor al Ap?stol Santiago?FLECHAS)
have undertaken
and
and
This
candidates.
community projects
supported agendas
political
has generated conflict with racial and ethnic overtones, particularly between
Catholics

who

the organization

support

and

Pentecostals.

STRATEGIC SELF-IDENTIFICATION
The management of identity undertaken by Loiza inhabitants both in daily
interaction and as part of the general effort to develop the town clearly points
to what Scherer (2001:153), writing about Chinese-Cuban
cultural revital
a dialectical
framework situated
ization, calls "strategic Orientalism":
between
ation

the Orientalist

and

of

alteration

view provided by official discourse and the appropri

that

view

by

recent

of Chinese-Cubans.

generations

Scherer uses this perspective to criticize Edward Said's (1979) Orientalism,

which adopts an essentialist view of East andWest, posits that Orientalism is
a purely Western product and ignores the participation of Orientals them
selves (which Morris [1995] considers crucial). Here I have also drawn atten
tion to internal power dynamics and themultilineal management of identity,
given

the

background,

of

presence
local,

various

communal,

of

types
national,

identity

color,

(e.g.
and

religious,

ethno-cultural
and

traditional)

the

various interactions between identities and competing social, political, and

religious agendas. I have attempted to address the kind of complexity that
Burdick (1998: viii) has found in Brazil, where, while some claim color-based
discrimination,

others

use

this

as an

incentive

or

tool

to succeed.

Such

com

plexity is clearly encountered in processes inwhich identities (such as color

and ethnicity, on the one hand, and religion and tradition, on the other) are
strategically disassembled and reassembled. Such processes are intrinsically
contradictory. One example is the increasing popularity of Afro-Caribbean
or Afro-Rican elements (both folkloric and modern) in contemporary Puerto
Rican culture alongside the fact that, in the 2000 census, almost 81 percent of
the island's population classified themselves as white and only 8 percent as
black.

Kinsbruner (1996:4) has commented on the lack of academic and popular

attention to issues of race, prejudice, and African heritage in Puerto Rico.

This content downloaded from 150.244.23.10 on Thu, 24 Apr 2014 19:30:53 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Hern?ndez

/ "IF GOD WERE

Hiraldo

BLACK

AND

FROM

79

LO?ZA"

The experience of the Loiza population described here highlights the fact that
its identity problem is of long standing but certain particulars have contrib
uted to increased interest in making identity management more open and
direct,

them

among

bility of promoting
rent

local,

the recent

national

interest

in African

the possi

heritage,

the town as a "capital of tradition," and the past and cur

national,

and

transnational

struggles

for

recognition

and

resources. Perhaps the best critical way to describe this process is with the
words of a young loice?o: "IfGod were black and from Loiza the story would
be

different."6

NOTES
1. The populist Banco Popular was founded in 1893.
2. The four most common classifications
among 703 census participants were
ored), negro (black), blanquita
(little white female), and jabao (brownish white).
3. This information can be found in the material distributed by themunicipality

trigue?o

(col

and was con

firmed by primary sources.

4. A classic example of this view

is the commercial
for Maz?la oil, which was very popular
during the 1970s and 1980s. In it natives raise the product skyward while radiant light and harmo
nious music accompany
the words "Maz?la corn, gold from God." This contrasts with the also
famous Yaucono coffee ad inwhich the protagonist
is a fat, backside-wriggling,
black woman in

maid's

garb.
5. According

tomunicipal
lived in poverty?9
records, 68 percent of Loiza's population
per
rate had increased from 19 percent
than in the country as a whole. The unemployment
in 1980 to 33 percent in 1990, the highest in all of Puerto Rico. About two-thirds of local house
holds depended partly or entirely on federal aid. Seventy-one
percent of Las Cuevas households
cent more

income of $900 or less.

reported a monthly
6. The song "Si Dios Fuera Negro" (If God Were Black), written by the black Puerto Rican
musician Roberto Angler?, was inspired by the discrimination
he experienced
in the air force
during

the Korean War.

REFERENCES
Alegr?a, Ricardo E.
1954 La fiesta de Santiago
Bab?n, Mar?a T.
1973 La cultura de Puerto
Blanco,

Ap?stol.
Rico.

San Juan: Instituto de Cultura

Puertorrique?a.

San Juan: Instituto de Cultura Puertorrique?a.

Tom?s
El prejuicio

1985(1942)
Brow, James
1996 Demons
University

racial en Puerto Rico. R?o Piedras: Ediciones

and Development:
of Arizona Press.

The Struggle for Community

Hurac?n.

in a Sri Lankan

This content downloaded from 150.244.23.10 on Thu, 24 Apr 2014 19:30:53 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Town. Tucson:

LATINAMERICAN PERSPECTIVES

80

Buitrago Ortiz, Carlos

1982 "Anthropology
97-111
inH. Fahim

colonial context: analysis and projections," pp.

inNon-Western
Countries
Anthropology
(Proceedings
Press.
Durham, NC: Carolina Academic

and the Puerto Rican

(ed.), Indigenous

of a Burg Wartenstein
Symposium).
Burdick, John
1998 Looking for God in Brazil: The Progressive
Catholic Church in the Urban
and Los Angeles: University
of California
Press.
Religious Arena. Berkeley
Butler, Judith
1993 Bodies

That Matter:

Routledge.
Centro de Estudios

On

de la Realidad

1992 La tercera

ra?z: Presencia

E.
Connolly, William
1991 Identity/Difference:
Press.
University

the Discursive

Limits

of Sex. New

York

Brazilian

and London:

Instituto de Cultural Puertorrique?a

Puertorrique?a,
africana en Puerto Rico. San Juan.

Democratic

of Political

Negotiations

Paradox.

Ithaca: Cornell

Craig, Susan (ed.)

1982 "Sociological

Caribbean: a review," pp. 143-180 in

theorizing in the English-speaking
Susan Craig (ed.), Contemporary
Caribbean: A Sociological
Reader, vol. 2. Trinidad and
Tobago: The College Press.
D?vila, Arlene M.
1997 Sponsored

Identities:

Cultural Politics

inPuerto Rico. Philadelphia:

Temple University

Press.
2001 Latinos, Inc.: The Marketing
of California Press.

and Making

of a People.

Berkeley

and Los Angeles:

Uni

versity

Ana M.
Diaz-Stevens,
1993 "La misa j?bara como campo
Ciencias Sociales
3: 139-162.
Duany, Jorge
2002 Puerto

2000

and London:
Bomba

From

Columbia
Giusti

on theMove:

Rican Nation

Chapel Hill
Flores, Juan

University
Cordero, Juan A.

de batalla

University

to Hip-Hop:

socio-pol?tica

Identities

on the Island and

of North Carolina
Puerto

Rican

en Puerto Rico."

Revista

in the United

de

States.

Press.

Culture

and Latino

Identity. New

York:

Press.

1994 "Labor, ecology, and history in a Caribbean sugar plantation region: Pi?ones
Ph.D. diss., State University
Puerto Rico,
1770-1950."
of New York.
Jos? L.
Gonz?lez,
1993 The Question
of an Afro-Mestizo
New York: Markus Wiener.

Culture:

Puerto

Rico,

the Four-Storeyed

(Loiza),

Country.

Guerra, Lillian
1998 Popular

and National
Identity in Puerto Rico: The Struggle for Self Com
Expression
Press of Florida.
and Nation. Gainesville:
University
Mary W.

munity,

Helms,
1977 "Negro or Indian? The changing identity of a frontier population," pp. 157-172 inA. M.
on
Pescadillo
and Anthropological
(ed.), Old Roots inNew Lands: Historical
Perspectives
in the Americas.Westport,
Black Experiences
CT: Greenwood
Press.
Hern?ndez

Hiraldo, Samiri
la religi?n en Loiza: un estudio antropol?gico
"Reinterpretando
testificar de dos ancianos." Revista de Ciencias Sociales
10: 105-139.

2001

de la experiencia

This content downloaded from 150.244.23.10 on Thu, 24 Apr 2014 19:30:53 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

de

Hern?ndez

Hiraldo

/ "IF GOD WERE

BLACK

AND

Jensen, Tina G.
1999 "Discourses
pp. 275-294
and London:

on Afro-Brazilian
religion: from de-Africanization
inC. Smith and J. Prokopy (eds.), Latin American Religion

Routledge.
Johnson, Kevin R.
in R. Delgado
1998 "Melting pot or ring of fire?" pp. 427^30
Latino/a Condition. New York: New York University
Press.

81

FROM LO?ZA"

to re-Africanization,"
inMotion. New York

and J. Stefancic

(eds.), The

de Puerto Rico
Oficina del Gobernador
Junta de Planificaci?n,
de Loiza y Can?vanas.
1968a Reporte sobre la separaci?n de los municipios
San Juan.
la viabilidad
de
de crear el municipio
1968b Informe del estudio para determinar
de Lo?za, hoy Aldea. San
Can?vanas,
hoy Loiza y restaurar al mismo tiempo el municipio
Juan.
Kinsbruner,
Jay
1996 Not of Pure Blood: The Free People of Color and Racial Prejudice
Press.
tury Puerto Rico. Durham, NC, and London: Duke University
Kipp, Rita S.
1996 Dissociated
Arbor: University
Kottak, Conrad P.
1992 Assault

Identities:
of Michigan

on Paradise:

Ethnicity,
Press.

Religion,

in an Indonesian

and Class

in a Brazilian

Social Change

inNineteenth-Cen

Society. Ann

Town. 2d ed. New York: McGraw

Hill.
LaRuffa, Anthony
1966 San Cipriano:
ence Publishers.

Life

in a Puerto Rican Community.

New York: Gordon

and Breach

Sci

Lorentzen, Lois A.
in D. N.
2001 "Who is an Indian? Religion,
and Chiapas," pp. 84-104
globalization,
and D. Batstone
(eds.), Religions/Globalizations:
Hopkins, L. A. Lorentzen, E. Mendieta,
Theories and Cases. Durham, NC, and London: Duke University
Press.
Mauleon

Benitez, Carmen C.
1974 El espa?ol de Lo?za Aldea. Madrid:
Moore, Robert J.

Ediciones

Parten?n.

images of blacks and Indians in nineteenth-century

Guyana," pp. 126-158 in
and K. A. Yelvington
in Transition: Essays on
(eds.), The Colonial Caribbean
Post emancipation
Barbados: University
Press of the West
Social and Cultural History.
1999 "Colonial

B. Brereton
Indies.

Morris, Nancy
1995 Puerto

Rico: Culture,

Said, Edward
1979 Orientalism.

Politics,

New York: Vintage

Scarano, Francisco A.
1993 Puerto Rico: Cinco

and Identity. Westport,

CT: Praeger.

Books.

siglos de historia.

Cali: McGraw-Hill

Interamericana.

Scherer, Frank F.
2001 "Sanfanc?n:

and 'Chinese Religion

in Cuba,'" pp.
Orientalism,
self-Orientalization,
in the
in P. Taylor (ed.), Nation Dance: Religion,
Identity, and Cultural Difference
Caribbean. Bloomington/Indianapolis:
Indiana University
Press.
153-170

Schilder, Kess
1994 Quest for Self-Esteem:

State, Islam, and Mundang

Ethnicity.

Aldershot:

This content downloaded from 150.244.23.10 on Thu, 24 Apr 2014 19:30:53 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Avebury.

82

LATINAMERICANPERSPECTIVES

Steward, Julian et al.

1956 The People of Puerto
Urbana Press.

Rico:

A Study

in Social

Anthropology.

Urbana:

of

University

Torres, Arlene
inA. Torres and N. E
1998 "La gran familia puertorrique?a
'ej prieta de beld?,'" pp. 285-306
in Latin America and the Caribbean:
and Cul
Social Dynamics
Whitten
(eds.), Blackness
Indiana University
Press.
tural Transformations.
Bloomington:
Trouillot, Michel
1992 "The Caribbean
21:
Anthropology
Tweed, Thomas A.

region: an open frontier

19-42.

in anthropological

theory." Annual Review

of

1999 "Diasporic nationalism and urban landscape: Cuban immigrants at a Catholic shrine in
Miami," pp. 131-154 inR. A. Orsi (ed.), Gods of the City: Religion and the American Urban
Press.
Indiana University
Landscape. Bloomington:
Vidal, Teodoro
1989. Tradiciones

San Juan: Ediciones Alba.

de la brujer?a puertorrique?a.
Zaragoza, Edward C.
Processions
1995 St. James in the Streets: The Religious
of Lo?za Aldea,
Lanham, MD, and New York: Scarecrow Press.
Zen?n Cruz, Isabelo
1974 Narciso descubre

su trasero: El negro en la cultura puertorrique?a.

Puerto

Humacao:

rial Furidi.

This content downloaded from 150.244.23.10 on Thu, 24 Apr 2014 19:30:53 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Rico.

Edito