Disruption of Culture
The last major standpoint that will be said is the great disruption of culture that comes with migration to the US. As a young boy I remember taking a trip to Dominican Republic and enjoying the natural scenery and authentic Dominican food. The atmosphere provided by the seemingly more natural lifestyle added an appreciation to my heritage as well as a deeper understanding of how my grandparents lived. As aforementioned in my last post, food is a very easy means to associate loosely and interact with a person’s culture. When coming to the US, food is made at a faster pace and met with different standards as food is considered safer and cleaner as opposed to small islands in the Caribbean. But there are natural processes such as generational cooking recipes that may seem outdated due to technology, but impact the way food tastes. This is just one of the many ways that disruption of one's culture can occur and is very prevalent when considering that many migrants have a hard time adapting, especially in a robust city such as NYC. The interview that took place was between my grandmother who was originally from Puerto Rico and came over here when she was in her early twenties. She spoke in Spanish so I will be translating the interview into English; CG(me), DC(Grandmother).
CG: So grandma, how did you feel when you first came to the US
DC: I remember how pretty the city was when I first got here, and also a sense of alienation as I felt truly far from home for the first time in my entire life.
CG: What were some of the things that you noticed about NYC?
DC: The first thing I noticed was that there were very few trees, there were huge buildings everywhere I looked and so many people everywhere. It was full of life though, the people themselves seemed like they were rushing somewhere while going about their day.
CG: was the fast paced life something that was easy to adapt to?
DC: It was extremely difficult at first especially when trying to get a job, it was completely different to living on the Island, everything was high paced and high energy, I was overwhelmed at times trying to keep up. But eventually I learned the climate of NYC and once I learned how to tell which train went in what direction I became a real New Yorker (laughs).
CG: When you first arrived, where did you live?
DC: When I first moved here, I stayed with a friend in Washington Heights, there were a lot of immigrants who had just moved too. Most of them couldn’t afford the rent in Manhattan so they all moved to either the Bronx or to parts of Queens. I moved to Bushwick in the 1980's, when I had your mother. It was a cozy tight knit community that was a mixture of Hispanic and other minorities.
CG: Can you tell me more about what it was like in Bushwick raising kids?
DC: It was pretty difficult as I relied heavily on my kids to translate a lot of the conversations, as the primary language was English. It was hard to give up my Spanish and adapt to English because no one ever taught me past my high school education. The community itself was filled with a lot of Hispanics who only spoke in Spanish as well, so it wasn’t always too difficult to find someone who spoke Spanish. The area was a lot more dangerous and there was an unwelcoming atmosphere surrounding the community to outsiders. A lot of the public places were either run down or vandalized to keep outsiders away.
CG: When you say outsiders what kind of people are you referring to?
DC: You know who I mean, young white couples and people who came from wealth, the community was very poor so it was very easy to come and buy property in the area, it was underdeveloped and the upper class saw an opportunity to convert the area. By the time I was ready to leave to another apartment in the early 2000s the area began to change.
CG: What changes did you notice?
DC: The first things that I immediately noticed were the rebuilding of a lot of public spaces, such as parks and modifying spaces that were lovely damaged, such as sidewalks and crosswalks that were rundown. But generally it was good for the community as it made the community appear to be clean. People of the community noticed these changes and others retaliated by continuing to vandalize public spaces, through graffiti and intentionally dumping trash. Crime rates also went up to dissuade people from moving in by making the area seemingly more dangerous than before.
CG: Why do you think people didn’t welcome these new changes?
DC: People obviously don’t welcome change, especially in a community with mostly poor residents, they feel as though having a nice area means higher rent and cost of living. In order to counter this they create unnecessary turmoil.
CG: Is there anything else you want to mention in regards to disruption of culture within the area?
DC: It's clear to see that through these niceties there were big changes that were brewing, and the community retaliation was a warning for these outsiders. Now that the community itself has changed, it's no wonder why those people fought so hard to preserve the organic sense of belonging within the community. Everyone used to be friends with their neighbors and kids would often run around together and play on the sidewalks and sit on stoops having a laugh. It's sad to see that this culture no longer exists within this community with new renovations of old buildings getting rid of the simplicity of older times. Now with all the rent skyrocketing, the people I used to be friends with have either been forced out or are struggling to survive now.
This interview that I had with my grandma highlights some of the organic culture that was formed by a melting pot of culture and as it has been gentrified more and more it seems that the culture has been discarded in place of more modern and formal life. The community still holds certain traditions, but the culture that once used to be is no longer here. After immigrating to this country in pursuit of a better life, it's sad that a place my grandma had made her second home has been uprooted in an effort to make a more desirable community to gentrifiers. Below is a picture of me and my grandma.