Introduction: Symposium: Puerto Rican Education

Abstract

When the writers and producers of the NBC television series Seinfeld, including Jerry Seinfeld himself, decided to burn the Puerto Rican flag on national television, they performed a great service for the Puerto Rican people. Albeit unwittingly, this singular event reminded Puerto Ricans of how poorly we are regarded in the American psyche. Puerto Ricans everywhere were forced to ask themselves, would the people of Seinfeld and NBC dare burn any flag other than the Puerto Rican flag? That act, committed presumably in the interest of humor, only poured salt on a hundred-year-old wound. Since October 18, 1898, the day the United States raised its flag on the island of Puerto Rico, Puerto Ricans and their flag have been little more than a joke and an occasional nuisance to the American people.

Professional Resources

“…Culturally relevant pedagogy and literacy activities play a crucial role; however, in my conversations with teachers, I underline a need for training materials and tools that deepen the historical, cultural knowledge of practitioners about Latino/as. In a 1998 special edition of the Harvard Educational Review on Puerto Rican education, Dobles and Segarra (1998) emphasized how the persistent lack of knowledge about Puerto Rican history undermines decades of research and interventions on behalf of this group of U.S. citizens. Even further, I say that this lack of knowledge serves as a main roadblock for educational equality.…”