We Live by What We See at Night (Historical Context)

Historical Context

So much of Martín Espada’s work is a reflection of his cultural and historical perspective that nearly every poem could be discussed in terms of what it says about a political or social event, military action, or displacement of immigrants. He often makes a point about a public act by describing its personal impact on an individual, whether it is a war, a riot, or an “eviction” of a people from their native land. “We Live by What We See at Night” takes place in both Puerto Rico and New York, and it spans the time of his father’s youth on the island to thirty years later when the poet is dreaming of it, just as the older man does. This puts the poem’s time frame in both the 1950s and the 1980s.

Puerto Rico’s history is made up of one struggle after another to survive domination by countries seeking control of this beautiful, lush island whose name is Spanish for “rich port.” Spain was in control when it went to war with the United States in 1898. The Spanish-American War ended the same year it began with the signing of the Treaty of Paris granting the United States sovereign power over Puerto Rico. For decades, there was an attempt to Americanize all aspects of the island and its people, including a failed effort to make English the dominant language. American corporations took over the sugar industry, resulting in a plantation economy that meant great wealth for some and destitution for others. Throughout this time, three main political factions came into existence in Puerto Rico, all with platforms based on the island’s relationship with the United States: one group favored becoming a state, a second preferred maintaining the tie but having more self-government, and the third advocated total independence. Each faction had a strong voice at one time or another over the years, but the dominant force between 1940 and 1968 was the Popular Democratic Party, which favored a new self-governing relationship with the United States. In support of this party, the American Congress passed a law in 1950 allowing Puerto Ricans to draft their own constitution and to have full local self-government. The new constitution led to the establishment of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico in 1952, meaning it became an autonomous political entity whose association with the United States was voluntary.

Because of the booming job market in America after World War II, mass migration of Puerto Ricans began in 1947 and peaked throughout the 1950s. Between 1951 and 1959, an average of 47,000 islanders per year arrived in the United States, many settling in New York City. Such was the case with Espada’s father. But, as “We Live by What We See at Night” implies, the dreams of a more prosperous and better life in America soon became nightmares for many immigrants who found themselves unwelcome in their new home. Racism, job discrimination, poverty, and a feeling of displacement all contributed to the disillusionment of immigrants, causing them to dream more of their homeland than of America.

Puerto Ricans who remained on the island during the 1950s saw an economic growth unlike any previous. As American industry moved in, many farmers and sugarcane growers became factory workers, and by 1955, income from manufacturing was greater than from agriculture. Individual income rose from $296 per year in 1950 to $1,384 per year in 1970. But the 1980s saw a downturn in both the American and Puerto Rican economies. The recession in the United States during 1980 – 1981 had a dramatic effect on Puerto Ricans living in both countries. Jobs with decent wages became even harder to acquire, especially for immigrants in America who were already struggling with racial and ethnic issues in the work place. In Puerto Rico, the commonwealth’s gross national product declined by 6 percent in 1982 – 1983, and federal budget cuts resulted in the loss of a jobs program and less availability of food stamps. Tension brought on by a steadily worsening economy on the island led to increased political unrest, particularly by those groups who continued to favor a complete break from the United States. During the early 1980s, there were several terrorist attacks on American military units in Puerto Rico, but the island endured the political strife and remained a commonwealth, as it still is today.

Writing poetry and essays as a young man in the 1970s and 1980s, Espada was more familiar with the downside of Puerto Rican immigration into the United States, based partly on his father’s experiences as an immigrant and on his own observations of living conditions in barrios and slums. In an essay called “Postcard from the Empire of Queen Ixolib,” he relates the story of his visit to Biloxi, Mississippi, to see the place where his father had been jailed fifty years earlier. The older Espada had refused to sit in the back of a bus as he traveled across the South and was arrested because of it. When young Espada arrived there, he found the jail and bus station had been torn down and replaced by casinos. In the essay inspired by this trip, he notes the irony of a Southern effort to pave over its old mistakes while shrines to Confederate President Jefferson Davis still dot the countryside. Although the poet and essayist would likely agree that millions of immigrants to the United States have not regretted the decision to leave their homeland and have indeed lived prosperous lives in America, he would probably also point out that there is another side. That side is the one portrayed in “We Live by What We See at Night,” the one that assures that family history and culture remain alive from generation to generation.

Compare & Contrast

• 1950s: “Operation Bootstrap” is set in motion in Puerto Rico, involving intensive efforts by the United States to revamp the economy, attract new industry, improve schools and hospitals, and increase manufacturing capabilities. Whereas some islanders benefit from the massive restructuring, others feel displaced and overcome by American interference.

  1980s: A Puerto Rican terrorist group calling itself the Macheteros claims responsibility for attacks on American military installations on the island. This includes a physical assault of personnel on a navy bus and the blowing up of eight air force planes at an Air National Guard site.

  Today: The question of Puerto Rico’s status remains controversial. In a plebiscite called in the mid-1990s, a narrow majority of Puerto Rican voters decided to maintain the island’s status as an American commonwealth.

• 1950s: Puerto Rican poets and writers seeking to publish their work are shunned by American publishing houses, leaving many creative voices silent because of prejudice and a lack of respect for immigrants’ writing abilities.

  1980s: Major New York publishers and other small presses come to recognize the commercial value in printing work by previously ignored writers, particularly Hispanics and blacks. A growing body of work by Puerto Rican writers living in New York — coined “Nuyorican” literature — is especially popular.

  Today: Hispanic authors receive more recognition than in previous decades and most university curricula include courses on Hispanic literature, as well as that of other minority groups. However, the playing field is by no means even for minorities seeking to publish their writing, and many times Hispanic writers must turn to presses such as Arte Publico Press and Bilingual Review Press for publication.