Crusin’ The 50s in a volatile East Harlem

The 1950s were the most important, productive, and vital years in American history. Many fundamental social and technological changes revolutionized American society during the Golden Age. World War II was over. The American economy exploded. Industrialization reached its peak. There was an expansion of higher education, suburbanization, and government assistance to veterans in the years after World War II. These conditions provided favorable factors for economic advances. Aimed at the urban working class, who generally wanted a better lifestyle for themselves, the intensive construction of thousands of residential homes began. These suburban homes reflected the new domesticity of post-war prosperity. Not only was it a boom year of bountiful generosity, it was also a decade that gave birth to rock and roll, a decade in which young actors like James Dean, Marlon Brando, Sal Mineo, Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis They became big favorites and roles. role models among the youth. american icons.

So, while significant changes and economic improvements were taking place across the United States, what was happening in the East Harlem, New York area? During the 1940s and 1950s, the East Harlem area was a mix of Irish, Italian, Puerto Rican, and a small percentage of people from the Jewish community. There were also some African-American families and some other ethnic groups, but the population was minimal. However, it was enough to create an atmosphere of tension, especially after the years of the Great Depression and World War II. This tension was progressively increasing within the mixed ethnic groups. East Harlem contained the largest established Italian community, a community that grew substantially during the 1920s through the 1930s and 1940s.

As a result of the takeoff of commercial air travel in 1945, a one-way ticket from San Juan to New York was suddenly less than $50, so the steady stream of Puerto Rican migration that had begun during World War I reached a large number. of people. population; About 70,000 to 250,000 people in the years 1940-1950. As Puerto Ricans continued to move into East Harlem, they invaded already established communities and began to form their own distinctive neighborhoods, establishing their own values, traditions, and cuisine. By the time the 1950s rolled around, Italians and Puerto Ricans numerically dominated the East Harlem area. Puerto Ricans became such a significant and visible presence in East Harlem during the 1950s that the area gained the household name “Spanish Harlem.” At the same time, the Puerto Rican people began to saturate the East Harlem district. Both Italians and Puerto Ricans were in a constant battle, competing for housing, educational and employment resources.

Young Puerto Ricans were reluctant to enter the workforce, not only after seeing their parents discriminated against, but also after witnessing their parents’ disappointment. Applicants were required to have some knowledge of the English language, even if it was for unskilled work. Unemployed parents, in turn, would pressure their teenage son to help them. These young men knew from experience that if they followed in their father’s footsteps, it would only encourage more of the same consequences to occur in their own lives. They would end up working unskilled, low-paying jobs with no chance of advancement.

“Damn man, that’s not for me!” they would say

It was easier to join a gang or organize one, which gave them a sense of worth, belonging and respect, something most of them couldn’t get at home. Gang life meant solidarity and toughness in a harsh and discriminatory neighborhood.

Gang violence was a terrifying reality during the 1940s and 1950s. The atmosphere in East Harlem became explosive. Disputes between the black dragons, the Italian dukes, the Puerto Rican viceroys, and the Italian redwings erupted daily. Extensive and endless battles were fought to establish and maintain dominance and honor between Puerto Rican and Italian teenagers. They dominated the already tense area of ​​East Harlem. These rumblings were started by any group that was calling for a fight, whether it was over the boundaries of their territory, laying claim to streets, parks, testing their manhood, or, as usual, petty things like rumbling about their ladies.

The girls had the support of the gang, and if any of them were insulted, which in many cases the stories were made up to provoke a war, their honor was defended. Even if the gang knew she was a whore. The Greasers, ages fourteen to nineteen, strutted about bare-chested, carrying pistols, ready to shoot just in case, baseball bats and knives at the ready. He made them feel real macho, smart and tough, bragging about his readiness for a good fight, knowing that no matter how scared they were, they wouldn’t admit it. Racial slurs thrown back and forth lead to fights, often resulting in death or hospitalization, with crushed heads and severe, crippling injuries. Youth cut with switchblade knives, beaten with tire chains, or shot. Some gang members would accumulate mounds of milk bottles filled with gravel, bricks, cinder blocks, scrap iron, and anything else they could use as missiles and hide them on rooftops before a fight. Anything was fair without rules.

The familiar sound of blaring Latin rhythmic music echoing through open windows and apartment doors in Spanish Harlem would penetrate the ears of reluctant residents and passersby. Puerto Ricans have always loved their music. For many of the Puerto Ricans in “El Barrio,” dancing was a distraction from the frustrations of their daily lives. No matter how tired they felt or how miserable their lives were, as soon as their bodies reacted to the frantic pace, they would rejuvenate themselves, literally dancing until they dropped.

Weekends were his time to hit the local clubs. As the musicians played their instruments to the best tunes in Latin music, the partners, their skin flushed with sweat, whirled around the dance floor, twirling around each other. Her hips and shoulders swayed as her feet beat the beat of the music. The young busty Latinas would heat up the atmosphere as they moved seductively, swaying their curvaceous hips to the beat of the drums. Occasionally, a flirtatious comment from a drunk dancer would provoke a verbal confrontation between the two men. This would lead to an absolute street fight filled with switchblades and broken bottles, while others would run to his defense.

Those who didn’t go to nightclubs stayed home and had their own wild and loud parties. These parties would continue until the wee hours of the morning, much to the annoyance of the neighbors who wanted to sleep.

It was becoming increasingly difficult for Jewish and Italian vendors, as Puerto Rican grocery stores, barbershops, religious stores, and restaurants began to proliferate throughout East Harlem. Tensions escalated as frustrated Jews and Italian merchants witnessed the change of their customers, who were now soliciting their competitors. After several verbal and physical confrontations, including a riot, many of the Jewish merchants decided to keep their stores, but adjusted to the new inhabitants, willingly accepting the Puerto Rican businessmen, even learning Spanish. As a result of the projects, East Harlem changed, with a greater presence of African-American and Latino populations. To some extent, the elimination of 1,500 retail stores left 4,500 people unemployed. Thus, a steady migration of Italian Americans began moving away from East Harlem, moving to private properties in suburban New York City.

Despite their fierce antagonisms, and in defense of ethnic identity during those volatile years from 1920 to 1950, these two distinct groups, Italian and Puerto Rican, remained mixed, but in different ways, in the fabric of East Harlem.

By comparison, East Harlem is now a mere shadow of what it was during the 1950s. With the arrival of a host of new and diverse immigrants who have made East Harlem their home, can we safely assume that this territory that was once was once turbulent finally reached a plateau of normality and peaceful coexistence? Or will more prejudices replace the old ones? What is your opinion?