Some Thoughts About “The 60s”: Third Part and Contrast-Comparison With the 2000s in Puerto Rico

At the very end of the movie, the social conflicts themselves remain unsolved, not unlike the personal situations of the main characters. Starting with Katie, she now accepts and enjoys her motherhood, despite the terrible times she lived with the lack of care present in the hippie community and the different settings in which she tried to survive. Her dad, Bill, also had to accept her motherhood; unfortunately, though, she still has bad feelings towards him, as he wasn’t supporting and helping her during the critical stages of such time in life.

In the case of Emmeth, he has learned how the struggle for the civil rights concerning racial equality cannot be based on visceral hatred, for this leads to more clashes and violence, similar to the one being rejected in the first place. It is this violence the very same one that took away the life of his father. With this lesson learned, and his purpose in life redefined, he continued more actively in the community aid programs, specifically the community breakfasts program.

In the later stages of the movie, the struggles Bryan and Michael face become intermingled, as Bryan becomes a hippie upon realizing the horrors associated to the war in which he served. When he shared his experience with the concert camp in which Michael participated, he bursted in tears due to the profound affliction recalling what he did, contrasted to what the real intentions for his actions in the war were (those of the high commands of the armed forces). Michael, on his quest to promote critical thinking and anti-war opinions, was rather successful: aside from his brother Bryan, he was able to persuade his mother, Mary. At first, Mary had silenced her opinions in order to not come into conflict with her husband; but with Michael’s encouragement, Mary finally decided to express herself, and make her husband know her opinion on the Vietnam War, as well as her right to think that way. Once more, Bill had to modernize and accept the changes he was living.

Michael did have other struggles of his own, this time those in his relationship with Sarah. After various incidents with the other boy, Kenny, Sarah realized how he was selfish and chauvinistic. She also realized how his ways of being interfered with the very same interest that sparked his infatuation with him, following the more extremist lines of the anti-war movement. She left him and went back to Michael, someone who did allow her to have a voice and who genuinely cared for her.

Having all of this said, it is still important to consider how the social conflicts here, as a whole, are still unresolved. Despite the personal resolution of these conflicts, their social roots still remained around. The Vietnam War did not end until the mid 1970s, forcibly, due to the great pressures from the popular protests. The racial equality/civil rights movement was still full of turmoil, for major anti-racism riots still occurred in the next three decades. The anti-war protests had a later resurgence, as later uncalled-for wars also appeared later on.

When one looks at the Puerto Rico of the decade between 2001 and 2010, one can notice how these conflicts are still unresolved. Some have evolved into other conflicts as some of their aspects come closer to resolution, others have ceased to be so apparent, but still continue to be present, and there are a few more that have become worse.

Starting with the military aspect, an important conflict was that of the U. S. Navy practices on the grounds of the island-municipality of Vieques. It is true that the practices were scheduled to end sometime during this decade, but after the death of a supervisor of a bombing field, due to one of those very same bombs, many people had realized the damage that has been done during several decades of military practices degrading the lives of the denizens of Vieques. This led to massive protests, mainly in the form of civil disobedience and marches, to demand the closing of this and other U. S. military facilities in Puerto Rico. By May, 2003, the struggle had pushed successfully to conclude the practices, and also usher in the closing of several of the bases.

Due to Puerto Rico’s colonial condition towards the U. S. A. it also has to partake in the wars the USA’s military authorities and forces become involved with. During this just-past decade, the USA starts the ‘war on terror’, by invading Afghanistan (2001) and Iraq (2003). Like the Vietnam War, much of the population under governments of the NATO considers these wars to be uncalled for, and have protested against them. Here in Puerto Rico, organizations such as “Madres Contra la Guerra” (Mothers Against War, which groups mothers of Puerto Ricans serving in the USA’s Armed Forces) have been celebrating a variety of protests against these. It is also noteworthy to include some very recent events, namely the quasi-war led by the NATO allies with their air forces, in order to stop the massacre led by Libyan dictator Qadhafi. This might as well become a third war for the USA, and thus spark more protests.

Regarding the gender struggles, the feminine empowering is still unconcluded. Nowadays many women are still at disadvantage with respect towards their masculine counterparts. Labor discrimination, in the form of lower wages and a work environment structured in such a way that proper motherhood is impossible, is one of the bigger parts of this problem. This has been evident due to the protests against government agencies and large corporations, sometimes against academic as well as religious institutions, always citing lack of consideration, as well as systemized discrimination, towards women and their needs. In addition to the discrimination, there is also the violence widely performed against women in many contexts, mainly in the family settings. In many places, as well as practically all of the different sectors of society, gender violence, also known as domestic violence, is a terribly common problem in Puerto Rican society. Even if there is a law against domestic violence in all of its forms, the problem is still unaddressed properly, even if some advancement has been made. Paradoxically, the statistics of the most recent years have shown an increase of domestic violence, mainly the gender violence, manifesting as murders at its worst.

Even so, the gender struggle has reached another stage: with a greater conscience about social justice, more formerly unattended conflicts become apparent; as is with the discrimination faced by the LGBT community. Similarly to the gender violence faced by women, the LGBT community has increasingly become victim of lethal violence, and faces a harsher discrimination in the labor and social situations due to their sexual orientation. Recently, the Legislature of Puerto Rico has been controversially dealing with amending laws concerning domestic violence as well as the Civil Code of Puerto Rico. Many people have sought to amend these laws in such ways that they do protect and provide for the LGBT community, while the conservative groups throughout the society have sought to officialize the discrimination against these groups.

Finally, the racial struggle—while many in Puerto Rico consider this to be surpassed, in fact it is not. Racial discrimination still remains present, although in more subtle ways. It is present in jokes, insults, politics, xenophobia and the segregation in social groups. Things like discriminating against the community of Dominican immigrants (mostly black), the different ‘black’ communities of Puerto Rico (if one considers the racial profile of Puerto Rico’s population, one cannot say that almost all of the population is ‘white’, for it is almost entirely of mixed races), which are often poor and marginalized, the crippling pessimism taught in order for these communities to internalize a lower position in society. Unlike the other struggles, this one is one that has low visibility in Puerto Rico.
Overall, Puerto Rico is yet to solve many of these conflicts, especially since some are either long-lived or have even worsened over time. But, unlike what’s seen on “The 60s”, there is too little activism present at this time to push the change in Puerto Rican society.