West Side Story shows us two things talked about by Briggs in Reproducing Empire. These two things are Colonialism and Imperialism. You can see in Reproducing Empire that the United States is an Imperialist country who wanted to gain different lands such as Cuba, the Philippians, and most importantly Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico is the most important of the three because its people “appreciated the United States and the gifts it had to offer to its less fortunate neighbors.” Meaning that Puerto Ricans actually wanted the help of America as opposed to Cuba and the Philippians who were “rudely wagging guerrilla war against the U.S.” In addition to that Reproducing Empire spoke on why there was an influx of Puerto Rican in America after 1965. This was because the U.S. lifted restrictions on their immigration laws in an attempt to incorporate new nationalities into modern racial categories.
Reproducing Empire relates to West Side Story because it tells us the backstory behind the why their were groups of Puerto Rico in New York City during the mid nineteen fifties. Which of course had to do with the help America was giving to Puerto Rico and the fact that America was lifting its restrictions on their immigration laws. One thing i find interesting is you can view the Sharks of West side story as an imperialist group in some way. The Sharks came into America for new better lives but are taking the Jets territory. This can be related to exactly what the American are doing to their neighbors the Puerto Ricans. Lastly an interesting Scene from West Side Story is the America song scene. In this scene the Puerto Rican girls are saying they’re happy to be in America while the guys say that its only nice in America if you’re white. This is interesting because the Americans help the Puerto Ricans while in Puerto Rico and get them to America but once their it appears they are left on their own.
Matt this was a very well written blog post. I found what you wrote about to be very interesting. The scene where the ladies were singing about how happy they are that they live in America is important. As we know the “Sharks” were not so happy living in America. They don’t get along with the Jets and say that it is only good to live in America if you are white. The ladies try to look at the best of the situation saying how in America you are free to do whatever you want.