In the APSA Public Scholarship Program, graduate students in political science produce summaries of new research in the American Political Science Review. This piece, written by Angie Torres-Beltran, covers the new article by Viviana Rivera-Burgos, City University of New York, “Language, Skin Tone, and Attitudes toward Puerto Rico in the Aftermath of Hurricane Maria”.
Hurricane Maria was the first category four hurricane to directly impact Puerto Rico in 85 years. The aftermath of the hurricane left millions of citizens without power, access to clean water or food, and structural damage to an unknown number of buildings and roads across the island. However, unlike other catastrophic storms, governmental responses to this crisis were unequal. In a new article published in the APSR, author Viviana Rivera-Burgos demonstrates how the racialization of theoretically race-neutral policies, such as disaster relief, affects equality for minorities with racial, ethnic, and language differences. Her research highlights the importance of considering race and ethnicity when studying public opinion, even when the topic of study is not explicitly about racial politics.
The aftermath of the hurricane demonstrated unequal responses from the U.S. federal government. Indeed, compared to victims of natural disasters on the mainland, citizens in the U.S. government’s overseas territories are not subject to the same rights and privileges, despite being legal American citizens. Many politicians and commentators suggested that the inadequate and insufficient responses from the U.S. federal government is a function of race, language, and Puerto Rico’s status as “belonging to” and not being “a part of” the US. Rivera-Burgos understands this as having two important dimensions: inferiority-superiority (operationalized by skin color) and foreignness-Americanness (operationalized by language) and conceives of this as ethno-racial subordination.
To test these claims, Rivera-Burgos studies how people respond to call for help by hurricane victims by showing videos of actors who portray hurricane victims who deliver the same message. She varies the skin tone and language of hurricane victims. The video showed hurricane victims speaking in either Spanish or English and having either a lighter or darker skin tone. Respondents were asked whether or not they supported federal aid to Puerto Rico, approved of Trump’s handling of Puerto Rico, supported Puerto Ricans’ right to vote in Florida, and supported Puerto Rican statehood.
“More importantly, she shows how race, skin color, and language intersect to inform understandings of racial and ethnic politics beyond one dimension.” The results suggest that receiving information about Hurricane Maria from Spanish-speaking victims, compared to English-speaking victims, is associated with decreased support for federal aid, statehood, and voting rights for Puerto Rico. Rivera-Burgos finds that the effect of language is greater than that of race. Indeed, only for the outcome of federal aid was there a positive effect of the skin color treatment. When there was a dark-skinned person, there was a positive effect for support for federal aid.
Overall, Rivera-Burgos demonstrates the effects of racial and linguistic stereotypes on attitudes towards disaster relief in Puerto Rico. She finds that the effect of the Spanish language on American public opinion towards Puerto Rico is negative. More importantly, she shows how race, skin color, and language intersect to inform understandings of racial and ethnic politics beyond one dimension. The results indicate the importance of racial and linguistic differences and the effects these have on public opinion. As the demographics of the US continue to change, understanding the effects of intersecting identities is essential.
- Angie Torres-Beltran is a Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Government at Cornell University. Angie’s research focuses on the effects of violence against women on political participation and justice, and the mediating role of state and non-state institutions in which these women interact. She received her B.A. in International and Global Studies from the University of Central Florida. She is a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow. Her work has been published in PS: Political Science & Politics and Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion.
- RIVERA-BURGOS, VIVIANA. 2022. . “Language, Skin Tone, and Attitudes toward Puerto Rico in the Aftermath of Hurricane Maria.”, American Political Science Review
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