usiness and better paying occupations that required the ability to read and write. Finally, the high rate of literacy among Jewish immigrants helped foster a head start for their education.Other historians also agree with Steinberg’s discussion of how Jews achieved great success. In “Origins and Destinies,” a chapter titled “Mobility and Continuity among Eastern European Jews” by authors Steven J. Gold and Bruce Phillips, further extends this discussion to the type of lifestyle that Jews lived in their homeland. Jewish migrants were more skilled and familiar with urban life. They also wanted to permanently escape from their homeland with no intention of returning. In addition, because of their high regard for education, Jews gained easier access to employment and self-employment. Jews also immigrated with their families, as opposed to other immigrant groups, and the children who accompanied them gave Jewish immigrants a head start for success over other immigrant groups (Pedraza and Rumbaut, 1996, pp. 184 — 185).FROM THE PUERTO RICAN PERSPECTIVEThe experiences that Puerto Ricans encountered when they arrived in the United States were far drastically different than that of the Jews. From a historical perspective, Puerto Ricans did not suffer the same types of discrimination or persecution that Jews went through. Rather, they suffered exploitation because their island had been a colony under Spain. In “Origins and Destinies,” a chapter titled “Migration, Community, and Culture: The United States-Puerto Rican Experience” by authors Hctor A. Carrasquillo and Virginia Sanchez-Korrol, cites the economic poverty on the island as distorted by colonialism from Spain (Carrasquillo and Sanchez-Korrol, 1996, p. 99). Agriculture comprised the primary root of Puerto Rico’s economy. Puerto Ricans worked in farmlands and plantations, producing sugar, coffee, and tobacco for ex...
