Reviews several books. Not of Pure Blood: The Free People of Color and Racial Prejudice in Nineteenth-Century Puerto Rico, by Jay Kinsbruner; From Bomba to Hip-Hop: Puerto Rican Culture and Latino Identity, by Juan Flores; Listening to Salsa: Gender, Latin Popular Music, and Puerto Rican Cultures, by Frances R. Aparicio.;
Argues that racialization of Dominican immigrants in the US and Puerto Rico has largely confined them to the secondary segment of the labor and housing markets. Based on research in Barrio Gandul in Santurce, a central city subdivision of the San Juan, Puerto Rico metropolitan area, and Washington Heights in Manhattan, New York City.