Would I be wrong to identify as Puerto Rican descent?

[Anonymous]

So my biological father was born in Brooklyn but he always told me had roots in the PR region. And I was excited to hear that. But I wanted to make sure it was true. So I got my ancestry dna results back, I typed in different places in the Caribbean to find out where my people are from. And I came to the conclusion that my ancestry (80% West African 20% Spanish and Portuguese) was very similar to my relatives that are puerto rican. They re from Mayaguez and Arecibo respectfully but now reside in Brooklyn, Chicago, Florida , New Jersey and Connecticut. I don’t want to assume or disrespect anybody but I just wanted to make sure I’m doing this right and if it would be accurate for me to identify as puerto rican. But let me know what you think

[Anonymous]

I live in the UK and here unless you are a religious extremist or something or otherwise have a very strong cultural influence in your home for whatever reason and technically that could be anything but realistically, functionally what we are talking about in reality is Islamic, then by the time you are 2nd generation, i. e. the person who first moves here from some other place is '1st generation', 2nd generation are their children, people who are born in and therefore have always lived in the UK, people who are 2nd generation, if they were a stranger and you were talking on the phone for example, they are going to be 100% British, as British as I am, there is no way to know that they are anything other than that, they have grown up in the same place as me, they know the same things I do, they have the same values that I do (broadly speaking), they sound like me and they don't care to be polite or to do their job properly, just like me.

So I hate to be the bearer of bad news to you or to come off like some sort of fascist or whatever but I'm not sure on what basis or more importantly for what reason you would want to make a claim that you are Puerto Rican?

I mean, maybe it's an interesting talking point over dinner just like I might tell people that I think a Viking must have diddled my great great great whatever grandmother as I have such a fetching beard, but I don't go around telling people that I am Scandinavian.

It seems to me that functionally the main time this affects your life is when you have to fill out official government paperwork such as applying for a passport and you have to tick a box describing your race. In that scenario, assuming that you generally look, however people expect people to look, if they come from Puerto Rico, whatever that is, then yes, you should say you are Puerto Rican but if you are like 8 feet tall and ginger haired and your skin is so fair that you just go up like matchwood every time you leave the house, even at night if there is a strong moonlight then it is probably better to pick another box.

Ultimately though, as long as you are not decieving anyone, claiming some sort of advantage or trying to get something then I don't think it matters what anyone wants to claim that they are, so long as there is some sort of basis, regardless of how loose that basis is.

Someone is always the edge of the bell curve, whatever it is that you are measuring it, it doesn't matter and that person (or those people as there are 2 edges to the curve) is (are) always nothing what so ever like the person who is holding the handle of the bell.

[Iron_Man]

That’s fine it’s all about the bloodlines not where you live

[Iron_Man]

Thanks for most helpful award