San Juan - Post Report Question and Answers
Are there problems with ethnic, race/racial minorities or religious prejudices? Gender equality?
Every skin color on earth here. Less predjucice than in the mainland. - May 2023
Does running the risk of choking to death on clouds of Axe Body Spray count as a gender prejudice? Kidding, kidding. Machismo is alive and well here. On a positive note, so is chivalry. I can't tell you how many doors I've had held for me. I've had a man help me get shopping carts apart while I was struggling in the parking lot (holding a squirmy toddler). Many of my friends have had people offer to help them load their groceries into their cars. PR is mostly Catholic. Christmas is a HUGE deal here and you will see nativity scenes everywhere. The Three Kings, too. I know there is an active Jewish community. I have met one (!!) Muslim here. She told me that there used to be a bigger community but that it is much smaller now, and that people asked her a lot of questions about her head covering. There are racial issues here, as well. I know an expat family that experienced not getting served in a restaurant. They suspect it was because they are a mixed race couple. There is a great deal of prejudice against anyone even suspected of being from the Dominican Republic. The Dominican drug traffickers get blamed for every criminal act on the island, weather legitimate or not. - Jun 2013
