Throughout the introduction and first two chapters of his book, In Search of Respect: Selling Crack in El Barrio, Bourgois describes the multiple causes of impoverished living within the Hispanic and Black society. He attributes the colonization of Puerto Rico and the immigration of its people to the United States as the central impediment to the welfare of Hispanics living in East Harlem during the time he conducted his research. The immigrants from Puerto Rico were not only expected to adapt to a foreign society and economic system, but to do so while suffering intense racism from white supremacists. In order for them to acclimate, they had to abandon their previous values and customs that shaped their identity. This process of settler racism
