 The stateside Puerto Rican community has partnered with the African American community, particularly in cities such as New York and Philadelphia, not only because of cultural similarities, but also to combat racism and disenfranchisement of the mid to late 20th century in their communities as a unified force.Though, often perceived as largely poor, there is evidence of growing economic clout, as stated earlier.The Puerto Rican community has organized itself to represent its interests in stateside political institutions for close to a century.