West Side Story

West Side Story is about racial tensions imposed on families of struggling immigrants. In fact, the musical was originally called East Side Story, and was supposed to tell the story of the Irish Catholic Jets and their anti-Semitic aggression toward the Israeli Jewish gang, the Emeralds, on the Lower East Side of New York. The Jets are not, as is commonly assumed, the “white” gang. Like most inhabitants of the working-class neighborhoods in 1950s New York, the Jets are second-generation immigrants–the children of Irish, Polish, and Italian families (and others) who came to the United States for new opportunities. In the mid-twentieth century United States, these immigrants are not considered “white,” which is something that original Broadway audiences would have recognized and that is often lost in revivals. Bernardo refers to Tony as “an ‘American.’ Who is really a Polak” (38). The Puerto Rican teens understand the slipperiness of the term “American” and of American national identity. Despite the fact that Woodrow Wilson signed the Jones-Shafroth Act in 1917, defining Puerto Rico as a US territory and granting citizenship to Puerto Ricans, the Sharks are not treated as if they are U.S. citizens. Rather, they are treated like invaders.

The musical shows how the system of racial hatred begins with the adults. Action repeats the words of his father, claiming, “Them PRs’re the reason my old man went bust” (5). Baby John adds, “My old man says them Puerto Ricans is ruinin’ free ennaprise” (5). The police officers, Krupke and Schrank, are particularly insidious, showing blatant favoritism toward the Jets, even though the Jets are just as unwilling to cooperate as the Sharks. Officer Schrank even offers to help the Jets in the fight, claiming, “I’m for you. I want this beat cleaned up and you can do it for me. I’ll even lend a hand if it gets rough” (58). He feeds into the racialized hatred by reinforcing the idea that the Puerto Ricans are an invasive force that is destroying the neighborhood rather than blaming the gang wars as a whole for the violence in the streets. The teens repeat what they hear, and their inherited racism comes to a head when the Jets attack and harass Anita in Doc’s store. 

The Sharks, and especially Bernardo, are fully cognizant that they receive poorer treatment because of their race and ethnic origin. Bernardo points out that Tony, a delivery boy, makes twice the money that Chino earns as an assistant because “the Polak is American!” (39). While the Jets and the police officers use racial slurs to insult the Puerto Rican teens, such as “spic” or “greaseball” (113), Bernardo calls Riff “Native Boy” (28) and tells Tony to “Go home, ‘American’” (25). It is unsurprising that Bernardo, fueled by racial injustice, harbors an intense hatred toward the Jets. The Jets, fighting to restrict Shark access to public territory, represent a tangible enemy that, unlike the officers and other adults, the Sharks can direct their hostility toward. West Side Story shows the irony of xenophobic immigrants, and the ways in which racist social structures can pit marginalized groups against each other rather than against the systems that marginalize them.