“No taxation without representation” drove U.S. colonists to declare independence from Britain on July 4th, 1776. After successfully defeating the British army at the Battle of Yorktown in 1781, the American Revolution ended, and the early republic was born. Nearly 250 years later, our country, founded on Enlightenment ideals of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” still effectively reigns over a colony of its own: Puerto Rico.
Many Americans possess little to no knowledge about the history of the island and its relationship with the United States. When Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico in 2017, 46% of Americans didn’t know that Puerto Ricans were U.S. citizens (Thornell). However, the definition of Puerto Rican “citizenship” differs in important ways from traditional U.S citizens. First and foremost, Puerto Ricans don't have formal federal representation. Instead, they send one politician to Congress to voice their opinion as a territory. Additionally, Puerto Ricans can't vote on decisions that impact their territory and, although they can vote in U.S. primary elections, they are not eligible to vote in the U.S. Presidential elections.
The United States’ relationship with Puerto Rico is toxic because they make decisions for the territory instead of allowing Puerto Rican politicians to create legislation that will enact tangible change on the island. With a new President in the White House who has proposed a more humane approach to immigration policy, it only makes sense to once and for all address the status of the oldest colony in American history.
The U.S.'s evolution as a multicultural society is stifled by colonial rule over Puerto Rico, exposing the fear of a non-white majority in America. Puerto Rico should be granted statehood status because of its shared history with the United States. In addition to the employment and property value benefits statehood would bring to the island, Puerto Rican pride in their national identity would contribute positively to our multiculturalism. Most importantly, granting Puerto Rico statehood would give them an opportunity for equality that has been robbed from them since Christopher Colombus arrived in 1493. The question should not be whether or not Puerto Rico should become a state. Rather, the question is why Puerto Rico has not already been annexed.
Like most controversial topics in America today—Black Lives Matter, #MeToo, abortion—Puerto Rico’s status has become fiercely political.
Democrat politicians like Nydia Velázquez and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are currently working on a bill that “would ensure that Puerto Ricans have access to ‘a legitimate, accountable and inclusive process for decolonization and self-determination’” (Acevedo). This bill essentially puts the future of Puerto Rico in the hands of its residents. It proposes “creating a ‘status convention’ made up of delegates elected by Puerto Rican voters who would come up with a long-term solution for the island’s territorial status —whether it be statehood, independence, a free association or any option other than the current territorial arrangement” (Acevedo). This plan puts the power in Puerto Rican hands but neglects a broader issue. If Puerto Rico chose independence—which is unlikely based on recent referendum votes—our problematic relationship with them would be swept under the rug. Almost half of Americans (46%), who didn’t know Puerto Ricans were U.S. citizens in 2017, could continue to live in ignorance about an island with such a rich cultural history.
On the other hand, conservatives do not want Puerto Rico to become a state because they don’t want Democrats to have two more seats in the Senate. Even though the Republican platform supports “the right of the US citizens of Puerto Rico to be admitted to the Union as a fully sovereign state,” Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell claims that “this is full bore socialism on the march in the House” and “adding stars to the American flag cannot be allowed” (Nichols). However, stars can be added to the American flag, something that has happened several times in the past.
Historically speaking, the most recent movements towards statehood—for Alaska and Hawaii—addressed the same political issues, mostly surrounding race. The political debate surrounding seats in the Senate in the 1950s made little difference in the long run: Alaska leaned more Republican with time and Hawaii became majority Democratic. When the Supreme Court distinguished between “incorporated” and “unincorporated” territories in the early 1900s, they decided that the Constitution only formally applied in Hawaii and Alaska, but not in Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands, or American Samoa (Keating). This decision was likely made due to the “danger of providing full citizenship rights to ‘uncivilized races’ for whom governance by ‘Anglo-Saxon principles may for a time be impossible’” (Keating).
But when it came time to address statehood for Alaska and Hawaii in the late 1950s, "the profile of Hawaii racially and culturally was a threat to the rigid patterns of race relations in the American South and to the southern way of life, which was a euphemism, of course, for protecting segregation” (NPR). Additionally, Congress’s criteria for statehood includes “that the population of the territory seeking statehood must demonstrate that they are sympathetic to and imbued with the principles of what Congress called ‘American democracy.’” Simply, Hawaii had to prove “that they were Americanized politically and culturally” (Sprunt). Hawaii’s journey to statehood was complicated. But this hostility towards non-white cultures still exists today, as seen with the debate over Puerto Rico’s status.
This January, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted, “Woke-ism, multiculturalism, all the -isms—they're not who America is. They distort our glorious founding and what this country is all about. Our enemies stoke these divisions because they know they make us weaker.” It is ironic that multiculturalism “distorts our glorious founding and what this country is all about” when our country’s Constitution promotes freedom of many types.
There has been endless debate over how to define the term “multiculturalism,” something “widely viewed as a central tenet of the US” (Haltiwanger). Multiculturalism does not simply mean the cultural diversity that characterizes our country. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy defines the term as, “how a nation responds to challenges associated with cultural diversity based on ethnic, national, and religious differences” (Xu). More specifically, it concludes that:
“Proponents of multiculturalism find common ground in rejecting the ideal of the
‘melting pot’ in which members of minority groups are expected to assimilate into
the dominant culture. Instead, proponents of multiculturalism endorse an ideal in
which members of minority groups can maintain their distinctive collective identities
and practices. In the case of immigrants, proponents emphasize that
multiculturalism is compatible with, not opposed to, the integration of immigrants
into society; multiculturalism policies provide fairer terms of integration for
immigrants” (Xu).
This rejection of the “melting pot”' and idea that immigrants are not expected to assimilate into American culture proves a benefit of multiculturalism.
However, this term cannot be categorized as something good or bad. Washington Post reporter Eugene Volokh explains the “bad versions of multiculturalism” as “ones in which members of some subcultures feel comfortable violently attacking people, whether of their own culture or of others” (Volokh). He suggested thinking “about which forms of toleration, accommodation, and embrace of differing cultural values and behaviors are good for America — in the light of American legal and social traditions—and which are bad” (Volokh). This idea is problematic in the sense that it takes on a heavy American gaze and always assumes we are the decision-makers as people in power. However, it is still important to recognize that the positive side of multiculturalism “embraces differing cultural values and behaviors.”
Despite Puerto Rico’s status as a U.S. territory, their strong culture is already widely celebrated throughout the United States.
Latinx artist Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, popularly known as Bad Bunny, was Spotify’s most streamed artist of 2020. The Puerto Rican rapper is best known for living by the motto and name of his 2020 album “YHLQMDLG,” which means “Yo Hago Lo Que Me Da La Gana” or “I do what I want.” His cross-dressing, neon nails, and political presence on social media serve as an example of someone unwilling to change himself for the sake of others. Bad Bunny “is well aware of the politics latent in his language choices, and he performs this awareness slyly in his lyrics” (Valle Schorske). Puerto Rican Spanish is smoother and more fluid than other dialects, making it hard for listeners to decipher exact lyrics and phrases. This is something Puerto Ricans are proud of:
“Puerto Ricans have fought fiercely to preserve this supposedly cut-rate Spanish as
the official language of government, schooling and culture under U.S. colonialism.
This syncretic, sidelong way of speaking—celebrated and circulated via popular
music—archives histories of migration, resistance and coerced intimacy barely
audible elsewhere” (Valle Schorske).
This history of “migration, resistance and coerced intimacy” is directly related to Puerto Rico’s relationship with the United States.
When Spain lost the Spanish-American War in 1889, the United States gained control over Puerto Rico and other territories like Guam and the Philippines. Over time, the federal government gave Puerto Ricans citizenship status, their own legislative assembly, and governor (Thornell). But this political model quickly led to corruption. For more than fifty years, Puerto Rico “was ruled by unelected and often racist functionaries appointed through political patronage,” and “Puerto Rican police crushed moves toward independence” under direct orders from U.S. colonial governors (Deibert).
In July 1952, Puerto Rico established a constitution establishing themselves as the “Free Associated State of Puerto Rico.” This set up its hybrid relationship with the United States, which “proved a Faustian bargain” to this day (Deibert).
The island’s first elected governor, Luis Muñoz Marín was the head of the Popular Democratic Party (PPD) from 1948 to 1965. He implemented measures known as “Operation Bootstrap, an aggressive program of industrialization that moved the island’s economic engine from agriculture toward an urban, export-oriented model.” By the mid-1950s, this drove Puerto Ricans who depended on agrarian salaries to move to the United States mainland as “manufacturing salaries more than doubled” (Deibert).
This migration made it easier for U.S. security forces to crush nationalist movements in Puerto Rico, similar to ones that led several other Latin American countries to independence in the 1950s. After former President Bill Clinton abolished Section 936 of the Internal Revenue Code with bipartisan support in 1996, several companies moved elsewhere because they were no longer exempt “from federal taxes on income earned in Puerto Rico” and, “the island was sacrificed to pay for the minimum wage hike on the mainland” (Deibert).
Executive decisions made by politicians far removed from Puerto Rican culture created a vicious cycle that caused the territory to accumulate a public debt of about $25.7 billion dollars in 2001 (Diebert). Because of its status as a U.S. territory, Puerto Rico had “no legal ability to declare bankruptcy,” and “successive governments effectively created a pyramid scheme: the state was borrowing money from some lenders to pay others” (Deibert). By 2016, their economic situation was so bad that the U.S. enacted “PROMESA,” a federal law that established an oversight board to restructure Puerto Rico’s debt and expedite key infrastructure projects (PROMESA; H.R. 5278, S. 2328). This was seen by many “as deepening Puerto Rico’s colonial relationship with the United States” (Deibert).
Shortly after, the devastating Hurricane Maria struck the island in September of 2017. It killed about 3,000 people, destroyed their electrical grid, and caused power outages for more than a year. The United States’s response to the natural disaster was neither speedy nor effective. According to Reuters Health:
“The emergency response in Puerto Rico became highly politicized as the Trump
administration was castigated as being slow to recognize the extent of the
devastation and provide disaster relief to the island territory. The administration
argued that delays in Puerto Rico were due to geographic limitations” (Banerjee).
“Geographic limitations” don’t explain why the territory is still struggling to recover from the storm four years later. It’s simply another excuse the U.S. uses to justify their selfish decision-making. The America that existed during the Trump Administration was a “racially and linguistically diverse country led by a president devoted to preserving a narrow, racist vision of Americaness” (Keating). But, we are no longer led by a President who is a bigot. The Biden Administration opens the door to new opportunities in terms of immigration policy and focusing on the benefits of multiculturalism.
People educated about Puerto Rico and its history with the United States believe it is time to transform a commonwealth territory into statehood and let Puerto Ricans decide the future of their national status for themselves.
After Puerto Ricans voted ‘yes’ on a referendum asking whether or not the territory should become a U.S. state in November, 2020, Congresswoman Jenniffer González-Colón spoke with PBS NewsHour:
“Right now, Congress decides the regulations of the air we breathe, the water we
drink, and we do not have participation. I mean, I'm the only member representing
the island and we don't have Senators. We should be having at least four members
of the House. So how is the most democratic country in the whole world going to
fight for democracy in all corners and then in your backyard, you still have a territory,
you still have a colony? I truly believe that statehood will provide the same resources
Hawaii and Alaska received at that time. And that was the property value will go up
dramatically during the first ten years of statehood in those two former territories.
The economy grew more than 100 percent because of the American flag for
investments in property” (NewsHour).
González-Colón also explained how Republicans can’t use the excuse that “Puerto Ricans are going to be Democrats because that’s not the reality” (NewsHour). Statehood for Puerto Rico has been in the Republican platform since the 1960s, which only highlights that the fear of Puerto Rican statehood comes from “personal prejudices that many have” (NewsHour). These prejudices stem from fear of a non-white majority dominating America in the future.
Data from the 2020 Census showed historic jumps in Latinx populations in the U.S. According to the census, “Latinos or Hispanics contributed 10 million people—over half of the nation’s 2010 to 2019 growth” (Frey). The most recent census also “suggests that past projections of increased racial and ethnic diversity may have been too cautious given the accelerated aging and decline of the white population” (Frey). But the data from the census is misleading when it comes to the concept of a “majority-minority” America.
Sociologist Richard Alba is skeptical about this theory because it assumes immigrants fail to assimilate into American cultures. He explains that “the rising numbers of people from mixed ethno-racial backgrounds is a sign of growing integration into the mainstream by members of minority groups, especially those of recent immigrant origin, such as Asians and Hispanics” (Miller). Alba also predicts “a future in which many Americans think of themselves as outside the boxes of traditional Census categories—not as members of discrete racial or ethnic groups but rather as multiracial or multicultural Americans” (Miller). This rejects the “majority-minority” mentality that refers to the idea that nonwhite Americans will outnumber whites by 2050 because immigrants are no longer members of “unmeltable groups” (Miller). Alba’s recent book, “The Great Demographic Illusion,” explores the flaws in the “majority-minority” narrative:
“Many ‘nonwhites’ are assimilating into an American mainstream, much as white
ethnic groups did before them. Government statistics have failed to account for this
complex reality, partly for political reasons, and in doing so they’ve encouraged
sloppy thinking about the country’s future... The surge in mixing across ethno-racial
lines is one of the most important and unheralded developments of our time” (Miller).
It’s important to remember that assimilation does not mean a complete abandonment of one’s roots and culture. Rather, it can mean an addition to the strong cultural identity someone already has. Mr. Alba thinks that America “needs a new narrative,” one that would be “less threatening to the white majority and at the same time would allow minorities to become a part of the mainstream ‘us’ without abandoning their distinctiveness” (Miller). This idea could be fulfilled if Puerto Rico was granted statehood.
Puerto Ricans are already “a part of the mainstream ‘us.’” They serve in the military, are eligible for the draft, and pay most federal taxes. Puerto Rico’s current economic and political state have been perpetuated by natural disasters and legislation imposed by the U.S. Puerto Ricans have a strong history and identity, one that is tied closely to the U.S.—but not defined by it. That identity is exemplified through Bad Bunny’s music and rise to fame as an artist who stuck to his Puerto Rican roots.
Although some bigots may fear that this identity will ruin the foundation of American ideals, Puerto Rican statehood is what the good side of American multiculturalism is all about. In his 1955 speech titled “Let Us Now End American Colonialism” Ernest Gruening, the former governor of Alaska, pointed out that “our nation was born of revolt against colonialism” (Keating). He continued:
“What more ironical (sic), then, what more paradoxical, than that [our nation]
maintains Alaska as a colony? What could be more destructive of American purpose
in the world? And what could be more helpful to that mission of our nation than to rid
America of its last blot of colonialism by admitting our only two incorporated
territories—Alaska and Hawaii—to the equality they seek, the equality provided by
the long-established and only possible formula, namely statehood?” (Keating).
Sadly, this wasn’t America’s “last blot of colonialism.” If you replaced the words Alaska and Hawaii with Puerto Rico, this speech could have easily been given today.
It is ironic then that a country built on a “revolt against colonialism” is so hesitant to end its colonial rule over Puerto Rico. Perhaps, with more time and more education about Puerto Rico’s current situation, Americans will realize it’s impossible to take pride in our “multicultural society” if we are hesitant to embrace a culture that is already so intertwined in our history.
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