TLDR: Puerto Rico is NOT a part of the United States.
I see a lot of well meaning Americans saying things along the lines of "Um HELLO, Puerto Rico IS a part of the United States! They're Americans, too!" in the context of criticizing racism towards Puerto Rico e.g. Bad Bunny performing at the Superbowl. As a Boricua, I am here to tell you - PUERTO RICO IS NOT A PART OF THE UNITED STATES. This is a legal fact, not my personal opinion or cultural viewpoint.
As officially designated by the 1901 Insular Cases of the United States Supreme Court, Puerto Rico is an "unincorporated territory" "belonging to the United States, but not a part of the United States" (read: a colony - Puerto Rico is sadly but accurately dubbed The World's Oldest Colony)
People born in Puerto Rico do have US citizenship (which the US government only granted so that it could draft Puerto Ricans into the military) but are explicitly not afforded the full rights of the US Constitution. The US cherry picks what "rights" Puerto Ricans do and do not have while exploiting it as a tax haven and tourist playground. The most glaring and straightforward example - you cannot vote for the President of the US if you live in PR.
US Statehood is not a solution to any of this. That is another deeply misinformed liberal talking point. After over a century of abusing Puerto Ricans' human rights (forcibly sterilizing 1/3 of the women, using our land for bombing practice and causing insanely high cancer rates, massacring peaceful protestors, I could go on and on and on), full independence and sovereignty is the only acceptable resolution.
Yea, of course Bad Bunny can perform at the Superbowl. But because he is literally the planet's most listened to artist this year, NOT because Puerto Rico "is part of the United States." That is not true. Educated yourself. Que viva Puerto Rico libre.
I recommend War Against All Puerto Ricans by Nelson A. Denis for further reading.
