Puerto Rican Citizenship Status in the US 'for dummies' - Or How Ignorance is Ruining This Great Country
I'm sorry, but ignorance is no longer an accepted excuse for me.
I've probably started this blog post 20 times in my head. Throughout my adult life, I've run into many situations that have made me shake my head in disbelief at the incredible ignorance that exists regarding Puerto Ricans in the United States. However, this week's incident regarding Marc Anthony's performance in Major League Baseball's all star game put the issue over the top, and I feel I need to share my voice to help educate my fellow citizens. So, here it is, read for free.
First of all, let's set the record straight:
All Puerto Ricans born in Puerto Rico are United State citizens.
How is this so, you ask, when Puerto Rico is not a state? It dates back to 1917, when Woodrow Wilson signed the Jones-Shafroth Act as passed by the US Congress:
In 1917, the US Congress passed the Jones-Shafroth Act, popularly called the Jones Act, which granted Puerto Ricans U.S. citizenship.
Puerto Ricans were being drafted into the US military to help with the effort in World War I, and as such, they were granted US citizenship from that day forward. From a Wikipedia article on World War I:
In 1917, the U.S. Congress gave U.S. citizenship to Puerto Ricans when they were drafted to participate in World War I, as part of the Jones Act.
If you're interested in a little more background, check out this article too, which gives a little bit more context and history.
There is, in fact, a lot more history with regards to Puerto Ricans' participation in the US military. Puerto Ricans have been involved in the United States conflicts dating back to the American Revolutionary War and the Civil War. We've participated in every modern conflict in which the US has been involved in from World War I until the Iraq War. There are 5 Puerto Ricans who have received the Medal of Honor, as well as six the Navy Cross and seventeen the Distinguished Service Cross. The size of the overall military-related community in Puerto Rico is estimated to be 100,000 individuals, including retired personnel. All from an island that is about 100 miles long x 35 miles across and about 1000 miles southeast of Miami.
Why do I bring all of this military history up? If you read through the Marc Anthony article, one of the underlying themes is that of deeming Hispanics to be 'unamerican'. Now, I don't know how you measure 'American-ness', but if serving in the US military in every armed conflict, sacrificing thousands of lives doesn't cut it, I have no idea what you believe in.
I know that this all star game article doesn't reflect every American's viewpoint. However, there is a very strong undercurrent here of bigotry and hatred against Hispanics which has reached epic proportions and is being fueled everyday by self-serving powerful interests across the country. Puerto Ricans are just one of the many 'classes' of Hispanics included, even though for all legal and practical purposes, we are as much US citizens as anyone else in the country. In the case of Marc Anthony, it's even worse considering he was actually born in New York, not even in the island. It's as ridiculous as calling JFK an un-american Irish illegal immigrant.
Let's consider a second fact: The United States is not ALL of America
It might seem that way to everyone born and raised in the US today, especially as I read and hear the 'Merica! battle cries everywhere. A simple history or geography class would set the record straight.
The United States is a country within North America, which combined with Central America and South America makes up all of the Americas.
So, while it might make a lot of sense for a lot of people to call Hispanics unamerican, everyone in the Western Hemisphere grew up with the notion they were part of America, regardless of whether it was Latin America, Central America, or North America. Calling someone from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras or any other Hispanic country un-american is simply another display of 'American' ignorance.
This is the saddest truth of all. Here we are, in the most powerful nation on this Earth by most measurable standards, yet we can't even show the rest of the world we know some basic truths about the world we live in. And yes, I know not everyone thinks this way, but you'd be surprised by the questions I've gotten in my lifetime about Puerto Rico by everyday 'Americans', things like
How long does it take to drive to Puerto Rico from the US?
How did I become a legal alien?
How many illegal Puerto Ricans in the US do I know?
How big are the dwellings that people live in in Puerto Rico? (Better than how do you build your huts?)
Where in South America is Puerto Rico?
Where in Mexico did you grown up?
And the list goes on and on. It's no wonder there is so much resentment from a lot of Puerto Ricans against this undercurrent, given that many feel like they're really second class citizens, discriminated in many ways.
On Puerto Rican statehood
You might not know this, but the Puerto Rican status as a country has been the central factor in Puerto Rican politics for as long as I've been alive (and much longer). Puerto Rico was initially invaded by the United States in 1898 as part of the Spanish-American war and acquired from Spain as part of the Treaty of Paris that same year.
In 1952, Puerto Rico became a Commonwealth, thus establishing a more official status for the island internationally, but still maintaining it's very close relationship to the United States.
Since 1967, there have been several referendums held in Puerto Rico with the hopes of establishing a different status for Puerto Rico, usually involving choices like staying the same, becoming a US state, becoming an independent country, among others. Which brings me to the point of Puerto Rican statehood.
My estimate is that about half of Puerto Ricans today want Puerto Rico to become a US state. I say about half, because all the latest referendums in Puerto Rico have been skewed in one way or another to favor specific results, the latest favoring statehood but built in a way that only made matters more confusing (more on that here). It only seems we've gained the same expertise in politics that our fellow American politicians display today.
Regardless of all of these referendums, I often wonder. What would Americans say if they were ever presented with the poll:
"Do you want to allow Puerto Rico to become the 51st state in the United States?"
Round them communist bastards and send them back to South America!
The US deficit would explode with having to add a little star to every flag in the country with our economy being so fragile
Don't they already have New York as a state?
You don't have to be a scholar to figure this one out. My educated guess is that this would result in an outcry of hatred, bigotry, ignorance, and discrimination that would make this Marc Anthony thing seem like children making fun of someone falling down in the playground. And that's why my view on statehood has always been one of 'Who Are We Kidding?'
Regardless of what Puerto Ricans who want statehood thought this would mean back in the 1960's, the United States they consider their dream land is not what it used to be, and that is reflected by this week's events.
An outpouring of ignorance of the worst kind, from those professing to love their country so much, offended that someone different from them would tarnish their great American image and heritage. I'm sorry, but it's time to end ignorance in this country. It's going to destroy it from within.
A wise 'American' once said "A house divided against itself cannot stand'. It's true today as it was true then, with the country splitting in half more and more every day, powered by unabated ignorance, ruining everyone's American dream.
