colliric wrote:I admit I have less knowledge about this than you. I would support your position.
I would support whichever position gives them a better chance at life.
I know you would colliric. Ironically all the Puerto Rican politicians like AOC, Nydia Velazquez and others in the congress of the USA are all for the independence option. Not one of the congresspeople of Puerto Rican heritage that can vote within the USA congress is pro statehood. Not one. Not even retired congressman from Chicago Luis Gutierrez.
All of them are not for statehood. They can vote in the USA on the house floor. The statehood party has been unable to get a conservative pro statehood Puerto Rican elected to any office in the USA that has the actual power of the vote. Why?
Stateside Puerto Ricans live in communities that tend to be very poor. They live alongside Black communities and immigrant communities. They are mostly working class, lower middle class and middle class. They are not in any huge significant numbers the elite in the USA and probably never will be. The Puerto Ricans who make it into government into positions of power? Like Sonia Sotomayor and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are rare and both of them are not pro statehood.
My husband @colliric asked the governor of Puerto Rico a long time ago who was advocating statehood for Puerto Rico at the time--he asked him this simple question full of powerful truth---and it is the same truth as why there aren't voting politicians who are Puerto Rican in the USA that advocate statehood. My husband asked Carlos Romero Barcelo of the PNP party--if Puerto Rico's economic problems could be solved simply by becoming a state? Then why do stateside Puerto Ricans do so badly in the USA? And why do island Puerto Ricans don't like how the New York Puerto Ricans come back to the island with zero Spanish and without success?
My husband was pointing out the problem that no one wanted to discuss. Puerto Ricans do poorly in the USA society. They actually at the time did far better in their own island. Speaking their own language and not assimilating to the states. In the class conscious society a mixed race, Spanish-speaking nation with a totally different history and with little possibilities of climbing out of poverty in such a racist and intolerant society based on capitalism and competition? Dominated by concepts of disdain for any people who are part African or are living in the Black neighborhoods of the USA? Colonized? They never solve the problem Colliric.
The Americas were colonized by major European powers. Just like Australia was colonized by England or the UK. All of the Caribbean islands and the Spanish speaking and Portuguese speaking lands of Latin America were colonized by Spain or Portugal. The USA by England. Canada by England and France. That is reality. The people whom they dragged in chains to work for free on the sugar cane plantations, pineapple plantations, coffee plantations, cacao plantations, etc were never respected at all. Their human rights violated. Slavery was last abolished in 1899 in Brazil. A very long time later. It has a long shadow that history. History shapes us all Colliric. It shapes us all. No time for denials and not owning up to what forces shape policy and attitudes in societies and in governments either.
The USA contrary to painting itself a paradise of respecting self determination, human rights and freedom? Never gave a damn thing to any of its people who came from a past of oppression. The USA went to war with Spain in the Spanish American war in order to loot and steal what it could of Spain's last possessions in the Americas. It was used to the stealing in that historical time period. You had Walker in Nicaragua (declaring himself the dictator of Nicaragua for the USA), you had the USA in the early 20th century encouraging and backing and directly helping create a civil war in Colombia in order to strip Panama away from Colombia in order to have the Panama Canal happen. The Panamanians still have controversies with the USA gov't about that.
The reality is that Carlos Romero Barcelo got flustered with my husband's question back then (1980). He was trying to sell a bed of roses image of what a state is going to look like for Puerto Ricans. Acceptance of our Spanish language. Our large percentage of Spanish, Taino and West African bloodlines, our incredibly Latin American ethos and idiosyncrasies and our way of doing things. The USA had trouble even accepting African Americans who were full constitutional citizens and who spoke English only from cradle to grave. The USA has had a love and hate relationship with the African American community and the immigrants too. Since the 1960's in the USA colliric, there have been many more immigrants from Latin America than from Europe or other places.
Australia for a long time did not accept large amounts of people from Asia. Why? That colonial past. Where the boss had to be from the UK. The ones running the society had to be European descent only.
The USA might reconcile its ugly racist past, just like Australia might. Meanwhile it is a battle.
The USA is a 330 million plus person MASS of humanity. I really am not naive that if Puerto Ricans live there for another hundred years being granted statehood and full rights that we are going to be living the high life and be the elite and the ones setting the rules. No. That won't happen. Look how badly the many of that nation reacted to a half black and half white president in the White House for eight years? The birther movement that Trump set up in order to question Barack Obama's American citizenship is symptomatic of a greater problem. Black people are not legitimately acceptable as equals in that society. They are not. Do you think Puerto Ricans will be? We have a history that goes back farther than the founding 13 colonies. It goes back to 1493. It was shaped by Spain. With blood and tears and problems. For hundreds of years BEFORE the USA even made an appearance promising us freedom and independence. They never did it Colliric. They never gave us our freedom. They gave the Phillipines their freedom. After bloody wars and problems. Cuba had lost emormous amounts of people led by Jose Marti trying to liberate Cuba from Spain. Every nation who is now FREE and independent had to pay a terrible price for it. Including the USA. Trying to get the Empires off your back is a very diffcult thing.
But you got to make it happen. If you don't? You won't have the right to something very important. The right to claim all of your nations great successes, victories and achievements, and all of its mistakes. Mistakes that help you grow and become better. Become the nation you always had the potential to be.
Independence is about as a basic human need as can be imagined. Parents want their kids to be independent. Why? So they are strong when they are adults and can survive this world on their feet with dignity and strength with the skills they need to have the ability to lead their own lives, make their own choices and shape their futures and their own worlds. Just like nations need that.
That is all. I hope you see the video.