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It saddens me, as an American, that was born in puerto rico, to see so many of my fellow americans be so ignorant on the issue, and so biased against Puerto Ricans. With all the progress that this country has made, it's obvious that we still have so much work to do to combat bigotries.
First, you need to institute English as the language of instruction in Puerto Rican schools. Then you have to switch from Spanish being the language of government and business to English.
This is the change I think New Mexico and Arizona went through to become part of the United States.
Beyond their obvious citizenship, do you consider Puerto Ricans legitimately American? I ask because the response to hurricanes hitting Puerto Rico is markedly different from the response when they hit the lower 48.
First, you need to institute English as the language of instruction in Puerto Rican schools. Then you have to switch from Spanish being the language of government and business to English.
This is the change I think New Mexico and Arizona went through to become part of the United States.
That's not something they "need" to do to be considered american. They are part of american, they are just not a state.
Nothing you say changes that. We are american citizens. Period. What you "believe" to be so, doesn't change the fact, that Puerto Ricans are 100% natural born americans.
Puerto Ricans are, by law, natural-born citizens of the United States.
Besides, (and I'm sure that this question has already been raised) what is a "real American" anyway?
Technically, the United States is not "America." The word "America" as it applies to the United States is a cultural, jingoistic, and nationalistic colloquialism.
"America" is a geological land mass consisting of the continents of North America and South America.
The inhabitants of every country in North America and South America are "real Americans."
To illustrate how ridiculous this thread is, using the geological criteria, Hawaiians are not "real Americans" because Hawaii is not, geologically, part of the North American and South American continents.
Geologically, Puerto Rico is an island that is also not part of the North American or South American continents so those of you who wish to believe that Puerto Ricans are not "real Americans" are geologically correct.
Agreed the coverage is not nearly as intense as it was for Irma and Harvey. And for the first page of google results, two of the articles were "will it hit the mainland"?
The liberals who run the mainstream media don't like brown people.
As are american italians, american polish, american jews, american russians, american Chinese, etc. I lived in NY, and walking into different neighborhoods, was like walking into different parts of the world.
America is, without a doubt, a melting pot of different cultures. It was founded by people from different countries. it's a shame so many people don't understand that, and want to strip people of their cultural identity, under the guise of "it's not american".
I grew up in NYC and that was the "norm" for me.
People spoke many different languages and continue to do so in ethnic enclaves all over the city.
German, Yiddish, Spanish, Polish, Russian, Italian, various Chinese dialects, Vietnamese, Korean...
Every new group that moves in is faulted for changing the nature of the previous culture, despite the fact that most of the newcomers often end up in areas that are already ethnically-specific.
It's just the ethnicity that people are already familiar with.
People in this thread, claiming that Puerto Ricans are not "real" Americans likely couldn't distinguish between someone from the island of Puerto Rico and someone from Mexico or anywhere else where Spanish is the dominant language.
All they know is that many speak Spanish which, for whatever reason, is considered "bad" unlike all of those other European languages that are somehow "good."
What has happened to Puerto Rico as the result of these hurricanes is truly horrific. If aid similar to what has been offered to Texas and Florida is not forthcoming it will clearly show that however American "culture" is represented, it isn't with character or compassion.
Absolutely, I am a strong supporter of statehood for all existing US territories (PR, Guam, USVI, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands).
Ohh my god, no. That would be a disaster.
What? So anybody can just decide to be a state?
We as a nation have a colonial past that we need to break away from. The right thing to do is help all of those nations become independent. Not just cut them off and let them sink or swim, but continue to aid Puerto Rico during a short transitional period to independence.
It would be the best for both parties in the long run.
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Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands deserve the same level of assistance that Texas and Florida got after Irma and Harvey. Period.
They are going to get that money. I don't think that's even at issue.
When I lived in NYC, when asked, Puerto Ricans living in the city always called themselves Puerto Ricans, not Americans. They have American citizenship but, without exception, I found they considered themselves Puerto Rican.
Same here. They don't even identify with the United States at all.
When they're applying for handouts, then they are American.
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