rammagen wrote:While that ladiy's mother may have known the issues this woman chose to speak has no clue and no right to Identify as a Latina. I say that a Puerto Rican American. I doubt she has ever heard a racial slur directed at her I doubt she has never served in the Military or done anything for this nation or the Island of Puerto Rico.
I still think it should be mandatory to get into Politics to serve in the military at least one term. learn how to live closely with people of every type and color learn to depend on them because your life may depend on it. Live in the tight quarters and learn how to respect to the other person as a person. Then go into politics because you will have a greater understanding of the other people and cultures.
The sad part is Puerto Ricans have served and gave their lives for the US since W.W.1, every generation of my family has had members that have served proudly down to the next generation. We need to become a state with the Virgin Islands in the worse way we have all the sacrifices but with limited benefits.
Just look at the response for hurricanes. The Jones act is laughable at best and is a way to drive costs up on the Island so the mainland profits. Start with repealing that and then there is a basis for talks. What is the republican nightmare is Puerto Ricans coming here and because we are US citizens and voting Dem. Look at Florida as an example.
https://www.wric.com/news/politics/will-puerto-ricans-new-to-florida-swing-state-to-democrats/
Much respect to your family for the service fam! I co-sign that statehood point and Jones act. I hate that statehood looks like the only way out of the mess that was forced on Puerto Rico by those mainland profit incentives. My cynicism has me thinking the only way that the Jones Act ever goes away is via statehood. I remember reading about the Kochs investing a gang of money on displaced Puerto Ricans in Florida. I wish there was a path to sovereignty but I don't think imperialism would allow for that anyway, we'd have more independence claiming State's Rights than independence (where they'd just drive out uncooperative leadership like they always have with Latin American leaders).
Edit: Did you see this bit of news? It's the type of independent decision making that I'd like to see (of course in this case it has to go through Congressional approval though). Of course this proposal comes from two reps of Puerto Rican descent.
https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/puerto-rico-not-congress-must-determine-its-future-our-bill-ncna1238032
What the convention negotiates and puts forth would then be voted on in a referendum by the people of Puerto Rico before presentation to the U.S. Congress. The key is that this framework would be developed by Puerto Ricans and for Puerto Ricans, not dictated to them like so many previous policies.
Until now, Puerto Rico has been ravaged by decisions made unilaterally by Congress. In one especially disastrous move for the economy, Congress began phasing out an important manufacturing tax break in the mid-1990s that had long bolstered the island. In particular, pharmaceutical firms that had previously flocked to the commonwealth left in droves, eroding the local economy and tax base.
Over the years, most notably during the period in which those companies fled the Island, the government of Puerto Rico borrowed heavily, fueling the current debt crisis. That fiscal crisis was compounded by a puzzling law Congress crafted in the 1980s that excluded Puerto Rico from bankruptcy tools available to other localities.
Puerto Rico’s local environment also suffered from Washington’s mistreatment. The island of Vieques was subjected to decades of U.S. Navy test bombings of everything from Agent Orange to depleted uranium, and Viequenses suffer higher rates of cancer than the rest of Puerto Rico. While more than 200,000 Puerto Ricans have served in U.S. conflicts since World War I, the U.S. military has still not addressed the health and environmental damage it instigated in Vieques.
More recently, as Puerto Rico has endured hardship from Hurricane Maria, earthquakes in January and, now, the spread of COVID-19, the island has received inadequate assistance from the federal government.
All these problems underscore the need to politically empower Puerto Ricans. It is understandable that many of our friends in the Democratic Party have eyed making Puerto Rico a state as the answer. That view gained further traction after the U.S. House recently passed legislation that would move the District of Columbia toward statehood.
But this approach, often undertaken with the best of intentions, is misguided. Puerto Rico’s history is vastly different from the District’s. Unlike D.C., the island had a unique Caribbean heritage that existed long before it was forcibly seized by the United States.
Equally important, there isn’t overwhelming support for statehood in Puerto Rico, as there is in D.C. With Washington, most opposition to statehood emanates from Republican lawmakers in Congress, none of whom reside in the district.
Conversely, in Puerto Rico there remain visceral disagreements about the status issue. Despite five plebiscites, “statehood” has never received an unequivocal mandate from Puerto Rican voters. The two most recent referenda were marred by voting irregularities and dismal participation. In fact, the U.S. Department of Justice refused to validate the results of the 2017 referendum. While yet another nonbinding status vote is scheduled for November, the recent primary fiasco in Puerto Rico does not inspire much confidence that the outcome will be any more reflective of popular opinion than previous votes.
For true, legitimate change, Puerto Rico’s status must be resolved from the ground up. Plans for altering the Island’s relationship with the U.S. should not just garner the consent of the Puerto Rican people; they should originate with them. In fact, many in Puerto Rico would view Congress pushing statehood not as an end to colonization, but the culmination of it.
That's a good chunk of the story but there's more in there. This is a better offer than I expect Congress to ever put through tbh, but it includes some nice references to our culture and the complexities of the statehood debate. I'd like to see statehood coupled with something like this, where the people vote on and decide the path. PROMESA felt like the opposite and set us up for more pain.
* We have a Brunson Burner™ * 
