Emerging: Mi Cultura..Mi Jornada-My Culture..My Journey

Monday, June 13, 2005

To Rant and Purge... In my own Words

Another Study, More Deceit
You mean Puerto Rico is still Not the 51st State?? It seems like the hottest topic for the past five years has been about Puerto Rico and its status. In an article from the Christian Science Monitor, 2003, “taking Puerto Rico out of limbo,” the editor cited that the White House would be conducting another study. The study is meant to answer the question; should Puerto Rico become the 51st state, remain a Commonwealth or become an independent? Though the new task force that President Bush appointed has not completed this study, the discussions have been bandied about for the past 105 years.

While I agree that the people of Puerto Rico need to decide what would be best for them, I don’t agree this decision should come from one selected group of people. This task force is made up of mostly Americans who have no knowledge of what it’s like to be a Puerto Rican living on the Island or a Puerto Rican living in the United States. For this to be a fair study, the citizens who live on both sides of the spectrum should be the one’s conducting the study. It is my belief that only when Our Votes count will we have any power. The people voted into office in this country are those who will, on a daily basis, make decisions that can and will affect the people of Puerto Rico by virtue of its being a “Commonwealth of the United States.” Therefore, the people of Puerto Rico and their votes should be taken seriously.

Honestly, how would you like someone not of your country, culture, or origin; dictate what happens in your country, yet you can’t be a part of the election process that puts that person in charge of the decisions that affect your country and your people? So again, our 2.4 Million votes don’t count. Puerto Ricans have to decide if they want to be the 51st state, and yet, we are NOT the one’s leading the “study” that will allow us to truly decide for ourselves what is best for the Isla.

So I have the following questions regarding this “new” study: 1) Where are we in terms of the cost of this study? 2) How much longer will the study take to complete? 3) Why was the option of remaining a Commonwealth not included as part of what this task force should study? Last but certainly not least; 4) who benefits from the decision once the study is complete and will those benefits favor the people of Puerto Rico?

I am sure that those chosen to conduct this study are not doing so on a volunteer basis, or out of love for a people most of them wouldn’t deem good enough to sit at the same table with. Let’s face it, these studies have been going on for years, it’s still being debated here as well as in Puerto Rico, and still there's no decision.

And let us NOT forget that it is unconstitutional as well as undemocratic for the option of remaining a Commonwealth not to be included in this study. I find this to be a strong-arm tactic. The motive here is to take away the Puerto Rican's voice. It's either join or become independent. Lose yourself to the United States or lose your country to the untread waters of independence. This smacks of the same insidious tactics used on the American Indians... "We've given you citizenship, we've lulled you with our Bountiful Commerce, (not to mention stripping you of your pride with welfare), we've pretty much taken over a lot of your Island, and now we want complete control, isn't that a great deal?" I mean, what more could we possibly want?!?

While there was a time that Puerto Rico could have tried to survive as an independent nation, that option is not available today. No longer is Puerto Rico rich in sugar and tobacco that were a pretty big industry and could have become larger. So much progress has taken place that sugar cane and tobacco fields are extinct. Puerto Rico no longer has anything to export or trade with.

I feel this study as all the others before it will not answer the question of whether Puerto Rico should become the 51st state or become independent. As long as the people conducting these studies, and those making the decisions, are not the people of Puerto Rico. The study will continue to fail; the questions will continue being asked. Thus the study is useless. One thing I am pretty sure of-Puerto Rico, in this present day, could not survive as an independent nation.

I have yet to find what advantages Puerto Rico was given when it was granted U. S. Citizenship in 1917. It seems to me now, as it was then, that the people of Puerto Rico continue to give in more than what they get out. There is no balance of power; Puerto Rico lost much when they went into this agreement back in 1917, the least of which was the loss of our lands. Land that is no longer owned by us but mostly by Corporate America and the U.S.

Puerto Ricans really need to wake up and pay attention for in not doing so they will find that the decision will have been completely taken out of their hands. They will find that there is no longer La Isla. Puerto Rico will become just another overrun state in an already overrun country. We don’t need the study to be completed; Puerto Rico is still a Commonwealth of the U. S. The decisions have not been made and yet the changes can already be seen in Puerto Rico. No longer do Puerto Ricans and the occasional vacationer inhabit Puerto Rico, I daresay there are more foreigners there now than there are Puerto Ricans.

Puerto Rico…La Isla del Encanto (The Isle of Enchantment) is no more. The streets are riddled with drugs; the beaches, once beautiful and serene are beginning to lose their luster. The island, filled to bursting with progress; tall cement buildings calling themselves hotels and resorts. My final question; what are people going to find so beautiful about the island if we don’t stop the "giving of ourselves away?" Lets face it, if i want to give up a beautiful view, or go to beach where I could just walk across the street for a burger, I don’t have to go to Puerto Rico, I just stay here and do it for a lot less.

Wake Up Puerto Rico!! What are you waiting for? You fought for a small part of the Island, when you fought for Vieques, why are you NOT fighting for your rights where it matters most? What will it take for you to wake up?

Finally, Emiliano Zapata once said "I rather Die on my Feet, than Live on my Knees." We are still living on our knees, every time our voice is taken away, every time more of Puerto Rico is lost, ever time a Latino kid can't speak or understand their language, we continue to live on our knees. As a Proud Latina I say, "Una voz puede crear un murmullo, Muchas voces crean un clamor." - "One voice can create a buzz, Many voices create a roar." a.e.m. 2003
This Emergence Ocurred at , 4:30 PM

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