03-08-2021, 01:01 PM
Just looking over one of Wes's links here. The paradoxes and unclarities generated by the debate over Puerto Rico are fascinating. This author argues that giving Puerto Ricans voting rights and Congressional representation is "the latest form of American colonialism."
But that's not how colonialism generally works--giving the dominated an equal right to vote. What I am struggling to understand is the degree to which absence of direct representation protects Puerto Rican political autonomy, given that PRs must already follow U.S. laws they cannot vote for.
White liberals must stop pushing Puerto Rican statehood for their own benefit. Let us decide.
https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/white-liberals-must-stop-pushing-puerto-rican-statehood-their-own-ncna1247419
Telling a nation you colonized that you know what's best for them is no more progressive in this century than it was in the last two.
The liberal fantasy of having 104 U.S. senators — i.e., four new guaranteed Democrats to end the Republican majority — is all dependent on statehood being granted to Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. And while the push for D.C. statehood might have more credibility inside Washington and inside the progressive movement, the push on the mainland for Puerto Rico statehood is now mostly coming from a group of people who lack any real knowledge about the colony’s history or its long-standing independence movement.
In fact, white liberals' newfound desire to grant Puerto Rico statehood to thwart Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is just the latest form of American colonialism. It is not as overt as when U.S. troops invaded Puerto Rico in 1898, but it is still colonialism.
The fantasy of granting Puerto Rico statehood just so the Senate can have more Democratic senators rather than as an acknowledgment of the fact that Puerto Ricans are and always should have been equal partners in the American experiment speak to exactly what colonialism is all about: the patronizing attitude that white, mainland Americans' political priorities are of greater importance than those of the people who live there, and that they generally know better than the people who do live there, who don't need to decide what they want.
Aren't there "black liberals" who want Puerto Rican statehood as well?? The Congressional Black Caucus stands up for them in Congress.
But that's not how colonialism generally works--giving the dominated an equal right to vote. What I am struggling to understand is the degree to which absence of direct representation protects Puerto Rican political autonomy, given that PRs must already follow U.S. laws they cannot vote for.
White liberals must stop pushing Puerto Rican statehood for their own benefit. Let us decide.
https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/white-liberals-must-stop-pushing-puerto-rican-statehood-their-own-ncna1247419
Telling a nation you colonized that you know what's best for them is no more progressive in this century than it was in the last two.
The liberal fantasy of having 104 U.S. senators — i.e., four new guaranteed Democrats to end the Republican majority — is all dependent on statehood being granted to Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. And while the push for D.C. statehood might have more credibility inside Washington and inside the progressive movement, the push on the mainland for Puerto Rico statehood is now mostly coming from a group of people who lack any real knowledge about the colony’s history or its long-standing independence movement.
In fact, white liberals' newfound desire to grant Puerto Rico statehood to thwart Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is just the latest form of American colonialism. It is not as overt as when U.S. troops invaded Puerto Rico in 1898, but it is still colonialism.
The fantasy of granting Puerto Rico statehood just so the Senate can have more Democratic senators rather than as an acknowledgment of the fact that Puerto Ricans are and always should have been equal partners in the American experiment speak to exactly what colonialism is all about: the patronizing attitude that white, mainland Americans' political priorities are of greater importance than those of the people who live there, and that they generally know better than the people who do live there, who don't need to decide what they want.
Aren't there "black liberals" who want Puerto Rican statehood as well?? The Congressional Black Caucus stands up for them in Congress.
![[Image: 4CV0TeR.png]](https://i.imgur.com/4CV0TeR.png)
