Looking at Phyllis Schlafly's comments regarding Puerto Rican statehood, it becomes clear that this cultural divide is a significant part of the political question regarding Puerto Rico's status. Schlafly points out that, "The Puerto Rican independence faction is small, but that doesn't mean its members would acquiesce in being outvoted in a democratic election. They are among the most militant groups in the world and are responsible for domestic terrorist incidents in the United States.' (Schlafly). However, her greatest concern is the fact that Puerto Ricans are unwilling to accept assimilation as the price for statehood. According to Schlafly, "The most important issue about Puerto Rico statehood is that it would transform the United States overnight into a bilingual nation. Puerto Ricans don't speak English, don't intend to learn it, and are even antagonistic to the whole idea of learning English." (Schlafly). In addition, Puerto Rico's impoverished status has kept many Americans from endorsing the statehood option, because "the average income of Puerto Ricans is less than half that of our poorest state, and infrastructure and the environment are far below American standards, so statehood would bring immediate demands for massive federal funding." (Schlafly). While Schlafly's concerns may seem overtly racist to most people, there does seem to be some legitimacy in her concerns. She worries that Puerto Rican statehood could start America "down the road of countries that have fought bloody wars when minority populations tried to maintain a separate language and cultural identity within another nation, such as Quebec, Ireland, Bosnia, and Iraq." (Schlafly). Placed in that perspective, it makes sense for Americans to question the idea of statehood.
It also makes sense for Puerto Ricans to question the idea of statehood. Americans have proven historically resistant to non-assimilation, which means that statehood will probably result in the eventual loss of the Puerto Rican cultural identity, even if Puerto Rico was entitled to keep Spanish as its official language upon attaining statehood. Statehood is unlikely to provide an immediate fix for Puerto Rico's economic woes; though it is poorer than the poorest state in the United States, a comparison of the wealth of different states makes it clear that statehood does not confer wealth. In fact, Puerto Ricans are already entitled to significant government benefits aimed at alleviating their financial woes, which would mean that statehood probably would not benefit individual Puerto Ricans financially. However, Puerto Rico does not get the same type of money for infrastructure as states do, and statehood would help improve its infrastructure to that of a major world power, rather than a third-world nation. Statehood would give Puerto Rico a voice in the federal government, both by providing representatives in the House of Representatives and the Senate, and by giving Puerto Ricans an actual voice in U.S. presidential elections. However, it is naive to assume that such a voice would have a dramatic impact. Puerto Rico would still have a diverse set of cultural traditions and real needs, compared to the existing 50 states, and it would probably be decades before any Puerto Rican representatives could exercise any type of substantial power in any branch of the Federal government.
It is essential to realize that statehood is not the only other option for Puerto Rico. On the contrary, Puerto Rico has several viable options besides statehood. An examination of the political movements that have sprung up in Puerto Rico helps one understand the pros and cons of each of these options. It is telling to note that:
Most Puerto Rican political parties since 1898 had attempted to modify the political relations between the island and the U.S. federal government; the island's Republican Party favoured statehood, whereas the Union Party worked for greater autonomy. The Nationalist Party arose in the 1920s and argued for immediate independence. Meanwhile, the pro-U.S. Socialist Party, led by the highly respected labour leader Santiago Islesisas, remained focused on the plight of Puerto Rico's laboring classes, but its program had little support, because popular attention was largely concentrated on the political status of the island. (Encylopaedia Britannica).
These efforts make it clear that the political status of Puerto Rico has always been an important issue for Puerto Ricans.
Today's Puerto Ricans continue to be concerned about its political status, even though many of the old political parties have been eaten up by the two...
(Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)) "After spending 85 days in jail for not giving up the name of source Lewis 'Scooter' Libby as part of the controversial CIA leak case in 2005, former New York Times reporter Judith Miller could say she has a vested interest in getting a federal journalism shield law on the books. Since leaving the Times, Miller has become an advocate for the shield law."
The genetic factors were also excluded as having a major influence in the medical condition according to studies that showed that genetic factors that may influence the illness are overcome in proportion of 3:1 by environmental factors (Guaranaccia, 1981, 11). In her study, Laura Gonzales points out that Puerto Rican migrants are keeping in close contact with their relatives, friends and acquaintances from the islands, traveling back and forth, being
Puerto Rico is a Caribbean Island which was formerly settled by two Native American tribes, Caribe and Arawak. In 1493, this Island was captured by Spain and up until about 400 years it was ruled by the Spanish. The native settlers during this time period had become slaves to the Spanish and with time as their population began to lessen, outsiders including black slaves were imported and the Indian race
Puerto Rico became a possession of the United States after the Spanish-American War in 1898, but has never been fully incorporated into the Union (Pantojas-Garcia, 2013). It later became a Commonwealth in 1952, a status it maintains to this day. The subject of the status of Puerto Rico has, since that time, been controversial. There have been multiple referendums on the subject, the latest in 2012, but as yet there
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