[Promoted by Meteor Blades]
With the announcement that full power may not be restored to Puerto Rico till May of 2018 — how long are we going to just stand here and watch our fellow citizens be treated worse than any other part of the U.S in recent history?
When the piece of shit Republican tax plan is such a steaming pile of excrement that can’t be cleaned up by Trump’s gift of paper towels to the island, and Puerto Rico is to be treated as a foreign country with a 20% tariff which will devastate an already devastated economy — the outrage seems to be a whimper — to my ears.
I’ve seen lots of excuses and finger pointing and blame for this.
From my perspective there is one primary cause.
Bottom line — it’s racist. That goes for the lack of interest or coverage of the USVI too. U.S policies and attitudes toward our colonies — always viewed and treated as second or third class “coloreds” has been in place since we seized them.
The print posted up top is from January 25, 1899.
Print shows Uncle Sam as a teacher, standing behind a desk in front of his new students who are labeled "Cuba, Porto Rico, Hawaii, [and] Philippines"; they do not look happy to be there. At the rear of the classroom are students holding books labeled "California, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, [and] Alaska". At the far left, an African American boy cleans the windows, and in the background, a Native boy sits by himself, reading an upside-down book labeled "ABC", and a Chinese boy stands just outside the door. A book on Uncle Sam's desk is titled "U.S. First Lessons in Self-Government".
The lesson to be learned here in 2017 is that Puerto Ricans will never get treated like nice white kids.
This country’s right-wing Republican controlled government does.not.give.a.damn about what it sees as territories we own and exploit that are filled with people who are not white by U.S. standards and perceptions.
There are no massive uprisings on “the left” either.
It is not like people on the mainland — mostly Puerto Rican and Latino, aren’t trying to raise a hue and cry. There are people raising money every day.
It isn’t enough.
We are all standing here watching the train wreck in progress that has gone on far too friggin’ long — and as the death tolls continue to rise, as more and more people suffer and try to survive, why the hell are we allowing this?
I am well aware that folks are trying to cope with Russia, Korea, health care, abuses to women, judicial appointments, wildfires...but since when do we stand by and let 3.4 million people — who are U.S. citizens be essentially abandoned by our government?
If they were “white” this never would have happened.
Trump’s base has dubbed them foreigners — and essentially said “good — let them die.”
People in Puerto Rico need light. They need power. They need drinkable water. They can’t magically become “white.”
It’s up to us all — to take to the phones and the streets to put a stop to this.
#Call4PuertoRico (202) 224-3121 (202) 456-1111
![Print shows Uncle Sam as a teacher, standing behind a desk in front of his new students who are labeled 'Cuba, Porto Rico, Hawaii, [and] Philippines'; they do not look happy to be there. At the rear of the classroom are students holding books labeled 'California, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, [and] Alaska'. At the far left, an African American boy cleans the windows, and in the background, a Native boy sits by himself, reading an upside-down book labeled 'ABC', and a Chinese boy stands just outside the door. A book on Uncle Sam's desk is titled 'U.S. First Lessons in Self-Government'.](https://images.dailykos.com/images/485020/story_image/Colony.jpg?1513429530 "Print shows Uncle Sam as a teacher, standing behind a desk in front of his new students who are labeled 'Cuba, Porto Rico, Hawaii, [and] Philippines'; they do not look happy to be there. At the rear of the classroom are students holding books labeled 'California, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, [and] Alaska'. At the far left, an African American boy cleans the windows, and in the background, a Native boy sits by himself, reading an upside-down book labeled 'ABC', and a Chinese boy stands just outside the door. A book on Uncle Sam's desk is titled 'U.S. First Lessons in Self-Government'.")
