Post by Radrook Admin on May 26, 2022 10:31:53 GMT -5
Why no Congressional vote on Puerto Rican Statehood?
Ever wonder why the USA Congressional silence despite all the referendums concerning statehood on the island? Curiously, a recent article concerning Puerto Rico's political status, claims that the United States Congress has never cast a vote pro or con in respect to Puerto Rican statehood and that it should be understood as a non rejection of Puerto Rico as a state. '
Then, in an attempt to lend credence to this quaint idea, and assuage any Puerto Rican fears of rejection, it compares Puerto Rico with other former territories that were forced to wait until Congress decided to vote them into statehood. In short, it strives to assuage any Puerto Rican worries that their fervent hopes of an eventual USA Congressional vote on Statehood for the island is merely an exercise in futility.
This seems to me like a false analogy since Puerto Rico as a territory is definitely not equivalent, neither politically nor culturally, to the states that were offered as examples. You see, the states that have petitioned for statehood and were eventually granted never posed a serious cultural contrast to the other USA states. Texas, for example, didn't since its majority were USA immigrants, and neither did all the other states that the article mentions. Hawaii, for example, had been thoroughly Americanized and its native population had become the minority. Neither did any of these former territories have most of their populations already present in the USA as Puerto Rico has competing for vital albeit limited Federal resources with any other Major ethnic group. In stark contrast, Puerto Rico does.
Now, why are these two factors problematic? Well, please consider that as a USA minority-group, Puerto Ricans belong to the Latino culture and are therefor members of the Latino population in the USA. So its acceptance would greatly increases the Latino political power by granting Puerto Rico more electoral-vote power than a significant number of mainland states due to its greater population. Naturally, this would tip the balance of Republican vs. Democrats in the favor of one or the other. The present fear seems to be that it would strengthen the Democratic party So naturally Republican Congressmen prefer to keep Puerto Rico as it is.
Then there are the African-American-related issues politico-economic issues involved. You see, as a minority group, African Americans are forced to compete with Latinos for federal funds. Which means that their slice of federal funds pie would diminish. This is perceived as a great injustice since they feel that they have earned such funds and Latinos have not. In short, the feel as if they are being deprived of what is rightfully theirs.
They also fear that the passage of more favorable legislation in relation to immigration Latinos would then pour unrestricted into the USA in far greater numbers and that it would further intensify the competing for federal funding problem. Because of this, it is very natural that a significant number of African American Congressmen would be very reluctant to approve the acceptance of Puerto Rico as the fifty-first State.
Then, in an attempt to lend credence to this quaint idea, and assuage any Puerto Rican fears of rejection, it compares Puerto Rico with other former territories that were forced to wait until Congress decided to vote them into statehood. In short, it strives to assuage any Puerto Rican worries that their fervent hopes of an eventual USA Congressional vote on Statehood for the island is merely an exercise in futility.
This seems to me like a false analogy since Puerto Rico as a territory is definitely not equivalent, neither politically nor culturally, to the states that were offered as examples. You see, the states that have petitioned for statehood and were eventually granted never posed a serious cultural contrast to the other USA states. Texas, for example, didn't since its majority were USA immigrants, and neither did all the other states that the article mentions. Hawaii, for example, had been thoroughly Americanized and its native population had become the minority. Neither did any of these former territories have most of their populations already present in the USA as Puerto Rico has competing for vital albeit limited Federal resources with any other Major ethnic group. In stark contrast, Puerto Rico does.
Now, why are these two factors problematic? Well, please consider that as a USA minority-group, Puerto Ricans belong to the Latino culture and are therefor members of the Latino population in the USA. So its acceptance would greatly increases the Latino political power by granting Puerto Rico more electoral-vote power than a significant number of mainland states due to its greater population. Naturally, this would tip the balance of Republican vs. Democrats in the favor of one or the other. The present fear seems to be that it would strengthen the Democratic party So naturally Republican Congressmen prefer to keep Puerto Rico as it is.
Then there are the African-American-related issues politico-economic issues involved. You see, as a minority group, African Americans are forced to compete with Latinos for federal funds. Which means that their slice of federal funds pie would diminish. This is perceived as a great injustice since they feel that they have earned such funds and Latinos have not. In short, the feel as if they are being deprived of what is rightfully theirs.
They also fear that the passage of more favorable legislation in relation to immigration Latinos would then pour unrestricted into the USA in far greater numbers and that it would further intensify the competing for federal funding problem. Because of this, it is very natural that a significant number of African American Congressmen would be very reluctant to approve the acceptance of Puerto Rico as the fifty-first State.
www.pr51st.com/has-congress-said-no-to-puerto-rico-statehood/?unapproved=45732&moderation-hash=f225a717c937f92788f453009f70bef0#comment-45732