Former U.S President Bill Clinton was in Puerto Rico earlier this week, stumping for his wife Hillary before the island holds it's Democratic Primary on June 1st. But was Bill Clinton's message heard?But on Monday, the culture gap between Clinton and Puerto Ricans, who were granted U.S. citizenship in 1917, sometimes seemed insurmountable. When Clinton walked into the rally in Barceloneta, he sat on a stage and listened as four local politicians introduced him in Spanish. One introducer, among 18 local politicians at the event, turned away from the microphone and looked back at Clinton, eager to interpret for him.I should note that the granting of U.S. citizenship in 1917 wasn't something that was asked for by the people of Puerto Rico and that Puerto Ricans cannot vote in the November general elections.
"When I say 'presidente,' " the mayor said, "that means I'm talking about you."
Clinton flashed a thumbs-up and smiled wanly, but he looked distracted during the Spanish speeches. Then he walked to the microphone, shielding his eyes against the 90-degree sun. He rattled off a thank-you list of Spanish names and mispronounced two of them.
As about 1,000 people crowded under white awnings to escape the heat, Clinton proceeded to give a jargon-heavy speech in English about health care and energy efficiency. Nobody interpreted, and only a handful of audience members seemed to understand him. The crowd -- raucous and dancing a few minutes earlier -- remained mostly silent during the 10-minute speech. Some people left. Others chatted on their cellphones.
"What is he saying? Do we clap now?" asked Jerry Nieves Rosario, a college student who speaks only Spanish. "If I had known about this, maybe I would have stayed home."
Source : Washington Post
1 comment:
While you are correct that Puertoricans did not "ask," i.e., petition, vote, etc. for U.S. citizenship, the implicit conclusion that Puertoricans in 1917 did not want U.S. citizenship is incorrect. There was plenty of discussion as to what could/should happen in P.R. at that time.
In 1917, Puertoricans were no longer Spanish citizens. A "Puertorican" citizenship as such did not exist since P.R. wasn't an independent political community. And Puertoricans were not U.S. citizens. That left Puertorican residents in political limbo.
I guess the better way to put it is to say that U.S. citizenship was imposed/granted on Puertorican residents without their consent. And even that is misleading since the Jones Act of 1917 included an "opt-out" provision. Of course, how good is an opt-out provision if it would leave you in political limbo.
And while I don't believe that conscription into the U.S. Army was the reason for the Jones Act, it was clearly a reason.
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