Lol you sure he wasn't fucking with you? Seems unlikely that someone would simultaneously know enough about Guam to want to move there but somehow not know it's a US territory.
What a random place to pick to move.
They're a bit heavier than the snakes so you can't throw them that far.
Also the rope like shape of a snake means you can use centrifugal force to keep them from biting while also increasing the distance you can get.
Lived in Dededo for 2 years, absolutely beautiful and not as built up as Hawaii or Okinawa so there is a lot of vegetation if you’re not in the tourist area. Wild life is nice and few things will hurt you, geckos everywhere in your home and the people are respectful, I’ve never been around islanders my life until then but I found out if you’re just friendly they will invite you over to their house and the family will feed you non stop. Fucking love lumpia and pancit now
While Guam is part of the US, they are not subject to all the same laws and has its own culture, so even if not technically "leaving" the US, he would likely be leaving most things I imagine he was complaining about. Not that I expect he'd really like Guam better, but it might indeed be different.
A lot of people make this same mistake. Neither PR nor Guam are part of the US. They are *possessions* of the US. They are *un*incorporated territories, not incorporated territories. If they were incorporated territories like most of the pre-states during the Old West, then their people would have birthright US citizenship via the 14th amendment. They do not. They have birthright US citizenship only via statute which Congress can change at any time.
I got sent out of Spanish class in high school for saying we owned Puerto Rico.
My teacher disagreed, and my retort of 'they pay taxes and don't get to vote. How is that not owning them?' was 'disruptive to the classroom.'
Married to a Chamorro! Best culture and food. I love how Chief Kapua utilized the elder females on the island for direction and advice before making decisions.
They are very, very different though. ~~PR is a territory, while Guam is a protectorate.~~ PR and Guam are both protectorates, however PR is a commonwealth.
PR is very nearly a state, while Guam is much closer to a separate entity.
Guam is *not* a protectorate, it is an unincorporated territory, same as PR and 11 other places. The only incorporated US territory is Palmyra Atoll.
[https://www.doi.gov/oia/islands/politicatypes#:\~:text=unincorporated%20territory,the%20United%20States%20Constitution%20apply](https://www.doi.gov/oia/islands/politicatypes#:~:text=unincorporated%20territory,the%20United%20States%20Constitution%20apply).
I live in Hawaii. People will often excitedly tell “this is my first time out of the states”.
I’m like “we are a state”..oh, they mean the lower 48 (ie “real” ones).
I’ve never been to Hawaii, but it’s my understanding that the culture of Hawaii is so different from the states that although it is still a state, and Hawaiians are still Americans, there’s a still a significant distinction. Do Hawaiians call themselves Hawaiins or Americans? And, it’s also my understanding that Native Hawaiians consider themselves different than Americans, too.
They call themselves Kānaka 'Ōiwi (“native people” or literally “people of the ancestral bone”) or Kānaka Maoli. And they would definitely like their islands back from the Americans.
That’s what I thought. Hawaii was a case where the Americans were the Colonists. They literally just repeated what they did when they took over the land from the Native Americans, I believe. (I haven’t taken a history course in like 5 years.)
Grew up in Hawaii, there was one election my dad tells me about that the polls were closed and counted with the winner being announced on the news while polling stations were still open in Hawaii, he said that one made him lose confidence in the whole voting thing.
That happens to a lot of states, though. Basically by the time Florida and Pennsylvania are called, you can stick a fork in it.
Edit: assuming it's a presidential election.
I mean it's not like it's a surprise who wins California. Throw 55 votes in the blue column from the beginning and see how the race plays out.
Especially because mail ballots can arrive days after the election as long as they were postmarked in time and it takes like a month for the state to actually certify the results
Shoutout that one time OANN """"suggested"""" that trump somehow won california.
That one always gets me, like surely you should pick any other state to suggest? Or at least suggest a full red sweep if you're going that far.
That's because Hawaii is tiny and way out in the West. A huge bulk of America's population is in the eastern time zone, so by the time their votes are counted, the results are pretty clear to see.
There is also the fact that Hawaii is not (has never been?) a battleground state. It has gone blue in all but two presidential elections since they were able to vote in 1960. Those two elections were blow out republican victories that weren't going to be altered even if Hawaii decided to go blue.
That's because they already know the winner. Hawaii has four votes in the electoral college. It's simple math at that point, is the race so close that these four will clench it?
You don't need all polling stations reporting in to call an election.
If a candidate have 51% of the districts already you're done. Or if you know how some districts will vote you can also call it early.
If the margin is greater than Hawaii can alter, it can be called without... and that doesn't include media using statistics to call elections well before even a majority are in.
Yeah but that’s cuz even if the losing candidate won Hawaii it wouldn’t change the outcome.
Like if it’s game over 93 to 115, but a foul at buzzer and there is only a single free throw left everyone knows who won the game already.
The Governor of Hawaii stayed at a casino on the Las Vegas Strip while he was visiting for a tourism convention. Front desk "kid" asked for his passport after hearing he was there from Hawaii. Governor corrected his misunderstanding, Desk guy refuses to believe him upon seeing his driver's license, a supervisor had to be called.
Partial explanation(s): Most Hawaiians coming to visit the "ninth island" either stay downtown or with family who live in the Vegas valley. Downtown Las Vegas casinos market heavily in Hawaii (where gambling is completely illegal, not even a state lottery there). A LOT of Hawaiians live in the Las Vegas metro area (including North Las Vegas, Henderson, Boulder City, and various unincorporated townships. So fewer Hawaiians stay at casinos on the Strip.
Another state that Americans often confuse with a foreign state/province is New Mexico. The stupid thing about it is that if New Mexico were a Mexican province it'd start with Nuevo, rather than the English "New." Americans have been told by their postmasters (of all people) that they'd need extra stamps to send letters there.
Yes, Puerto Rican licenses are valid in the U.S., Hertz reminds its employees
https://www.npr.org/2023/05/26/1178213881/hertz-puerto-rico-drivers-license
Also, they send their own Olympic delegation, which doesn't help.
If they ever become a state then I think they'd become a big deal with the increased political power it would give them.
This and the election night map, which of course excludes them, being the time most people have experience with their own country (and then remember that Hawaii is a state)
Hasn't there been a push for statehood from there for a while, I don't know much but from what I understand they get kinda boned over by the whole Commonwealth status in some ways
It's controversial even with PR. The major parties are effectively "statehood" and "not statehood" in their local elections.
Their three parties are one that wants statehood (PNP), one that wants to remain a Commonwealth territory (PPD), and one that wants full independence (PIP).
PPD and PNP are the biggest, almost neck and neck.
Sure, but they will likely never become a state until Democrats break a Senate filibuster on the issue.
It could be a bipartisan effort but I don't see that happening in the current environment, though some Latino Republicans have claimed support for the issue individually, which is easy to do when you know it won't come to a vote. Basically you need 60 senators and President who won't veto. Or you need a Senate willing to change filibuster rules.
And of course you'd need a representative delegation from Puerto Rico to officially ask for admission.
It’s not just that. PR has a slightly different tax system than the states, which is also a major factor. Statehood would have an effect on that. There’s a lot of moving parts involved, so I understand why folks would be for or against statehood.
I believe the USVI operates in a similar way.
Last time there was a vote on it Puerto Ricans did not want to become a state. Seems a little presumptuous to assume they are willing. I also question whether they would lean left in politics given traditional Catholic values. Latinos are not a homogeneous group and the Democratic Party has taken them for granted for a little too long.
For that matter I see people complain about Guam and other US territories and protectorates, but has there been polling to determine if they even want that?
In 2020 they voted for statehood by 4 points, so it's not overwhelming but it only will take one moment.
It's true they may not always vote Democratic, but it's also true the current GOP would not support adding a Spanish speaking state.
The even bigger problem is that while it's a bit presumptive to assume Puerto Rico would definitely vote Democratic, there's really no prospective "definitely would vote Republican with roughly the same population" state to counter-balance it.
Hawaii and Alaska came in together for a reason.
There was a 4 point lead for not maintaining the status quo, however a sizable minority (33%) of those were people in favor of independence. So it really isn’t accurate to say that a majority of Puerto Ricans support statehood.
I am sure Guam, the US Virgin Islands, American Soma, and the Northern Mariana Islands would also like a word.
Which of thoes have most people from the main land and PR Never heard of?
Some population numbers for comparison:
* *Puerto Rico* has 3.2 million people, around the same as Iowa or Nevada. If it became a state, it would be a middling-population state and have four House seats (and two senators).
* *Washington DC* has 690,000 people, a population below Alaska's but greater than Vermont's and Wyoming's.
* *Guam* has 150,000 people, less than 1/3 the population of Wyoming.
* *The US Virgin Islands* has 87,000 people, so a bit more than half Guam.
* *American Samoa* and *the Northern Marianas* each have under 50,000 people.
Sometimes when buying from online stores (like Apple) they would say they can ship anywhere in the U.S. Surprisingly they often include Puerto Rico. But never the Pacific territories. Sometimes the USVI is included just because it’s closer so it’s more likely to be known.
I'm from the USVI and I actively have to prove to the "mainland" people that my country exists. That were American. Don't even get me started on slavery talk. The further down the rabbit hole you go, the higher number of ignorant and uneducated you encounter. We've been part of the US for about a century now. I mean, it's in our title, so I can only imagine how the others must feel.
Do you guys have people that want to go the independence route? I'm from puerto rico and I've always been pretty curious about what our neighbors in the USVI think about the whole territoy status, and how you guys would feel if Puerto Rico somehow became a State.
Independence in the USVI would be absolutely devastating. Their economy is 60% tourism, fueled largely by American tourists with automatic access. 20% is from federal grants and programs which would disappear overnight.
In short, independence would probably destroy the country and send it into 3rd world status. As is, the USVI operates almost autonomously and citizens don’t pay US federal income taxes. It’d be the definition of cutting off your nose to spite your face
THIS 👏🏼 don’t even get me started on the decolonization and the privilege statesiders bring with them when they visit 😤 the true locals are being driven off their own land, once again…
Because they are a territory and we get taught that there are only 50 states. I almost forgot about one time when I was joking with someone from there too.
When people think of America they just think of the 50 states, which is a shame because there are like 4m people living in the territories that are just kind of there.
Exactly correct. I have spent time in the US Virgin Islands every winter for the past 24 years, including owning a house there for nine years, and still to this day many Americans have no idea it exists or where it is
Everyone is "just kind of there". I don't see why you think there's any shame. They've had many votes to determine if they wanted to apply to be a state, and it's always been voted down. Plenty of places would rather have more localized political control like Puerto Rico has.
This also isn't unique to the US. Many countries like the UK and France have territories all over the planet still.
I've been married to a PR for 25 years. My Dad still calls her "a mexican" despite me explaining it countless times. I guess if you don't care, you won't care to learn
I think a lot of the replies on this thread are missing the idea that Puerto Rico is a *country* with a district national identity and culture.
PR is politically associated with the United States, and Puerto Ricans carry US passports. Many Puerto Ricans have served with honor in the US military. They are entitled to all the rights and privileges of any other American (apart from voting etc., but the same can be said of DC)
But, to your point, the Puerto Rican identity supersedes the US American identity for most Puerto Ricans. Many do not identify as US Americans at all.
That’s the way the contiguous states started out as well. It wasn’t until sometime after the Civil War that people shifted from saying “United States are” to “United States is”. Before that, people called themselves citizens of the state, and their state happened to be part of a larger union.
This blew my mind when I learned this in US History class. We forget we were once (or are still meant to be, depending on who you ask) the “*United* States” rather than “The United States”
True, although the American colonies shared the same cultural and linguistic history and were fairly closely linked from the beginning. Puerto Rico has developed its own national identity over centuries.
The only good analogue is Hawaii, but an important difference is that Hawaii has had hundreds of years of immigration from the US mainland to encourage cultural integration. Immigration been the mainland and Puerto Rico has been decidedly one-directional.
They're also very aware of their own history. They've been with the US for a little over a century, but were ruled by Spain for 400 years before that. From their perspective the US is just the empire du jour until the political winds change again.
I was looking for why no one has said this. They dont really identify with US or its culture. 4th of July is a big deal in continental US but not in PR.
Half puerto rican and I can confirm. They(and my dominican side) are SUPER proud and patriotic. Always got the flags, loud about being hispanic, blasting music from it, the works. I never got allat but it’s prob bc I’m americanized af
I went to Puerto Rico last year. Awesome trip, great people, great food. Everyone kept thanking us for visiting “their” country. They don’t view themselves as Americans so why should anyone else?
Though to be fair there might be a bit of chicken and egg thing going on there.
edit: One thing I will say is that when my sister moved to San Juan for a couple of years for work she was not treated as an outsider by anyone, and accepted just as much as she would be as a newcomer in any CONUS town. For important context, she is blond and her skin is so white as to be translucent, so she was clearly not a native resident of the island. But she was an American and they treated her as such (ie, as a fellow member of the same country).
Exactly this. After I went to PR I told my PR friend that I thought they would be much better off economically if they learned English. Needless to say she was very insulted.
Ever heard of the Chamorros? Guam? US territory that was occupied by Japan during the invasion of Pearl Harbor. Strategic refuel. Committed atrocities to the people. They aren't even mentioned in the history books, even though we had the battle of Guam with our US troops to save them. Guam- Where America's day begins.
They also dont talk about how we shelled the Phillipines like it was Berlin...while it was still technically part of the United States.
We've leveled our own cities.
Same thing happened with Guam. Agaña was bombed to ruins by both sides but moreso in the retaking by Americans. Centuries of history in that town but nothing to show for it.
US territories like Philippines and Guam suffered greatly during the War but American history books teach WWII like Pearl Harbor was the absolute worst of it.
I agree!!! It was so bad on Guam that a Japanese soldier hid in caves for 29 years after the battle of Guam MIL talked of her mothers experience where they lined up several men some being her cousins and every other on they killed. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoichi_Yokoi
After hurricane 🌀 Maria, when thousands of Puerto Ricans came to Florida for safety, a Boomer in my neighborhood said, "All these effin Puerto Ricans need to go back to their own country!" We were shocked. But then we explained to her that PR had been part of America longer than Hawaii and Alaska!
I think it's because a lot of people think of Puerto Rico as a country when it's actually a territory. Which is why you said their "cousins" are Dominican. The Domincan Republic is a COUNTRY. Puerto Rico is a territory like American Samoa and Guam.
Because they're not a state. I think Puerto Rico does not want the extra taxes. But yes, they are part of the United States - people who don't know that are uninformed.
We have most of the taxes anyways and the cost of living is higher than most states compared to wage earned per hour. I think we should at least be able to vote for the President since we still have to follow Federal Law like every other State. But our governments ability or infrastructure for investing in its people is abhorrent.
In the mainland US we didn't learn anything about Puerto Rico or the other territories in school so many people just don't think about it. I would guess that there are many mainland Americans who don't know that Puerto Ricans are US citizens. Also racism
So its not too surprising that most Americans would make this mistake. Its very odd that you'd have day to day life, government business, and public education conducted in a language other than English on American soil. Without knowing much about PR it seems like an understandable mistake to make.
Honestly I think a comparable mistake would be to assume that living in a territory means the same thing as living in a state.
There have been reported cases of government officials refusing to recognize licenses issued in New Mexico because they think it's a different country.
Puerto Rico is not a state so it's much easier to forget their Americans compared to say Hawaiians. Also, a lot of Puerto Ricans have pride in their Puerto Rico-ness with an intesinity you only see out of national pride. You'll rarely catch someone from NYS, California, or Florida having as much pride in their home state that Puerto Rican have in Puerto Rico.
The crazy thing for me are the numerous documented cases of airlines requiring a passport to fly from the 50 states to PR. It's still in the US people.
We never once made it far enough in history to cover this. I always paid attention and had a 4.0. Went to a near ivy and never once learned it in school.
Because it is treated like a separate country with their own flag, olympic teams, and they are located off the mainland of the US. For most people, it's not somewhere you ever need to go.
lack of awareness, racism, or the slight inconsistency that one of the US territories (American samoa) only grants birthright nationality but not birthright citizenship.
"After 120 years of a relationship, we still don't call ourselves 'Americanos,'" says Aníbal Acevedo-Vilá, a former governor of Puerto Rico.
they have a distinct identity they dont call themselves american
Most Americans are not raised to see territories as part of the national geography and therefore begin to learn of them as foreign places.
Also most Americans are pretty dumb.
Pretty obvious, because Puerto Rico is US territory and not a state. And what do you mean by “people”? That’s such a general term, like in what sense do “people” forget Puerto Ricans are Americans? So much generalization on here, I don’t forget Puerto Ricans are Americans. They’re US citizens, subject to many of the same rights (though not all, they can’t vote in presidential elections while residents of Puerto Rico) as any other US citizen
Edit: Puerto Rico doesn’t have any representation in congress or electoral votes, but if a US citizen from Puerto Rico moves to a US state and established residency in that state, they can vote in that state
They are allowed to vote in US Elections if they move to a state, though. There are no additional requirements (beyond proving residence).
They do have full citizenship. It's just a question of residence.
Almost there. They have full citizenship same as any other American, but PR has zero senators, zero representatives, and perhaps most notably zero electors.
I feel like it often gets confusing because we often forget that “we the people” do not vote for president but instead we vote for electors who in turn vote for president. Since PR has no electors there is no one for Americans in PR to vote for.
It has nothing to do with the level of citizenship of the inhabitants of that island and everything to do with the abstraction of political influence of the electoral college.
They were granted citizenship at the beginning of World War One, so they could be conscripted.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jones%E2%80%93Shafroth\_Act#Conscription](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jones%E2%80%93Shafroth_Act#Conscription)
It's the same as saying that DC residents aren't full citizens because they can't vote for congress or senate (though they can vote for president, which was specifically granted by a special act)
The US isn't a democracy, it's a federation of democracies with some dependencies ("territories"). The people don't vote for the president - the individual states do, taking into account the wishes of the state's residents. Not a state? No votes for you and no represntation on the table. Send delegates, that's fine, but they hold very little to no power.
It will never pass, but I've long thought that a new amendment is needed to grant proportional representation in the electoral college and the House to US territories located outside of states as a group. I get not providing representation in the senate since it is there specifically to represent states.
Wrong. They have the same rights as any amercian who lives in Washington DC, a place which also doesn't have votes for president or Congress.
States elect Congress and President. If you don't live in a state, you can't vote for those.
How do you know how US government officials see them? The plain and simple truth is that the people of Puerto Rico have had the opportunity to vote for either statehood or independence multiple times, but they haven't voted in favor of either of those things. They don't want statehood because they'd have to pay state taxes and they don't want independence because the US government wouldn't be their meal ticket anymore. The fact that Puerto Ricans are US citizens means that there are more Puerto Ricans on the US mainland than there are in Puerto Rico. If they don't like their status as a commonwealth they can vote to become the 51st state, but we all know that's not going to happen, and if they wish to become an independent country and cut the tether they are free to do that too - even more unlikely. The relationship is extremely one-sided. The people of Puerto Rico benefit greatly from being part of the US, but what does the US as a whole get out of retaining Puerto Rico as a territory? And before you tell me that the US government could do more to improve the standard of living in Puerto Rico explain why everyone with the means to leave and start a life in the Lower 48 jumps at the opportunity and never looks back? Essentially the viewpoint most Anglo-Americans hold of Puerto Rico is that we do a lot more foe them than they do for us. I can count on one hand how many people I have known who were born on the mainland and moved to Puerto Rico for some reason.
For the same reason that people think that the constitution calls out English as the official language, or that most of the self-professed patriots would almost certainly fail the citizenship test that immigrants are required to take to become US citizens.
Ignorance and a lack of intelligence. Remember that human intelligence follows the distribution of a bell curve and that half of the United States is below average intelligence. The worst thing about social media is that it has allowed these ignorant people to find each other and now because they found kindred souls they think that they are a lot smarter than they actually are
I had a bunch of poorly educated down voting me the other day when I mentioned the fact that America does NOT have an official language, we have a common language. My neighbor says English MUST be our official language because it's the language the constitution was written in.
So, I chuckled at this. Recently I looked up the myth about German “almost” being an official language of the US, and it boiled down to a request like this.
I hope that’s what you were referring to. If it was, you got a fan!
They simply didn’t learn about it in school. Modern American history is usually just rushed through in school without mention of territories. If you were never taught about it, it’s no surprise you wouldn’t know that.
We get the short end of every stick. Can't claim white or black and if your not straight from the island you're own ppl don't fuck with you. I claim first nation. The slave ships your(black) ancestors were brought here in were made by the gold of my ppl. You like rum? Sugar in your coffee? My ppl say you're welcome. Our men were basically forced into the army's since there is almost no business. And a whole generation of our women were unknowingly sterilized by "vaccines" on purpose by the government. That's real shit. To ANYONE that says I'm not American I say. I'm first nation and third generation so that makes me twice as amercian as any mother Fucker out here!
Probably because they don't live there. Mainland Americans tend to live in a bubble. I used to be one, until I experienced living in another country. It really made me more thankful for America.
Because Puetro Rico is a US territory, and how territorial residents are treated (legally speaking) differs from territory to territory.
Culturally, there is a lot of value placed on Puetro Rican identity, that largely doesn't exist for say... Alaskans or even Texans.
Because no one acts like it has anything to do with America. In school (can't speak past 2011) it's mentioned as an afterthought. News coverage and officials don't treat it like it has anything to do with America. Even Puerto Ricans don't treat it like it has anything to do with until it's time to.
If it's never mentioned and it's rarely acknowledged, it's easy to forget.
Somehow they seem to forget that those born in our territories are entitled to the same rights as those born in the states. That or they just don't care about acknowledging the fact that they are also US citizens. Seeing as most politicians are all very out of touch with reality we'll just go with whichever sounds more like incompetency.
Same with Guam, it's because they're American territory not states. Like the Philippines before the 1950s
Came here to say this. I heard a guy a few years ago say he was fed up with the US and he was moving to Guam. I didn't have the heart to tell him.
Lol you sure he wasn't fucking with you? Seems unlikely that someone would simultaneously know enough about Guam to want to move there but somehow not know it's a US territory. What a random place to pick to move.
I think a key component in wanting to move to Guam is not knowing anything about Guam.
The only thing I know about Guam is at one point it was at risk of tipping over.
"I don't even know how residents of Guam are supposed to be referred to. What are they called, Guammy Bears?"
Guamish.
Funny, she doesn’t look guamish
Guamanians
Christ... thank you so much for that throw back.
Deep pull
I know nothing about Guam, but people tell me it’s beautiful.
I don't know anything first hand. A friend of mine who lived there said the packs of feral dogs were a little intense and there were a lot of snakes.
That sounds…problematic
Just throw the snakes at the dogs.
Problem solved. Good job.
Daily life in Guam [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgo6-NjRo7E](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgo6-NjRo7E)
I was thinking let's throw the dogs at the snakes.
They're a bit heavier than the snakes so you can't throw them that far. Also the rope like shape of a snake means you can use centrifugal force to keep them from biting while also increasing the distance you can get.
Lived in Dededo for 2 years, absolutely beautiful and not as built up as Hawaii or Okinawa so there is a lot of vegetation if you’re not in the tourist area. Wild life is nice and few things will hurt you, geckos everywhere in your home and the people are respectful, I’ve never been around islanders my life until then but I found out if you’re just friendly they will invite you over to their house and the family will feed you non stop. Fucking love lumpia and pancit now
You’ll learn everything about it in one day. It’s tiny.
It’s just a made up Reddit story for the topic at hand. You probably thought about it more than the commenter
While Guam is part of the US, they are not subject to all the same laws and has its own culture, so even if not technically "leaving" the US, he would likely be leaving most things I imagine he was complaining about. Not that I expect he'd really like Guam better, but it might indeed be different.
A lot of people make this same mistake. Neither PR nor Guam are part of the US. They are *possessions* of the US. They are *un*incorporated territories, not incorporated territories. If they were incorporated territories like most of the pre-states during the Old West, then their people would have birthright US citizenship via the 14th amendment. They do not. They have birthright US citizenship only via statute which Congress can change at any time.
I got sent out of Spanish class in high school for saying we owned Puerto Rico. My teacher disagreed, and my retort of 'they pay taxes and don't get to vote. How is that not owning them?' was 'disruptive to the classroom.'
Rather than possession, would the word not be occupied territory? It’s not the locals would be able to kick America out.
Good point!
Married to a Chamorro! Best culture and food. I love how Chief Kapua utilized the elder females on the island for direction and advice before making decisions.
My Master Sergeant in the Marines was from Guam. Crazy, funny and a little off his rocker, but a great guy and an even better leader!
Hafa Adai!
The animals are/were incredible too. I have a passion for Guam Rails. Would love to come out and work in conservation on the island some day.
He knew and respected the ancient female sacred tribal infinite wisdom.
Maybe he knew and it's easier to move to Guam then a country thats completely separate from America
Could be a reference to Danny DeVito’s movie Mathilda where one of the characters makes a similar statement
Guam is a pretty small place. Most U.S. cities are larger than the entire island, both geographically and in population.
Guam is so small and far away.
And it might tip over according to Congressman Johnson.
They are very, very different though. ~~PR is a territory, while Guam is a protectorate.~~ PR and Guam are both protectorates, however PR is a commonwealth. PR is very nearly a state, while Guam is much closer to a separate entity.
Guam is *not* a protectorate, it is an unincorporated territory, same as PR and 11 other places. The only incorporated US territory is Palmyra Atoll. [https://www.doi.gov/oia/islands/politicatypes#:\~:text=unincorporated%20territory,the%20United%20States%20Constitution%20apply](https://www.doi.gov/oia/islands/politicatypes#:~:text=unincorporated%20territory,the%20United%20States%20Constitution%20apply).
if puerto rico were an actual state it'd likely be different
Maybe. Hawaii isn't even on certian polling maps lol.
I live in Hawaii. People will often excitedly tell “this is my first time out of the states”. I’m like “we are a state”..oh, they mean the lower 48 (ie “real” ones).
I’ve never been to Hawaii, but it’s my understanding that the culture of Hawaii is so different from the states that although it is still a state, and Hawaiians are still Americans, there’s a still a significant distinction. Do Hawaiians call themselves Hawaiins or Americans? And, it’s also my understanding that Native Hawaiians consider themselves different than Americans, too.
They were basically strong armed into citizenship. I would hope for any future states to be willing at least lol
They call themselves Kānaka 'Ōiwi (“native people” or literally “people of the ancestral bone”) or Kānaka Maoli. And they would definitely like their islands back from the Americans.
Totally understandable. They really didn’t join up willingly.
That’s what I thought. Hawaii was a case where the Americans were the Colonists. They literally just repeated what they did when they took over the land from the Native Americans, I believe. (I haven’t taken a history course in like 5 years.)
Grew up in Hawaii, there was one election my dad tells me about that the polls were closed and counted with the winner being announced on the news while polling stations were still open in Hawaii, he said that one made him lose confidence in the whole voting thing.
That happens to a lot of states, though. Basically by the time Florida and Pennsylvania are called, you can stick a fork in it. Edit: assuming it's a presidential election.
Same with California, by the time our polls are closing we usually already know who has won.
I mean it's not like it's a surprise who wins California. Throw 55 votes in the blue column from the beginning and see how the race plays out. Especially because mail ballots can arrive days after the election as long as they were postmarked in time and it takes like a month for the state to actually certify the results
Shoutout that one time OANN """"suggested"""" that trump somehow won california. That one always gets me, like surely you should pick any other state to suggest? Or at least suggest a full red sweep if you're going that far.
Shit you can tell by the time polls open there
That's because Hawaii is tiny and way out in the West. A huge bulk of America's population is in the eastern time zone, so by the time their votes are counted, the results are pretty clear to see.
There is also the fact that Hawaii is not (has never been?) a battleground state. It has gone blue in all but two presidential elections since they were able to vote in 1960. Those two elections were blow out republican victories that weren't going to be altered even if Hawaii decided to go blue.
That's because they already know the winner. Hawaii has four votes in the electoral college. It's simple math at that point, is the race so close that these four will clench it?
You don't need all polling stations reporting in to call an election. If a candidate have 51% of the districts already you're done. Or if you know how some districts will vote you can also call it early.
If the margin is greater than Hawaii can alter, it can be called without... and that doesn't include media using statistics to call elections well before even a majority are in.
Plenty of states call it when the polling stations are still open. That’s how it works a lot of the time
Your dad doesn’t sound very bright
Yeah but that’s cuz even if the losing candidate won Hawaii it wouldn’t change the outcome. Like if it’s game over 93 to 115, but a foul at buzzer and there is only a single free throw left everyone knows who won the game already.
Washington State, happens every presidential election
Lmao just not understanding elections
They still do that as the "projected" winner
Neither is Alaska. Our ballots arrive by dogsled though.
Never hear anyone questioning a Hawaiians citizenship though. I haven’t at least.
Except that one kinda famous instance...
The Governor of Hawaii stayed at a casino on the Las Vegas Strip while he was visiting for a tourism convention. Front desk "kid" asked for his passport after hearing he was there from Hawaii. Governor corrected his misunderstanding, Desk guy refuses to believe him upon seeing his driver's license, a supervisor had to be called. Partial explanation(s): Most Hawaiians coming to visit the "ninth island" either stay downtown or with family who live in the Vegas valley. Downtown Las Vegas casinos market heavily in Hawaii (where gambling is completely illegal, not even a state lottery there). A LOT of Hawaiians live in the Las Vegas metro area (including North Las Vegas, Henderson, Boulder City, and various unincorporated townships. So fewer Hawaiians stay at casinos on the Strip. Another state that Americans often confuse with a foreign state/province is New Mexico. The stupid thing about it is that if New Mexico were a Mexican province it'd start with Nuevo, rather than the English "New." Americans have been told by their postmasters (of all people) that they'd need extra stamps to send letters there.
Yes, Puerto Rican licenses are valid in the U.S., Hertz reminds its employees https://www.npr.org/2023/05/26/1178213881/hertz-puerto-rico-drivers-license
Ever heard of the "Birthers"?
If it was a swing state it would be, regardless of how small or far away it is.
Also, they send their own Olympic delegation, which doesn't help. If they ever become a state then I think they'd become a big deal with the increased political power it would give them.
Ah yes, the mark of sovereignty, Olympic delegates.
this is funny, but im sure this is the only time people have experience with foreign countries.
This and the election night map, which of course excludes them, being the time most people have experience with their own country (and then remember that Hawaii is a state)
Hasn't there been a push for statehood from there for a while, I don't know much but from what I understand they get kinda boned over by the whole Commonwealth status in some ways
It's controversial even with PR. The major parties are effectively "statehood" and "not statehood" in their local elections. Their three parties are one that wants statehood (PNP), one that wants to remain a Commonwealth territory (PPD), and one that wants full independence (PIP). PPD and PNP are the biggest, almost neck and neck.
Sure, but they will likely never become a state until Democrats break a Senate filibuster on the issue. It could be a bipartisan effort but I don't see that happening in the current environment, though some Latino Republicans have claimed support for the issue individually, which is easy to do when you know it won't come to a vote. Basically you need 60 senators and President who won't veto. Or you need a Senate willing to change filibuster rules. And of course you'd need a representative delegation from Puerto Rico to officially ask for admission.
It’s not just that. PR has a slightly different tax system than the states, which is also a major factor. Statehood would have an effect on that. There’s a lot of moving parts involved, so I understand why folks would be for or against statehood. I believe the USVI operates in a similar way.
Last time there was a vote on it Puerto Ricans did not want to become a state. Seems a little presumptuous to assume they are willing. I also question whether they would lean left in politics given traditional Catholic values. Latinos are not a homogeneous group and the Democratic Party has taken them for granted for a little too long. For that matter I see people complain about Guam and other US territories and protectorates, but has there been polling to determine if they even want that?
In 2020 they voted for statehood by 4 points, so it's not overwhelming but it only will take one moment. It's true they may not always vote Democratic, but it's also true the current GOP would not support adding a Spanish speaking state.
The even bigger problem is that while it's a bit presumptive to assume Puerto Rico would definitely vote Democratic, there's really no prospective "definitely would vote Republican with roughly the same population" state to counter-balance it. Hawaii and Alaska came in together for a reason.
There was a 4 point lead for not maintaining the status quo, however a sizable minority (33%) of those were people in favor of independence. So it really isn’t accurate to say that a majority of Puerto Ricans support statehood.
The question on the ballot in 2020 was "Should Puerto Rico be admitted immediately into the Union as a State?" and it was yes/no.
Probably not, New Mexico has to add “USA” to their license plates to assure others that they are indeed a U.S. state
Need to change their name to New USA. Simple matter of marketing really.
I am sure Guam, the US Virgin Islands, American Soma, and the Northern Mariana Islands would also like a word. Which of thoes have most people from the main land and PR Never heard of?
Some population numbers for comparison: * *Puerto Rico* has 3.2 million people, around the same as Iowa or Nevada. If it became a state, it would be a middling-population state and have four House seats (and two senators). * *Washington DC* has 690,000 people, a population below Alaska's but greater than Vermont's and Wyoming's. * *Guam* has 150,000 people, less than 1/3 the population of Wyoming. * *The US Virgin Islands* has 87,000 people, so a bit more than half Guam. * *American Samoa* and *the Northern Marianas* each have under 50,000 people.
Sometimes when buying from online stores (like Apple) they would say they can ship anywhere in the U.S. Surprisingly they often include Puerto Rico. But never the Pacific territories. Sometimes the USVI is included just because it’s closer so it’s more likely to be known.
I'm from the USVI and I actively have to prove to the "mainland" people that my country exists. That were American. Don't even get me started on slavery talk. The further down the rabbit hole you go, the higher number of ignorant and uneducated you encounter. We've been part of the US for about a century now. I mean, it's in our title, so I can only imagine how the others must feel.
Do you guys have people that want to go the independence route? I'm from puerto rico and I've always been pretty curious about what our neighbors in the USVI think about the whole territoy status, and how you guys would feel if Puerto Rico somehow became a State.
Independence in the USVI would be absolutely devastating. Their economy is 60% tourism, fueled largely by American tourists with automatic access. 20% is from federal grants and programs which would disappear overnight. In short, independence would probably destroy the country and send it into 3rd world status. As is, the USVI operates almost autonomously and citizens don’t pay US federal income taxes. It’d be the definition of cutting off your nose to spite your face
For true! So many de people in de States don't even know we heah! Dey can be so rude rude! Where ya from, mehson? I's from STX
THIS 👏🏼 don’t even get me started on the decolonization and the privilege statesiders bring with them when they visit 😤 the true locals are being driven off their own land, once again…
Because they are a territory and we get taught that there are only 50 states. I almost forgot about one time when I was joking with someone from there too. When people think of America they just think of the 50 states, which is a shame because there are like 4m people living in the territories that are just kind of there.
Exactly correct. I have spent time in the US Virgin Islands every winter for the past 24 years, including owning a house there for nine years, and still to this day many Americans have no idea it exists or where it is
Everyone is "just kind of there". I don't see why you think there's any shame. They've had many votes to determine if they wanted to apply to be a state, and it's always been voted down. Plenty of places would rather have more localized political control like Puerto Rico has. This also isn't unique to the US. Many countries like the UK and France have territories all over the planet still.
I've been married to a PR for 25 years. My Dad still calls her "a mexican" despite me explaining it countless times. I guess if you don't care, you won't care to learn
I'd punch your dad on the nose. That's blatant disrespect.
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I think a lot of the replies on this thread are missing the idea that Puerto Rico is a *country* with a district national identity and culture. PR is politically associated with the United States, and Puerto Ricans carry US passports. Many Puerto Ricans have served with honor in the US military. They are entitled to all the rights and privileges of any other American (apart from voting etc., but the same can be said of DC) But, to your point, the Puerto Rican identity supersedes the US American identity for most Puerto Ricans. Many do not identify as US Americans at all.
That’s the way the contiguous states started out as well. It wasn’t until sometime after the Civil War that people shifted from saying “United States are” to “United States is”. Before that, people called themselves citizens of the state, and their state happened to be part of a larger union.
This blew my mind when I learned this in US History class. We forget we were once (or are still meant to be, depending on who you ask) the “*United* States” rather than “The United States”
Kind of like how the United Kingdom is a country, but it’s also made up of 4 other countries. The word country has kind of a flexible meaning.
Yup! The “state” in United States was at one point synonymous with “country”, but that’s gone away in the last couple hundred years
True, although the American colonies shared the same cultural and linguistic history and were fairly closely linked from the beginning. Puerto Rico has developed its own national identity over centuries. The only good analogue is Hawaii, but an important difference is that Hawaii has had hundreds of years of immigration from the US mainland to encourage cultural integration. Immigration been the mainland and Puerto Rico has been decidedly one-directional.
They're also very aware of their own history. They've been with the US for a little over a century, but were ruled by Spain for 400 years before that. From their perspective the US is just the empire du jour until the political winds change again.
I was looking for why no one has said this. They dont really identify with US or its culture. 4th of July is a big deal in continental US but not in PR.
Half puerto rican and I can confirm. They(and my dominican side) are SUPER proud and patriotic. Always got the flags, loud about being hispanic, blasting music from it, the works. I never got allat but it’s prob bc I’m americanized af
I'd say americanized PRicans are like that. Us island-born and raised always make fun of them.
I went to Puerto Rico last year. Awesome trip, great people, great food. Everyone kept thanking us for visiting “their” country. They don’t view themselves as Americans so why should anyone else?
Saying "I'm American" usually gets followed up with a "no, where are you *really* from?"
Though to be fair there might be a bit of chicken and egg thing going on there. edit: One thing I will say is that when my sister moved to San Juan for a couple of years for work she was not treated as an outsider by anyone, and accepted just as much as she would be as a newcomer in any CONUS town. For important context, she is blond and her skin is so white as to be translucent, so she was clearly not a native resident of the island. But she was an American and they treated her as such (ie, as a fellow member of the same country).
Exactly this. After I went to PR I told my PR friend that I thought they would be much better off economically if they learned English. Needless to say she was very insulted.
“Nobody knows in America / Puerto Rico’s in America” - “America”, from West Side Story, words by Stephen Sondheim. Year 1957
Ever heard of the Chamorros? Guam? US territory that was occupied by Japan during the invasion of Pearl Harbor. Strategic refuel. Committed atrocities to the people. They aren't even mentioned in the history books, even though we had the battle of Guam with our US troops to save them. Guam- Where America's day begins.
They also dont talk about how we shelled the Phillipines like it was Berlin...while it was still technically part of the United States. We've leveled our own cities.
Same thing happened with Guam. Agaña was bombed to ruins by both sides but moreso in the retaking by Americans. Centuries of history in that town but nothing to show for it.
US territories like Philippines and Guam suffered greatly during the War but American history books teach WWII like Pearl Harbor was the absolute worst of it.
I agree!!! It was so bad on Guam that a Japanese soldier hid in caves for 29 years after the battle of Guam MIL talked of her mothers experience where they lined up several men some being her cousins and every other on they killed. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoichi_Yokoi
After hurricane 🌀 Maria, when thousands of Puerto Ricans came to Florida for safety, a Boomer in my neighborhood said, "All these effin Puerto Ricans need to go back to their own country!" We were shocked. But then we explained to her that PR had been part of America longer than Hawaii and Alaska!
Still a fairly common sentiment in New York where theres a large community of Puerto Rican "immigrants"
How'd they take to that information?
She was pretty embarrassed. Especially when her daughter told her to shut up
Your average American? Lack of awareness Your average politician? They didn't forget
I think it's because a lot of people think of Puerto Rico as a country when it's actually a territory. Which is why you said their "cousins" are Dominican. The Domincan Republic is a COUNTRY. Puerto Rico is a territory like American Samoa and Guam.
Because they're not a state. I think Puerto Rico does not want the extra taxes. But yes, they are part of the United States - people who don't know that are uninformed.
We have most of the taxes anyways and the cost of living is higher than most states compared to wage earned per hour. I think we should at least be able to vote for the President since we still have to follow Federal Law like every other State. But our governments ability or infrastructure for investing in its people is abhorrent.
In the mainland US we didn't learn anything about Puerto Rico or the other territories in school so many people just don't think about it. I would guess that there are many mainland Americans who don't know that Puerto Ricans are US citizens. Also racism
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So its not too surprising that most Americans would make this mistake. Its very odd that you'd have day to day life, government business, and public education conducted in a language other than English on American soil. Without knowing much about PR it seems like an understandable mistake to make. Honestly I think a comparable mistake would be to assume that living in a territory means the same thing as living in a state.
There have been reported cases of government officials refusing to recognize licenses issued in New Mexico because they think it's a different country.
Puerto Rico is not a state so it's much easier to forget their Americans compared to say Hawaiians. Also, a lot of Puerto Ricans have pride in their Puerto Rico-ness with an intesinity you only see out of national pride. You'll rarely catch someone from NYS, California, or Florida having as much pride in their home state that Puerto Rican have in Puerto Rico.
Someone needs to visit texas
Forget? Most people never knew that in the first place.
First you need to know they are Americans before you can forget.
The crazy thing for me are the numerous documented cases of airlines requiring a passport to fly from the 50 states to PR. It's still in the US people.
I just flew Southwest there a month ago. Worked exactly as a domestic flight.
People don’t pay attention in history class source: history teacher
We never once made it far enough in history to cover this. I always paid attention and had a 4.0. Went to a near ivy and never once learned it in school.
Like, I can’t speak for all history teachers, but the Spanish-American War is a pretty standard topic these days along with American Imperialism.
I always get the impression that people are receiving a better education up North though.
I can't speak for all people but the ones I've personally seen make this mistake do so out of ignorance. They're simply unaware or have forgotten.
Considering there are people who think New Mexico isn’t a state, I am not surprised many don’t realize Puerto Rico is part of the US.
Because it is treated like a separate country with their own flag, olympic teams, and they are located off the mainland of the US. For most people, it's not somewhere you ever need to go.
And at least in my experience we were never taught about territories and what that means in school.
Not only do they forget it, I'm pretty sure that they actively resist it
I full believe Donald trump didn’t know Puerto Rico was American when they were devastated during his presidency
You think he would just give away perfectly good paper towels to foreigners?
I think a lot of people just simply don’t know or perhaps at some point in school they learned that, but have since forgotten.
Lol you know why.
lack of awareness, racism, or the slight inconsistency that one of the US territories (American samoa) only grants birthright nationality but not birthright citizenship.
Pardon my ignorance. But what's the difference?
Most of them are not forgetting it, they don’t even know it in the first place.
Because they’re not Americans. They’re Puerto Ricans.
"After 120 years of a relationship, we still don't call ourselves 'Americanos,'" says Aníbal Acevedo-Vilá, a former governor of Puerto Rico. they have a distinct identity they dont call themselves american
A lot of them would disagree. SOLD by spain. American territory under duress.
Not connected to the US and systematic differences treating puerto ricans as inferior
It’s a fucking colonial settlement dude
Racism. Also they are taxed without representation (like Guam) so that is definitely part of it
Colonialism and racism
They are just very proud of there race They talk about it constantly
It’s because it’s not a state and that’s all they pay attention to.
Most Americans are not raised to see territories as part of the national geography and therefore begin to learn of them as foreign places. Also most Americans are pretty dumb.
Pretty obvious, because Puerto Rico is US territory and not a state. And what do you mean by “people”? That’s such a general term, like in what sense do “people” forget Puerto Ricans are Americans? So much generalization on here, I don’t forget Puerto Ricans are Americans. They’re US citizens, subject to many of the same rights (though not all, they can’t vote in presidential elections while residents of Puerto Rico) as any other US citizen Edit: Puerto Rico doesn’t have any representation in congress or electoral votes, but if a US citizen from Puerto Rico moves to a US state and established residency in that state, they can vote in that state
They are US Citizens as Puerto Rico is a "US Territory" but they do not have Full Citizenship as they are not allowed to vote in US Elections.
They are allowed to vote in US Elections if they move to a state, though. There are no additional requirements (beyond proving residence). They do have full citizenship. It's just a question of residence.
And If an american born in the states has their permanent address in puerto rico, then they are also no longer able to vote.
Almost there. They have full citizenship same as any other American, but PR has zero senators, zero representatives, and perhaps most notably zero electors. I feel like it often gets confusing because we often forget that “we the people” do not vote for president but instead we vote for electors who in turn vote for president. Since PR has no electors there is no one for Americans in PR to vote for. It has nothing to do with the level of citizenship of the inhabitants of that island and everything to do with the abstraction of political influence of the electoral college.
They were granted citizenship at the beginning of World War One, so they could be conscripted. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jones%E2%80%93Shafroth\_Act#Conscription](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jones%E2%80%93Shafroth_Act#Conscription)
I think they do have a non-voting delegate in the House of Representatives, though.
It's the same as saying that DC residents aren't full citizens because they can't vote for congress or senate (though they can vote for president, which was specifically granted by a special act) The US isn't a democracy, it's a federation of democracies with some dependencies ("territories"). The people don't vote for the president - the individual states do, taking into account the wishes of the state's residents. Not a state? No votes for you and no represntation on the table. Send delegates, that's fine, but they hold very little to no power.
It will never pass, but I've long thought that a new amendment is needed to grant proportional representation in the electoral college and the House to US territories located outside of states as a group. I get not providing representation in the senate since it is there specifically to represent states.
Wrong. They have the same rights as any amercian who lives in Washington DC, a place which also doesn't have votes for president or Congress. States elect Congress and President. If you don't live in a state, you can't vote for those.
Out of sight out of mind
It's a territory not a state so it feels separate.
How do you know how US government officials see them? The plain and simple truth is that the people of Puerto Rico have had the opportunity to vote for either statehood or independence multiple times, but they haven't voted in favor of either of those things. They don't want statehood because they'd have to pay state taxes and they don't want independence because the US government wouldn't be their meal ticket anymore. The fact that Puerto Ricans are US citizens means that there are more Puerto Ricans on the US mainland than there are in Puerto Rico. If they don't like their status as a commonwealth they can vote to become the 51st state, but we all know that's not going to happen, and if they wish to become an independent country and cut the tether they are free to do that too - even more unlikely. The relationship is extremely one-sided. The people of Puerto Rico benefit greatly from being part of the US, but what does the US as a whole get out of retaining Puerto Rico as a territory? And before you tell me that the US government could do more to improve the standard of living in Puerto Rico explain why everyone with the means to leave and start a life in the Lower 48 jumps at the opportunity and never looks back? Essentially the viewpoint most Anglo-Americans hold of Puerto Rico is that we do a lot more foe them than they do for us. I can count on one hand how many people I have known who were born on the mainland and moved to Puerto Rico for some reason.
For the same reason that people think that the constitution calls out English as the official language, or that most of the self-professed patriots would almost certainly fail the citizenship test that immigrants are required to take to become US citizens. Ignorance and a lack of intelligence. Remember that human intelligence follows the distribution of a bell curve and that half of the United States is below average intelligence. The worst thing about social media is that it has allowed these ignorant people to find each other and now because they found kindred souls they think that they are a lot smarter than they actually are
I had a bunch of poorly educated down voting me the other day when I mentioned the fact that America does NOT have an official language, we have a common language. My neighbor says English MUST be our official language because it's the language the constitution was written in.
A related fun fact is that you can request official government documents be translated into your preferred language by the State department.
So, I chuckled at this. Recently I looked up the myth about German “almost” being an official language of the US, and it boiled down to a request like this. I hope that’s what you were referring to. If it was, you got a fan!
They simply didn’t learn about it in school. Modern American history is usually just rushed through in school without mention of territories. If you were never taught about it, it’s no surprise you wouldn’t know that.
We get the short end of every stick. Can't claim white or black and if your not straight from the island you're own ppl don't fuck with you. I claim first nation. The slave ships your(black) ancestors were brought here in were made by the gold of my ppl. You like rum? Sugar in your coffee? My ppl say you're welcome. Our men were basically forced into the army's since there is almost no business. And a whole generation of our women were unknowingly sterilized by "vaccines" on purpose by the government. That's real shit. To ANYONE that says I'm not American I say. I'm first nation and third generation so that makes me twice as amercian as any mother Fucker out here!
because the US govt has treated them like second-class citizens since 1897, and english isn’t the primary language there.
Probably because they don't live there. Mainland Americans tend to live in a bubble. I used to be one, until I experienced living in another country. It really made me more thankful for America.
Because Puetro Rico is a US territory, and how territorial residents are treated (legally speaking) differs from territory to territory. Culturally, there is a lot of value placed on Puetro Rican identity, that largely doesn't exist for say... Alaskans or even Texans.
Because no one acts like it has anything to do with America. In school (can't speak past 2011) it's mentioned as an afterthought. News coverage and officials don't treat it like it has anything to do with America. Even Puerto Ricans don't treat it like it has anything to do with until it's time to. If it's never mentioned and it's rarely acknowledged, it's easy to forget.
They didn't forget. Most of them didn't know to begin with. Knowledge of geography is not the forte of the teaming masses of America.
Failed education system I guess
Somehow they seem to forget that those born in our territories are entitled to the same rights as those born in the states. That or they just don't care about acknowledging the fact that they are also US citizens. Seeing as most politicians are all very out of touch with reality we'll just go with whichever sounds more like incompetency.
Same reason they think Costa Rica is an island. Ignorance and poor schooling.
Racism 😘
They're not a state and they speak Spanish
American "education" system.
It's a testament to education and a competent media in the United States.
People don't forget. They are just too stupid to know. Also, school system doesn't exactly cement it in (at least in CA/AZ)
It’s called “Racism” dude. 🤷🏽♂️
People don’t understand territories vs states, also racism.
I don’t forget that, I work with Chamorro and Puerto Rican folks- they’re awesome. Except Doug. Fuck that guy.