Colonialism in North America

As I tend to stay up most of the night working on all kinds of blog reading, article seeking, audio collecting, and video editing – sometimes my eyes play tricks on me. Sometimes I think I see things wrong or I must be way too sleepy. That’s the feeling I had when I saw the headline yesterday that citizens of the US island of Puerto Rico were denied the right to vote in presidential elections.

photo by flickr member lynnifer

Puerto Rico, the commonwealth of the United States for almost 100 years. Who’s people are citizens of the United States. People who were drafted to fight in all the wars the country has waged since the 1st world war. Good enough to die for the country, but not qualified to vote for the so-called democratically elected leader of the free world. Doesn’t seem so free if you’re sitting in Puerto Rico. Probably seems ironic if you’re walking the streets of Baghdad peering around every corner to avoid being shot or blown up, and you’ve got an American flag sewn onto your arm, and you salute sir-yes-sir to some commanding officer from a state that can actually vote. Maybe when the Iraqi army is ready they can go liberate Puerto Rico. Until recently, the military used to test weapons of mass destruction in Puerto Rico. Good enough to test bombs, fight in the wars, pay some taxes, and salute the flag… but still not good enough to vote for president.

Freedom is clearly on the march. Colonialism is thriving too.