In the times of great men like Washington, Hamilton, Adams, and Jefferson, a political condition that denied American citizens full participation in their government would have been regarded as nothing less than a national scandal. These aforementioned men that founded our republic fought to have a form of government that would at least guarantee certain unalienable rights they found to be self evident. Among these rights are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. For the past 58 years as a “Commonwealth” under the territorial clause of the United States Constitution and for the past 112 years under the United States flag, and 400 years before that under the rule of Spain – Puerto Rico has yet to enjoy even the semblance of any of the rights the founders of our republic sacrificed so much so that all Americans could enjoy.
In “The Sword That Heals” Dr. Martin Luther King reflects that the African American community is mindful of the progress they had made but “[I]f he is still saying, ‘Not enough,’ it is because he does not feel that he should be expected to be grateful for the halting and inadequate attempts of his society to catch up with the basic rights he ought to have inherited automatically, centuries ago, by virtue of his membership in the human family and his American birthright.” Mr. President, this is exactly how we feel.
Achieving close to parity and in some cases enjoying full parity in some federal programs does not and will never fill the vacuum the present political status of Puerto Rico creates because it denies its citizens from participating fully in what should matter most in a country like ours – equal participation in the government that is meant to represent its citizens.
Mr. President it is time to take sides.
I write this letter because our conscious leaves us no other choice than to take serious steps towards liberating our citizens from the shackles of injustice and inequality. It is evident that the neutral attitude prior administrations have assumed towards Puerto Rico and its status problem is a form of neglect, which in turn is a form of domination and control that we simply cannot accept. Puerto Rico is not the content and quiet colony some in Washington may think it is – and if it ever were, those days are long gone.
Part of the process in liberating ourselves from the present situation is to urge you as our Commander In Chief to get involved in the process and to not only take action with the sense of urgency it requires, but to express and hold a firm position in support of the equal rights that 4 million American citizens residing in the island ought to have. The time to be neutral is past. The time when thinking that by saying “we support Puerto Rico self-determination” is an acceptable posture to take is also long gone. It is time to take and hold positions for what is right.
To make my point more poignant, consider imagining an alternate world where President Kennedy or President Johnson say to Dr. Martin Luther King and other leaders from the Civil Rights Movement, “We support whatever you support – your right to self-determination.” In that alternate world it would be hard to believe we would have made the progress we have made so far if those Civil Rights Movement leaders would have just accepted the Presidents words as good enough. In that alternate world, could we have had the progress we have had today when a Black American can be free to run for and win the presidency of the United States?
While it is true that we still have a long way to go before our society heals and mends all wounds our history produced, it is also true that we have a tendency to correct our wrongs - and now you have the opportunity to correct one of them by standing up for what is right for Puerto Rico. Like President Kennedy and later President Johnson – men who extended their hands to work with the African American community – you can do the same for the cause of equality by extending your hand to help us correct the wrong that has afflicted Puerto Rico for over a century under the United States flag.
The cause for freedom from the shackles of injustice and inequality must be challenged with that fierce urgency of now wherever we may find it – but Dr. King’s message has transcended that nation of that particular time, for that nation is now a different one - one whose make up is now a mosaic of cultures, and races and ethnicities all living under the same roof, working for a common cause. And in order for a country like ours to survive, it must be inclusive.
Even though Puerto Ricans are part of the American mosaic, opponents of our struggle for equality and justice argue that our uniqueness is an impediment for achieving equality and full governmental participation within the Union. But where others see barriers, we see opportunity. And where others see obstacles because of difference, we see opportunities for unity. To say that because we are ‘different’ we should be deprived of enjoying full membership of the country we are citizens of by birth is to say every other American ethnic group and race should be treated differently also.
You once wrote that you “love America too much,” and are “too invested in what this country has become, too committed to its institutions, its beauty, and even its ugliness, to focus entirely on the circumstances of its birth.” You further stated that you cannot also overlook the “magnitude of the injustice done, or erase the ghosts of generations past, or ignore the open wound, the aching spirit, that ails this country still.” Mr. President, there is plenty of injustice to be found under the present political status of Puerto Rico. We believe that if you are invested in this country and committed to its institutions as you say you are, you cannot affirm the do nothing neutral attitude prior administrations have had towards the unjust political status of Puerto Rico.
The Commonwealth under the territorial clause cannot be defended, justified, or legitimized especially when it creates a situation so intolerable for its citizens that recent population numbers show that more than half of Puerto Ricans are now living in the US mainland. Such a cruel regime cannot be defended, justified, or legitimized when according to studies on the economic growth of Puerto Rico the island has never been close to catching up to the economic development and economic growth of even the Union’s poorest States. As a consequence, some argue that Puerto Rico can never become a State because we are just too poor – that we would be just another burden. But how can we achieve our full economic potential when we are deprived of the tools we need to achieve the very goals opponents of statehood argue we need to achieve before even seriously considering the idea of statehood?
Mr. Obama, at 49 years of age you are the first president that has not witnessed the admission of a new state in his lifetime - the last being your home state of Hawaii. 51 years after Hawaii was granted statehood, we have a group of Americans citizens in the island of Puerto Rico who like Hawaiians, who like you and many other Americans, have the audacity to hope for a better future. A group of Americans who have the audacity to hope for a Puerto Rico that is for all its citizens to enjoy, and not just for a privileged few. A group of American citizens who have the audacity to hope for a Puerto Rico where people will not leave the island for the mainland out of necessity, but leave because they really want to. A group of American citizens who have the audacity to hope for a Puerto Rico where all opportunities, rights, privileges, and responsibilities that Americans in the States enjoy are available to them here at home.
John F. Kennedy once said, “We are confronted primarily with a moral issue. It is as old as the Scriptures and is as clear as the American Constitution. The heart of the question is whether all Americans are to be afforded equal rights and equal opportunities...Those who do nothing are inviting shame as well as violence. Those who act boldly are recognizing right as well as reality.”
Mr. President, will you do nothing, or will you act boldly and help us free ourselves from the shackles of inequality and injustice?
We hope you join our cause for freedom and equality. We hope you support our effort to break from our territorial status and colonial condition. God bless you Mr. President, and may reason illuminate your path.
Respectfully,
//SIGNED//
Julio Figueroa Nuñez
Cayey PR
PRSSA PUCPR
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