Puerto Rico - The Forgotten US Territory
It's likely that only a small percentage of Americans in the 50 states know much at all about Puerto Rico. A majority probably thinks its part of Mexico, since Spanish is the most common language spoken there. Even fewer probably realize that everyone born in Puerto Rico is automatically a U.S. Citizen at birth, and entitled to all the same rights as Americans born in one of our 50 states. Most people couldn't say where this island territory is located on the planet.
And the Dotard of the United States, apparently, doesn't or didn't know much of that stuff either. So, when the island is hit by a major hurricane, it doesn't get the same attention from the White House as does Florida and Texas. Not even close. Only after outrage grows does Trump even think about what the puertorriqueños need after this unprecedented disaster. Trump doesn't care. Most Americans probably don't care, either, at least on the same level as they care about people in Florida and Texas.
Puertorriqueños can be found in every state in this country. Surprisingly for most people, they don't need a passport or visa to move to the US, and many do so every year. A lot of people think they are Mexicans, illegal immigrants, wetbacks or other undesirable people to be described in negative terms. With a population over 3.4 million, that US Territory has a population larger than some states. But that's not important to Donald Trump and countless millions of other Americans.
Will this disaster get the attention and recognition for our Caribbean island territory that it should? Probably not. People from Puerto Rico are strangers, aliens, and are unwanted by many people who are also Americans. We don't want to think about brown people very much here. We don't know Puerto Rico and we don't want to know, as a nation. When disaster strikes Puerto Rico, for many, it might as well have stricken some little foreign nation we don't need to care about.
That is a pity. Please help if you can.
