The following article is adapted from PBS News Student Reporting Labs' On Our Minds: Election 2024 podcast. It is published here with permission as part of a collaboration between Student Reporting Labs and Teen Vogue. Listen to the full segment in episode 2: Does My Vote Matter?
Adelaida: How Americanized do you feel?
University Students (in Spanish):
No sé...
Del uno al diez como un dos.
Un 50% porciento americano.
No mucho.
Me siento súper puertorriqueña...
Adelaida: Puerto Rican students from the Ana Méndez University campus varied from feeling 50% American to hardly American to very American.
University Student (in Spanish): Yo me siento pues bien puertorriqueña...
Dubbed: I feel very Puerto Rican. I am a patriot, but I feel that we are also very Americanized.
[DRUMBEATS]
Miranda: Identidad
Adelaida: Identity is one of the most conflicting topics in the island of Puerto Rico. Imagine this, you are at a Model UN conference and the Puerto Rican anthem is played. [P.R. anthem] People, as one would do for an anthem, put their right hand on their chest. After the Puerto Rican anthem ends the anthem of the U.S. is played. [U.S. anthem interrupted] But for this anthem, some people put their hands on their chest, while others don't. This is something Puerto Rican students like me experience in their daily life, revealing a complex reality where our Puerto Rican cultural identity intersects with American influence. A reality that translates to our voting rights. But what rights do Puerto Ricans have when it comes to voting in the U.S. Presidential elections? And what is Puerto Rico? [DRUMBEATS]
Miranda: Historia
Professor Luis Cámara: Puerto Rico has been a colony since the Spaniards arrived in 1493. United States arrived as consequence of the Spanish-American War in 1898, um...
Adelaida: Here is Luis Cámara, a political science professor from the University of Puerto Rico.
Professor Luis Cámara: Puerto Rico had achieved significant level of autonomy from Spain, but that was very short lived. After the invasion, United States had military governments from 1898 to 1900's, and then a series of more representative governments with the Foraker Act 1900's, with the Jones Act in 1917, and then with the Constitution that we have now in 1952.
Adelaida: What does this mean in terms of our voting rights? Well, Puerto Rico is an unincorporated territory; meaning that we are part of, but not a part of the United States of America. Since we are unable to vote for the president and can only do so in the primaries, us Puerto Ricans have little say in Federal U.S. politics. This lack of voting rights has perpetuated the colonial relationship between Puerto Rico and the U.S., where P.R. Contributes to society like any U.S. Citizen but does not receive the benefits people of the United States do. Charlie Rodríguez, politician and former Puerto Rican senator shared this with us:
Charlie Rodríguez: Well, the problem of being a territory or being a colony is that you are subject to the obligations of being a citizen but you don't have equal rights. Puerto Ricans who are subject to the draft whenever a draft is instituted. Right now, we don't have a draft, but what its mandated, kind of having people who can die for this country.
Adelaida: This conflict has engendered a political arena where parties are based on different solutions to our territorial status. One is remaining a commonwealth with some wanting more autonomy, becoming a state, or gaining independence. While all different, all of these “solutions” seek to break from our colonial dependency and lack of rights.
But in the past few decades, there has been no significant change, and the internal debate continues. The Puerto Rican government has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on ineffective referendums and a symbolic vote for the president of the United States, neither of which has had any effect on mainland U.S. elections. [DRUMBEATS]
Miranda: La Brega
Adelaida: As we navigate the ins and outs of this reality, we have to deal with "La Brega", our daily struggles to get by. Here's Professor Cámara again:
Professor Luis Cámara: The New Progressive Party has been promising statehood for years and years and years. When Governor Pedro Rossello won in 1992, we did not become a state. And then, the New Progressive Party won again in 2008 with Luis Fortuño and we did not become a state. The Popular Democratic Party has been in power, the Commonwealth has stayed stagnant. Actually, according to several recent decisions by the United States Supreme Court has gained less ground. So, it's gone backwards.
Adelaida: As a result, youth voters have grown apathetic. To get a sense of what young people are thinking, my colleague Miranda and I went to, you guessed it, [REGGAETÓN MUSIC] the House of "reggaetón", AKA "El Choliseo".
Concert Youth (in Spanish): Yo pienso que están aburridos y piensan que están todos corruptos…
Dubbed: I think that they're bored and believe that everyone is corrupt. All the political parties until now have been almost the same or have brought more or less the same corruption.
Adelaida: If we want to encourage Puerto Rican youth to vote in both the P.R. National elections and the U.S. presidential primaries, we have to do more. Recently, artist Bad Bunny, for example, began a campaign where he offered special discounts to fans for his concert tickets if they presented a copy of the electoral card. By thinking outside of the box and utilizing other resources, we can find more effective ways of mobilizing young people. [“GÜIRO” TYPICAL GOURD INSTRUMENT]
Miranda: Futuro
Adelaida: University students had their own ideas:
University Student (in Spanish): Hablar, motivar...
Dubbed: Talk, motivate. The political parties should use social media.
University Student (in Spanish): Bueno, se pudiera empesar por …
Dubbed: They could start by creating awareness and providing more information.
Adelaida: Puerto Rican youth and the people are clamoring for an improvement of our essential rights, regardless of what our political status is. [SHARP DRUMBEAT] Reshaping what it means to be "puertorriqueño."
And thus comes a hope for a better Puerto Rico. [2022 GOVERNOR RICKY ROSELLÓ RESIGNATION PROTEST IN THE BACKGROUND]. A future where we don't just "bregar" – or just deal with it. A future where we are not treated as second class citizens. Where we are granted the rights we deserve, and where politicians can keep the promises they make. [PROTEST SOUNDS CONTINUE AND FADE OUT]
By Adelaida Siaca-Ortiz and Miranda Jatib (high school students from San Juan, Puerto Rico) with mentoring from Pilar Álamo and Sixto Ortiz at sjspr.radio
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