Why most americans don't know this?

Question

It looks very strange to me that most people in the USA don't know that the island of Puerto Rico is and has been part of the US for over a century! It also looks strange to me that some Puerto Ricans do not realize that they are full blooded Americans by birth.
I wonder if politics has anything to do with it. I wonder why after so many war heroes and so many great cientific and cultural contributions to the nation from Puerto Rico, they are still looked upon as inmigrants when they really aren't (Puerto Ricans are rightfull and bonafide citizen of the nation). I mean if a guy from Guam or Hawaii came to the US he would be the just a normal American with a different ethnic background right? Well, Puerto Rico has been a part of the US longer than Guam and Hawaii, so why does it happen? Is it politics?

Answer 1

Most likely because the choose to speak another language,rather than ENGLISH when they come here,making alot of people feel like THEY are the outsiders,that's why

Answer 2

Glad you are aware of that. I am puertorican and many americans don't know it and show their lack of respect and interest toward us, which make us wonder is is a good idea to become fully a state with the U.S in the first place.

Also I know I am american but I feel more puertorican than american. Our culture is puertorican and it has been getting influenced by american trends.

I ask americans where is Puerto Rico located and they have no clue, and in school I had to learn all their states and take History of the United States in higschool.

I asked this guy once years ago if he knew anything about Puerto Rico and he just said, "Well I know they export sugarcanes".

We stopped doing that many many years ago.\

And also people here are very bright and intelligent to understand and speak english if you didn't know that.

Study a little more about your countries that surround you. Please :)

The reason why we are a Common Wealth is because when the Spain conquered Puerto Rico, the United States got into a war and we ended up being their little prize, now we are like an unwanted daughter.

the U.S had an affair with Spain and had a daughter, U.S is maintaining the daughter from afar but don't really want her because it's too much work and money to maintain it, so U.S cant wait to abandoned her but is afraid about what we are going to say now or U.S doesn't feel ready. Maybe little Puerto Rico is better being independent but is so afraid to be alone because it has been all the time depending from big countries like U.S, but maybe by getting independent this will make the island stronger and find their own true identity.

True story, is the reality we live in.

Is the reality. If the U.S really wanted us we would have been a state already.

Answer 3

They do not know it because it is not true.

You need to read Puerto Rico's history because you are giving half truths and false facts.
Puerto Rico is as spanish speaking country as Cuba, both were colonies of Spain for 400 years. Both are considered nations by the United Nations.
Puerto Rico was a military colony of the US fro 1898 until 1948 during ths period the US granted a statutory citizenship to puerto ricans in 1917 which is not the same as a born or naturalized citizenship, it is a second tier citizenship that can be revoked at any time by congress

. then in 1952, after many battles and revolutionary actions against american colonialism, Puerto Rico achieved SELF GOVERNMENT and a Constitution was created by puerto ricans and then voted in a referendum. Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico was born ........ ..the rest is history
THe majority of Puerto Ricans have rejected with votes and with other political actions becoming part of the US, becoming a 51 state or anything close to that. Puerto Ricans are very proud of their island-nation and it shows everytime they win in the olympic games, anytime an athlete with the Puerto Rican flags wins a medal, everytime Puerto Rico's national anthem "La Borinqueña" is played in international events. Puerto Ricans are PROUD and they will never allow becoming like hawaii , which they, hawaiians have lost their land,language and culture in less than a hundred years, Puerto Ricans do not want this and that is the main reason they reject any US statehood.

Answer 4

Puerto Rico is a spanish speaking latin nation. You can be certain it is a country.

PUERTO RICO IS A NATION

Puerto Rico is not part of the US, it is associated with it which is different !! (people are lazy to know the real facts and keep repeating is a territory or part of the US, this is incorrect since 1952, )
... the key to understand this is :that it's political status is a semi sovereign one, it is not fully sovereign. Other countries that are not fully sovereign are: Palestine (occupied by Israel), Tibet (invaded by China) and Taiwan (which is not recognized by China)

Puerto Rico has a special status that created an association with the US , it is a Commonwealth since 1952. Puerto Rico's official name is ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO de PUERTO RICO and it's constitution was established July 25 1952 which is the national day of Puerto Rico, this constitution was recognized by the United Nations in 1953 but it's status is not a permanent one since it is still not fully sovereign and Puerto Ricans can vote on this anytime.

Puerto Rico has an olympic team and international representation in international events. It's national representation is known worldwide.

Answer 5

WAO! THERE IS A LOT OF MISSINFORMATION GOING AROUND HERE...
Let me clarify; ONLY ABOUT 3% OF ALL PUERTORICANS FAVOR INDEPENDENCE FROM THE US. THEY JUST MAKE A LOT OF NOISE.
97% are equally divided between statehood and status quo. Trust me I KNOW, I LIVE THERE
SECOND; Puerto Ricans ARE Americans by the Foraker law, and can run for president, we just cannot vote for president. Puerto rico is not a country and is only allowed to participate in the olimpics by a special agreement as we do in the miss universe contest.

I believe it's our own fault that most of our co-citizens do not reallize that we are the same as any american because for many years we have been identifying with our hispanic side and that misleads people... even us. It's a shame because there are a lot of people like us, take for example the people in the Virgin Islands and the people of Guam. I believe what makes our country great is our diversity, but did you realize that out of 200 (plus) years of united states history Puerto Rico has been part of it, as a territory for over 100 years?

Answer 6

Puerto RIco isn't a state so the people that live there are not citizens of the US. We just own you. Same goes for Guam. You are just a territory. You get no benefits that Americans do (like sharing our National Debt).

Answer 7

Let's face it, history and geography are not exactly strong points for most Americans but I may try to throw some points that MAY explain a little of it.

Puerto Rico is a territory, not a State. They do not receive the full representation of a State but they have some independent freedoms, sort of like sovereign freedoms that States do not have.

Puerto Rico's main language is Spanish.

One third of Puerto Ricans want to become a sovereign and fully separate nation. Another third wants Statehood and the remaining third prefer the current territory status. (These figures are very rough)

Still, the main reason for your question is ignorance.

Answer 8

It is actually a territory, not a state, so they technically aren't native born Americans. They cannot run for President.
The question had come up several times as to whether to make Puerto Rico the 51st state....when polled, the natives there say they don't want to become the 51st state. So each time the issue drops. That is why they don't have the same rights, and technically are immigrants.
Oh, and btw, Hawaii is a state, so yeah, they are 'real' Americans.

Answer 9

Because Guam and Puerto Rico are not part of the 50 states, many people do not realize that they are US territories. As far as being looked down upon, there are many bigots in the US who dislike "Mexicans", for whatever reason, and classify all Hispanic peoples as such.

Answer 10

Puerto Rico and Guam are not actually a US state...they are still independent. Hawaii is a state...so you really can't make a comparison between them after Hawaii became a state.

Answer 11

Guam, like pr, is a territory. They are still nations unto themselves, but are just "owned and operated" by the US. Guam is not a state, Hawaii is. People in Hawaii and Guam have similar ancestries (albeit ancient).

Members of Guam and PR are citizens of the US by birth, but are not American per se. They retain their own nationality.