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    • 5 Reasons Puerto Ricans Are So Upset About ‘Garbage’ Joke At Trump Rally
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    5 Reasons Puerto Ricans Are So Upset About ‘Garbage’ Joke At Trump Rally

    Online Niel Posted on

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    Juan Garcia was a student at Amherst College in Massachusetts in 1982 when he decided to join the military.

    Now 67, Garcia served 34 years in the Army Reserves, deployed twice, dodged improvised explosive devices during combat in Iraq and retired from the Army Reserves as a colonel, all while graduating from Amherst, earning a law degree from Boston College and worked as an attorney in New York and now in Miami.

    Born in New York City, Garcia comes from a Puerto Rican family with deep military roots. His grandfather and an uncle served in World War II, and two of his sons fought in Iraq with the U.S. Army. One of them, Jaime, was shot in the chest in the fight and received a Purple Heart, Garcia said.

    Puerto Ricans have served in every major US military conflict since World War I, when the US granted citizenship to Puerto Ricans so they could help fight.

    But Garcia believes Puerto Ricans join the military not just out of patriotic duty or personal gain. As American citizens who are often treated as “foreigners,” Garcia believes they join because they feel they have something to prove.

    “A lot of Puerto Ricans joined the military and served in the military to gain acceptance and to be accepted,” Garcia said in an interview.

    So when comedian Tony Hinchcliffe compared Puerto Rico to a “floating island of trash” during a Trump rally at New York’s Madison Square Garden on Oct. 27, Garcia understood why there was such an outpouring of anger from the part of ordinary Puerto Ricans and global celebrities. that Jennifer Lopez, Lin-Manuel Miranda and The bad bunny.

    “It’s getting tiring to have to fight this battle for acceptance of our personhood and right to be Americans when we are born United States citizens on that island called ‘garbage,'” Garcia said in an email.

    Puerto Ricans are known for their immense pride, which they often openly display with Puerto Rican flags hanging from car mirrors or with lively festivals and parades in cities with large Puerto Rican populations.

    This pride often stems from Puerto Rico’s difficult history as a colony of the long battle for acceptance of the US and Puerto Ricans, brought to light by the political uproar ignited by the trashy “joke” made about Puerto Rico at the Trump rally. In response, the Trump campaign sought to distance itself from the comments.

    “This joke would be offensive to anyone whose country was singled out, not just Puerto Ricans,” said Carlos Vargas-Ramos, director of public policy for the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College in New York. “But the fact that it was done to offend (Puerto Ricans) makes you wonder what was the intent, not just of the comedian, but of the Trump campaign to allow this highlighting, defamation and suppression of an entire country.”

    Here are five reasons why Trump’s rally joke struck a chord with Puerto Ricans.

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    Puerto Rico is a colony of the United States

    Puerto Rico was colonized by Spain after Christopher Columbus landed on the island in 1493. The first inhabitants of the island were the indigenous Tainos. Puerto Rico is a mixture of Taino, Spanish and African cultures, the latter being carried by enslaved Africans.

    Puerto Rico remained under Spanish rule until 1898, when Spain ceded the island to the US, a key sugarcane producer and military outpost, following the Spanish-American War. At the time, a push for independence from the Spanish crown began to simmer as Puerto Ricans suddenly found themselves under US rule.

    “How did Puerto Rico become a colony of the United States? Well, Puerto Rico is a spoil of war. Puerto Rico is part of the spoils of war that the United States won after the Cuban-Spanish-American War of 1898,” he Vargas-Ramos said. said.

    The US has operated military bases in Puerto Rico for decades, including training grounds in Vieques, where the Navy has tested Agent Orange, napalm, white phosphorus and depleted uranium, advocates claim. caused cancer and other diseases among the population. The US ended bombing exercises over Vieques in 2003 after stray bombs killed a Puerto Rican civilian security guard in 1999, sparking massive protests.

    Puerto Ricans remained divided politically between those who still seek independence, those who would like Puerto Rico to become the 51st state, and those who prefer the status quo as a commonwealth of the US,

    “Puerto Ricans of all political persuasions are very proud, but the fact that Puerto Rico is a colony of the United States makes that pride even greater,” Vargas-Ramos said.

    Puerto Ricans are US citizens but are often treated as foreigners

    3.2 million Puerto Ricans live in Puerto Rico. Puerto Ricans living in the U.S. can vote in presidential elections, but they cannot run in presidential elections. There are 5.8 million Puerto Ricans living in the US, including about 65,000 in Arizona. Puerto Ricans living in the US are eligible to register and vote for president.

    Despite the fact that Puerto Ricans are American citizens, they are often mistaken for foreigners or immigrants, partly because the main language of Puerto Rico is Spanish, not English.

    “People forget that Puerto Rico exists under the jurisdiction of the United States, that Puerto Rico is a colony of the United States, and that the people on that island are American citizens.,” Vargas-Ramos said. “This is due to the will of the US Congress,” which rarely pays political attention to Puerto Rico.

    “Puerto Ricans are on the mind, aren’t they? For the vast majority of people in the United States, they ignore Puerto Rico. They ignore Puerto Ricans. It just doesn’t register until cases like this (kidding) or disasters like Hurricane Maria. or when Puerto Ricans decide to take their demands to the halls of Congress,” Vargas-Ramos said, referring to 1954 attack by Puerto Rican nationalists which injured five members of Congress.

    Puerto Ricans recall Trump’s “paper towel” response to hurricanes

    In September 2017, while Donald Trump was president, Puerto Rico was hit by two catastrophic storms: Hurricane Irma, followed by Hurricane Maria less than two weeks later. Back-to-back major hurricanes killed an estimated 3,000 people, flattened neighborhoods, knocked out 80 percent of the island’s power grid, and caused $90 billion in damage. the third most expensive in US history.

    Video of then-President Trump throwing paper towels into a crowd of desperate Puerto Ricans during a visit to the island outraged Puerto Ricans and has come to symbolize the Trump administration’s handling of the island disaster. Trump has also opposed sending disaster funds to the island, citing possible corruption.

    “The way he saw fit to show his help was just to make light of the situation. He just started throwing out paper towels as the main item of need, of necessity, for the people who were dying under his watch,“ Vargas-Ramos said. Puerto Ricans “saw that image of insensitivity and ignorance of circumstances.“

    Puerto Ricans are proud of their contributions to the US

    Despite its small size, Puerto Rico has made huge contributions to the U.S. that are often overlooked, Vargas-Ramos said.

    “For such a small country, so many notable people have come out of Puerto Rico compared to other countries of the same size and population, and that instills pride in Puerto Rico and among Puerto Ricans,” Vargas-Ramos said.

    In sports, Vargas-Ramos mentioned pioneering baseball players Roberto Clemente and Pedro “Perucho” Cepeda; boxers Hector “Macho” Camacho, Wilfredo Gomez and Wilfred Benitez; and actors Rita Moreno, Jose Ferrer and Raul Julia.

    “In popular music, more recently, you have Bad Bunny, and in science, you’ve also had a number of astronauts,” including Joseph Acaba and Marcos Berríos, Vargas-Ramos said.

    Trump missed an opportunity to reach out to Puerto Ricans

    Trump tried to distance himself from Hinchcliffe’s comments.

    “I have no idea who he is,” Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity. “What they’ve done is take someone who has nothing to do with the party and try to make a big deal out of it.”

    But Vargas-Ramos said Trump missed an opportunity to reach out to Puerto Ricans.

    “He said those comments were not what President Trump or his campaign thought about Puerto Rico,” Vargas-Ramos said. “Well, what does President Trump think about Puerto Rico? What public policy does President Trump want to advance toward Puerto Rico? Does President Trump want to trade Puerto Rico for Greenland?” Vargas-Ramos said. He was referring to comments by Miles Taylor, a former Homeland Security chief of staff. Taylor said in 2020 that Trump suggested swapping Puerto Rico for Greenland before a DHS hurricane recovery trip to Puerto Rico in 2018.

    Taylor told MSNBC that Trump said he wanted to trade with Puerto Rico because, in Trump’s words, “Puerto Rico was dirty and the people were poor.”

    “What are his positions on rebuilding Puerto Rico seven years, eight years after the hurricanes and subsequent earthquakes in Puerto Rico?” Vargas-Ramos continued. “What are his plans for Puerto Rico? It was a great missed opportunity for President Trump and, I will say, for the entire Republican Party, because we have to remember that Puerto Rico’s sovereignty rests with the United States Congress.”

    Contact the reporter at [email protected].

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