Captain America has taken to the big screen, and people across America (or at least on social media) are thinking… he’s actually Captain Puerto Rico, wearing the Puerto Rican territorial flag.
When George Takei posted the popular meme on his popular Facebook page, an impressive number of people pointed out that Puerto Rico is in America and belongs to the United States. Some readers thought that was an overly thoughtful response to the joke, but Angie Rivera summed it up:
As a Puerto Rican born and raised in the island and living in the United States and an Air Force veteran, I beam with happiness and pride that a lot of people commenting here are fully aware of the fact that Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States and that we are citizens. There are still people who ask me and my friends if we had to get green cards and if they need passports to go to Puerto Rico.
Joe Southam followed up:
That moment you realize Puerto Rico is an unincorporated territory of the U.S.A
It’s cheering that people are beginning to realize that Puerto Rico is in fact a territory of the U.S., and that seems to be a fairly recent change. Google has tracked the number of times people have searched for “commonwealth of Puerto Rico” and how many times they’ve searched for “territory of Puerto Rico.” Since Puerto Rico is a territory and its formal name is “Commonwealth of Puerto Rico” just as Kentucky’s formal name is “the Commonwealth of Kentucky,” neither is wrong. But it is very easy to see the change over time.
In 2010, after years of being used essentially 0% of the time in searches for Puerto Rico, “the territory of Puerto Rico” jumped up in Google searches. Since that time, it has continued to creep up as “Commonwealth of Puerto Rico” has fallen.
We’re not just being geeky over flags and search terms. This — and the Facebook response to Captain America/Puerto Rico — show that people are becoming more aware that Puerto Rico is a territory. The U.S. citizens on the mainland are ready to pay attention to Puerto Rico’s difficult position. We are nearer to statehood than ever before.
4 Responses
I was born and raise in Puerto Rico, was draft to the Army there and I live in North Carolina, I will love Puerto Rico become the 51 State.
Thank you. I hope so too 🙏
[…] Captain America from Puerto […]
“Commonwealth or ELA-Free Associated State”
(A political distorted Name not a US Constitutional Status!)
“Commonwealth or ELA-Free Associated State” does not exist nor has any legal meaning in the US Constitution that only mentions different types of Federal Government treatment/relationship or Status, one each for: States (with State sovereignty), Territories, Indian Tribes, and District of Columbia (WDC).
Facts are:
• The US Congress is not above the US Constitution to create a new Status, nor can it give up its powers under the Territorial Clause that applies to Puerto Rico or other US Territory that have limited constitutional rights, per US Supreme Court decisions (Insular Cases, Sanchez Valle, etc.) that state the sovereignty of US Territories reside in the US Congress which is different from States that have own State: Identity, Constitution, Flag, and Sovereignty.
• But, Puerto Rico is allowed to have some local government; its own Identity, Flag, and Constitution which can be revoked (per the plenary Powers of the US Congress over Territories).
• Under the US Constitution the Status of Puerto Rico is US Territory, per the Territorial Clause- that states: “The US Congress shall have the power to dispose of and make all rules and regulations respecting the Territory or Property belonging to the US…”
• Plus, US Supreme Court Decisions (racist Insular Cases-1901-1925+): incongruently state: “Puerto Rico is more foreign than domestic; belongs too, but is not part of the US…” (is an Insular possession).
Besides, States can call themselves what they want (Commonwealth of Kentucky, etc,), and the US Congress can approve any Name for a US Territory (ELA-Free Associated State or Commonwealth) that don’t have any legal Constitutional meaning to cover up an unjust Territorial Status under Federal
un-democratic control. Thus, under our US Constitution the only non-Territorial Options/Status are: STATEHOOD vs INDEPENDENCE (Without or With a Free Association Pact).
THUS-COMMONWEALTH or ELA (Free Associated States) is not the Constitutional Status of PR. But, it’s a political distorted “cover up” allowed name for the US Territory of Puerto Rico or a “Pig with a dress and lipstick” or “Puerca de Juan Bobo”!
Best Option: “PR Equality & Progress with Statehood!”