No Statehood for You!
Everytime Trump mentions Guam, it is like we get to walk on to some national reality TV show. It is always interesting, sometimes funny, sometimes scary, sometimes saddening. Here are some articles around our most recent mention, when Trump talked about statehood being off the table and not an option for Guam and other US territories.
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Decolonization Commission: Trump comments superficial and selfish
Steve Limtiaco
Pacific Daily News USA TODAY NETWORK
Oct 19, 2020
The government of Guam’s Commission on Decolonization on Monday responded to recent comments by President Donald Trump about the political status of Guam and other U.S. territories.
Trump, during an Oct. 1 phone interview with Sean Hannity on the Fox News Channel, accused Democrats of trying to add three new states to the union, including Guam, in an effort to get more power in the House and Senate.
“That would give them six automatic Senate seats,” Trump said. “It would be very unfair, and 20-something Congressional seats.”
“Republicans can’t win those states,” Trump said, adding he believes he has been good to Puerto Rico and has a great relationship with that territory.
“They want to have 53,” Trump said. “What’s the flag gonna look like?”
“It’s a very, very sad thing for our country,” he said.
Guam, a U.S. colony, currently is exploring three different future political status options: independence; free association; and statehood.
The commission sponsored a decolonization conference in September 2019 as part of a federally funded public information campaign on the different status options.
Guam lost a federal court case that challenged the island’s proposed political status plebiscite, but the island is considering pursuing the issue in the international courts. The proposed non-binding plebiscite would have allowed Guam’s “native inhabitants,” as defined by law, to state their status preference.
“It is troubling that the president would so blatantly disregard one of the three internationally recognized political status options available to Guam and other U.S. territories,” the commission stated. “His reasons for this denial are superficial and selfish — how the flag would look with more than 50 stars on it, and the possibility that a majority of voters in the territories would not vote for him or other Republicans.”
“We deserve to be treated with dignity and respect and we cannot remain possessions for another hundred years,” the commission stated. “We can put our long history of colonial rule and injustice behind us and start anew, but it must begin with recognition, dignity, and respect. It must begin with self-determination and all options, regardless of partisan politics, should be available to our people.”
Guam lost a federal court case that challenged the island’s proposed political status plebiscite, but the island is considering pursuing the issue in the international courts. The proposed non-binding plebiscite would have allowed Guam’s “native inhabitants,” as defined by law, to state their status preference.
“It is troubling that the president would so blatantly disregard one of the three internationally recognized political status options available to Guam and other U.S. territories,” the commission stated. “His reasons for this denial are superficial and selfish — how the flag would look with more than 50 stars on it, and the possibility that a majority of voters in the territories would not vote for him or other Republicans.”
“We deserve to be treated with dignity and respect and we cannot remain possessions for another hundred years,” the commission stated. “We can put our long history of colonial rule and injustice behind us and start anew, but it must begin with recognition, dignity, and respect. It must begin with self-determination and all options, regardless of partisan politics, should be available to our people.”
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Won Pat-Borja: Statehood not so much the issue, Guam needs to have all options
Pacific News Center
October 20, 2020
President Trump caused a buzz in American territories when he said he opposes the idea of territories becoming states.
The Commission on Decolonization, naturally, had a lot to say about this.
Melvin Won Pat-Borja, executive director of the Commission on Decolonization, told K57’s Patti Arroyo Tuesday morning that Trump’s remarks do not fully acknowledge Guam’s right to self-determination.
“Our response to President Trump is less about a desire for statehood and more about a desire to have every option available to our people. That’s the only fair thing. It’s the right thing,” Won Pat-Borja said.
Trump said during an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity that he opposed making territories into states.
He said he believes this would give the Democrats an unfair advantage in Congress.
“They are also going to add two or three states. I heard Guam..and two others you mentioned, as you know..that would give them six automatic senate seats. Automatic. No chance. It would be very unfair. And twenty-something Congressional seats. So that’s what they want to do. So if you give them what they want, we really have a one-party system. You could never catch up,” Trump said during the Fox interview.
Trump also seemed to suggest the additional stars would make the flag look awkward.
“They want to put two or three states. So they want to have fifty-three. Right? Fifty-three. What’s the flag going to look like, right Sean? What’s the flag going to look like?” Trump said.
The Commission on Decolonization issued a statement that says it is ‘troubling’ that the President would ‘so blatantly’ disregard one of the three internationally recognized political status options available to Guam and other U.S. territories.
The political status options available to Guam are statehood, free-association, and independence.
Won Pat-Borja says that regardless of the status an individual may prefer, the point is that it’s important to recognize Guam’s right to choose a status.
He says it’s important to remember that the Organic Act, which made the people of Guam U.S. citizens, was imposed on the island and was not voted on by the island’s residents.
“That’s not to say that U.S. citizenship has been a bad thing for the people of Guam. Not at all. However, it has not all been sunshine and rainbows as American citizens. Because we also have to keep in mind that the same document that granted us U.S. citizenship also made us an unincorporated territory. As an unincorporated territory, we do not enjoy the same freedoms and privileges that other U.S. citizens do in the continental United States. We don’t even enjoy the full protection of the United States Constitution,” Won Pat-Borja said.
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Trumps comments about statehood for territories speak loudly
Michael Lujan Bevacqua
For Pacific Daily News USA TODAY Network
October 8, 2020
What makes President Trump different than many politicians/presidents is that whereas most try to avoid controversy or making appalling statements, Trump actively seeks sow the seeds of possible scandal. He is a chaos president; part of his strategy to dictate the media messaging is to overwhelm news cycles with his antics.
With this in mind, how serious should we take Trump’s comments this past week on statehood for Puerto Rico, Guam or other territories?
Was this just an off-the-cuff remark? Was it tied to something deeper or more sinister? How should we interpret and weigh his comments arguing against statehood for the U.S. territories since their inclusion in the American union would add more Democratic seats to the Congress?
In addition to not supporting statehood since it might be a boon for the Democrats, Trump also seemed disdainful about how additions to the U.S. might also mar the beautiful American flag and its beautiful 50 stars for 50 states. He was incredulous at what the flag might look like, if it had 53 instead if 50 stars.
For most, these statements from Trump might make them clutch their pearls, appalled at how they demean the people of the territories.
Saying it out loud
But for me, I see Trump’s rhetoric as being an example of “saying the quiet part out loud.” When we speak and act, there are the things we explicitly say, and then there are those things you only whisper or wink about. The U.S. is supposed to say the people of the territories are patriotic parts of the multi-cultural tapestry that is the United States.
Trump, however, is just as likely to talk about the territories in crass and cold, politically calculating ways.
For territories, we are accustomed to either the superficial and tokenistic language of inclusion, or simply being left out. Trump’s statements are jarring because they remind U.S. of something we try hard to forget.
He reminds us that whether the U.S. acknowledges it, ignores it or covers it up with fancy patriotic talk, Puerto Rico, Guam and others remain territories — colonies to a country which, if we believe its own ideological hype, shouldn’t have colonies.
Trump’s statements, while offensive, are nonetheless more accurate in terms of reminding us of Guam’s relationship to the U.S. from the perspective of the U.S. and their overall indifference to the rights of people in its territories.
Speaks loudly
He speaks loudly the part that others quietly whisper.
He speaks loudly denying people the path to statehood, and while some may condemn his remarks, the problem goes beyond any particular political status option.
It lies in the tragic truth, long ago set into legal precedent by the Supreme Court through the Insular Cases, in that the rights and the future of the people in the territories is up to the U.S. federal government to decide, not something for the people of the territories themselves.
We can condemn Trump’s remarks, but they are born from a larger problematic colonial system. The conversation shouldn’t be limited to should the U.S. allow this territory or that to become a state, but rather, after more than a century, is the U.S. finally willing to listen to what the people of its colonies want? And willing to live up to its lofty rhetoric and assist them in working toward genuine self-government through decolonization?
Michael Lujan Bevacqua is an author, artist and activist who works for Sen. Kelly Marsh.
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