ATLANTIC CITY-- For the past 12 years on the second Sunday of August people from New Jersey and surrounding states celebrate Puerto Rican culture on the Atlantic City boardwalk. The culture involves much more than music, dancing and food.Hundreds came out to the Atlantic City boardwalk for the Puerto Rican parade and Latin music festival.The goal is to educate the community on puerto rico's history, heritage and traditions.
Many would describe the food, the music and dancing as puerto rican culture."We're all about our culture and getting together and having a good time," said one parade-goer.By the looks of the crowd, they are having a good time, but many believe the culture goes even deeper."My message to them is yes, food is part of our culture, music is part of our culture...voting is part of our culture," said Kenneth McClintock, President of Senate, Puerto Rico.
Puerto Rico has been a territory of the United States for the past 110 years and while they can only vote in presidential primaries and not in presidential elections, they take politics very seriously."We're one of the most politically sophisticated jurisdictions under the American flag," said McClintock.Puerto Rico has a population of 3.9 million while nearly 4 million Puerto Rican’s have moved and now reside here in the states."What we're basically seeking now is approval of a bill in Congress HR-900…to allow people of Puerto Rico to vote no later than 2009 as to whether they want to remain as they are or whether they want change," explained McClintock.If they want change, there would then be a second vote between independence and statehood.Recent polls in Puerto Rico show over 57 percent of the people support statehood and less than 3 percent support independence.
If Puerto Rico should become a state, they would have 2 Senators and 6 members of the House of Representatives, causing a huge shift in the American political structure.Between 82 to 83 percent of Puerto Ricans vote in every election, whereas only about 40 percent of all eligible voters turn out for presidential elections here in the states.So until a change is made, they will continue to celebrate their Puerto Rican pride the best way they can.
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2 comments:
Puerto Rico has always rejected US statehood because that would mean the dissapereance of the Puerto Rican nationhood. It would mean the 'hawaiianization" of Puerto Rico (turning Puerto Ricans into a minority in their own land).
Funny, In Puerto Rico everyone knows that Mr. McClintock is not a real puerto rican, he is Filipino (from the Phillipines).
There has never been, except for one time, a true vote on status in Puerto Rico. The one exception was during the administration of Pedro Rossello and Carlos Romero Barcelo was Resident Commissioner.
In the United States House of Representatives a bill was presented that used the correct constitutional definitions of each status: statehood, commonwealth limbo and independence. This bill passed the U.S. House of Representatives by one vote.
It was sent on to the U.S. Senate where the well-known bigot Trent Lott kept it from being presented for an up or down on the U.S. Senate floor. He was at that time the Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate.
Trent Lott has never been a friend of Puerto Rico. He looks down on Puerto Ricans as of a different race and inferior. Sila Calderon and her PDP cozy up to Trent Lott and helped him to deny democracy to Puerto Rico by keeping the House Bill, which would allow a constitutionally correct referendum on status in Puerto Rico, to being voted on in the U.S. Senate.
Trent Lott was kick out of being majority leader when he demonstrated his being a racial bigot. The reactionary Bush Republicans returned him to his leadership position when the Republicans were in control of the U.S. Senate.
It is absolute stupidity, dishonesty or both to say that Kenneth McClintock is a Filipino from the Phillipines. He is as Puerto Rican as a delicious dish of rice and beans!
If "sandra" is so much against the United States, she should demand independence for Puerto Rico and refuse to accept federal funding.
Let's accept the reality that most Puerto Ricans are a wonderful blend of being American and be Puerto Rican. This is not a smooth blend, but a tasty lumpy blend of each culture creating something great.
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