The Land of Opportunity… So many view the United States that way… The escape that promises to at least make a decent living while enjoying the skills you’ve got… Well… I have nothing against people’s desires to cross the border… It just is plain funny that we would do anything to go there and they don’t really want us there…

Porto Ricans are good as cannon fodder at wars, and along with other Latinos they are the first ones that are placed in the front line in combat simply because of the heated aggressive Latino nature. Seems gringos are too pampered and weak to be placed on the first row… Or seems they are considered too valuable to be wasted… We all know the effects of war on people… The soldiers at WW2, the soldiers at Vietnam… the ones at Kuwait… Maybe survivors made it, but their lives are changed forever because they were part of murder, and although you kill in self defense, the clash of duty against morals is quite heavy. Nothing that the government rewards to the soldiers can make up for their dark experience… The act of giving a flag to a family so they remember their son/daughter died in combat, for the sake of so-called freedom is like a laugh in your face…

How many times the theme of the political status arises? Being a commonwealth sounds soooo passé… yet that’s what we are… Porto Ricans in turn have lost their true identity. We are considered an alien country when it leads to political advantage… But then we are considered a state because hey… we do a great part in important things because the people from PR are very well educated and are very intelligent. There are portorricans at NASA. Our scientists are the best… The quality of our work is outstanding. True, there are lazy asses that gives us a bad reputation… The funny thing is that the good people who studies and work and grow are the ones that are ignored when making judgments BECAUSE they don’t scream or dance “perreando”. The US doesn’t want us as a state, but they do need us as a source of human capital. We are quite talented, they know it. But they also fear our culture so that may be the main reason for racism.

Racism… You would think, of course! Gringos are racist towards those Negroes! Well, actually they are racist towards anyone who is related to the isle. White Latinos have more than once gone through that process when they mention they are portorricans. I know I have been a victim of racism, and I am not coal black. It angers me that such ignorance exists… Being coal black or ivory white should not be a base of judgment. Race has nothing to do with attitude, interests, personality. Maybe culture influences a person, as well as family shapes your outlook in life… but the color of the skin is vain… I pity those gringos that may be accidentally burned in a fire, for their skin will stop been ivory and will show red… The same red that shows through a Chinese’s skin, or a German’s skin, or a Latino’s skin, or a black’s skin. We are all a book of blood, when we are opened up we are all red inside.

Cultural differences should be treated as an opportunity, not as a treat. Latinos bring warmth to any gringo environment. We bring colors and tastes and music. Sure, we are loud to gringos’ standards, but the loudness has a myriad of shapes. Sure, you mention Latinos and you think salsa, meringue and bachata. But hey, stop and acknowledge that there are Latinos that hate that music and enjoy techno, industrial, alternative, gothic, classical and world music as well. The mixture of German, Spanish, Portuguese and African blood that all portorricans share is perhaps what makes up so open towards other races and cultures, perhaps that’s what makes us unique… And sadly, many people from this small island has forgotten that those roots are within all of us. We are a balance of ideas and shapes and changes… Unique and beautiful.

A pack of bad apples should not be allowed to be the basis of accepting what Porto Ricans are. Our small island has many things that makes us big, that makes the world look at us even if for an instant. Even our natural wonders reflect our diversity and our roots. We have the longest known subterranean river within the Camuy’s caverns complex, we have the perfect naturally shaped mountains that host the Arecibo’s observatory. We have a rainforest in El Yunque, and a dry forest in Guanica. We have bioluminescence in Vieques and Lajas. We have natural thermal waters with healing properties that even United States President Roosevelt seek out in Coamo. Our beaches enchant every tourist because they are really alive, showing colors that go beyond description. Damnit, people! This island is RICH, is BEAUTIFUL, it is UNIQUE… And its people can be hellish, but they can also be the ones that points out miracles in scientific and technological advances.

So… I say that the land of opportunity is right here, waiting to be explored and deployed. I believe a few can change the destinies of many. I believe that we cannot allow ignorance and hate and misunderstanding to win… Sure, we can go and shine anywhere else… But that’s no real challenge if you truly think about it. The challenge is here. And even if perhaps the cash is not the reward, the reward comes in the shape of personal satisfaction, making a difference, harvesting the seeds you sew.

For the record… I do not believe in being independent. I do not believe in being a commonwealth. I do believe in the ideal of being a state. But I also see that the leaders that rule right now are worthless. Being a state means an equality that US won’t give because it is not in their advantage. And finally, the brain chip of “Spanish only” is hard to remove from some Portorrican human hard drives.

Wow... now THAT's a rant! LOL
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