Post by 3sanna on Mar 15, 2015 23:42:56 GMT
www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/09/john-oliver-puerto-rico_n_6833310.html
This issue conveniently coincides with what most of us I think are learning in US History and if you have Ms.Hale she showed us this clip in class.
The people who are born and live in U.S. territories are U.S. citizens. They are able to be drafted and enlist in our armed services, but they cannot vote for the president or have a representative in congress who can vote on issues as the rest of the representatives can. The rights of these countries come from a court decision made in 1901, which states that the US constitution does not apply to these territories inhabited by "alien races, differing from us in religion, customs, laws, methods of taxation, and modes of thought, the administration of government and justice, according to Anglo-Saxon principles…”. Basically, they don't have the human rights an American citizen should have because they in the eyes of the government and court system were viewed as barbarians.
in my opinion, this is a large violation of human rights by the American government. These people who technically live under our American ideals of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are being denied the right to vote, a right this country has fought for since its conception- well for white men at least. Oliver points out that these laws are not only racist but extremely out of date and need to be changed.
This issue conveniently coincides with what most of us I think are learning in US History and if you have Ms.Hale she showed us this clip in class.
The people who are born and live in U.S. territories are U.S. citizens. They are able to be drafted and enlist in our armed services, but they cannot vote for the president or have a representative in congress who can vote on issues as the rest of the representatives can. The rights of these countries come from a court decision made in 1901, which states that the US constitution does not apply to these territories inhabited by "alien races, differing from us in religion, customs, laws, methods of taxation, and modes of thought, the administration of government and justice, according to Anglo-Saxon principles…”. Basically, they don't have the human rights an American citizen should have because they in the eyes of the government and court system were viewed as barbarians.
in my opinion, this is a large violation of human rights by the American government. These people who technically live under our American ideals of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are being denied the right to vote, a right this country has fought for since its conception- well for white men at least. Oliver points out that these laws are not only racist but extremely out of date and need to be changed.