The sight of the U.S. flag enrages me. Seeing the ubiquitous flag waving so boldly in Puerto Rico fills my soul with colonial fury and bitter resentment. The flag’s existence here is a sinister reminder of over a century of oppression under the Yanqui regime’s stranglehold.
Relinquished by Spain after the 1898 Spanish-American War, Puerto Rico swapped masters — from Spanish colonialism to U.S. military occupation. What remained across both was colonization. Under this new form of governorship, the Supreme Court classified Puerto Rico as an “unincorporated territory,” one to be governed by the U.S. The 1917 Jones-Shafroth Act then imposed U.S. citizenship, making Puerto Ricans unable to vote in U.S. elections while also rendering them expendable for Yanquilandia’s dirty wars.
With its blood-stained history and myriad military “ interventions ,” the imperial nation’s semiquincentennial celebration has me ruminating on the hypocrisy behind the Land of Liberty’s notorious document — the Declaration of Independence — which is nothing more than racist rhetoric disguised as patriotism.
If it isn’t clear: I have a lot of rancor toward July 4. Puerto Rico has known all manner of abuse and oppression under U.S. colonialism. This is in large part because Puerto Rico has known all manner of abuse and oppression under U.S. colonialism. Consider U.S. government-sponsored eugenics programs ; displacement, bombing and poisoning by the U.S. military; former President Barack Obama’s Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act that further stifled our public education system, pensions and social services; and our continued economic exploitation via the Jones Act , which requires goods to arrive to our island archipelago via U.S. vessels, causing higher costs and hindering local commerce. When you also factor in recent legislation that encourages affluent, non-Puerto Ricans to move here, further raising the cost of living and exacerbating the housing crisis, the U.S. and Puerto Rican governments appear to be working toward a Puerto Rico without Puerto Ricans . With this context, let’s revisit the revered Declaration of Independence, a document drafted by enslavers that refers to Indigenous peoples as “ merciless Indian Savages .” Touted as one of the world’s greatest political manifestos, the urgency of its arguments are often illogical. While the document tells us “all men are created equal,” its authors bought and sold human beings. I’m reminded of Frederick Douglass’ 1852 speech , “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” Here in Borinquen, we, too, are seen as unequal and undeserving of our sovereignty . Still, thousands of elated Puerto Ricans on this Caribbean jewel will head to the beach on July 4 to celebrate their colonizers.
It’s a form of Stockholm syndrome, rooted in the idea that we can’t survive without the U.S. So, we revel in festivities marking its 250th “freedom” anniversary while the imperial monster keeps Puerto Ricans shackled.
When you are a twice-colonized population like we are in Borinquen Bella, you start to depend on your captor. Here and across the diaspora, we cling to the U.S., mostly as a survival mechanism. We are a colonized citizenry in perpetual ambivalence — and that is a dangerous state of existence.
When pro-independence nationalist Lolita Lebrón led the 1954 attack on Congress by Puerto Rican nationalists, the goal was to draw global attention to Puerto Rico’s continued colonial status, something the Yanqui government effectively denied the prior year , pointing to the Caribbean archipelago’s constitution as evidence. But the United Nations long ago recognized Puerto Rico’s inalienable right to self-determination and independence.
So, what are we waiting for?
With continued global chaos fueled and funded by the U.S. government, Borinquen’s self-determination may not be top of mind, but it should be top priority. The time is now, but it will require more than just a political shift. During the 2024 elections, the Puerto Rican Independence Party garnered the second-largest vote share for the first time in the territory’s history. The time is now, but it will require more than just a political shift. We must fundamentally alter our mentality, thinking critically about our sovereignty, Puerto Rico’s colonial relationship to the U.S. and, ultimately, shedding our dependency mindset. Our liberation struggle is intimately tied to our national identity, our culture and our identity as Puerto Ricans — not as Americans. When a people mistakes the colonizer’s past for its own, national identity becomes blurry. As Marisel Flores Carrión, president of the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture’s workers’ union, told me: “Resistance is built through culture, education and historical memory. Knowing who we are, preserving our heritage and supporting our cultural expressions strengthens our national identity and helps more people reflect on the political future of Puerto Rico.”
This Independence Day, the noxious banner of tyranny known as the American flag is inadvertently serving another purpose: renewing my conviction in our independence movement. And in the spirit of Douglass, I echo his sentiments in proclaiming my refusal to rejoice in patriotic rhetoric never intended for me or my people. Until Puerto Rico only has one flag waving across our 78 pueblos, until we are forever freed from the asphyxiation of too many stars and stripes, I will continue to rage.
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