Hawaii should pay special attention to President Donald Trump’s shameful bullying of Puerto Rico as the U.S. commonwealth staggers from a historically devastating hurricane.
His malevolence toward our fellow island Americans in the Caribbean could come our way if we have the misfortune of a hurricane on Trump’s watch.
Three weeks after being hit by Maria’s nearly Category 5 winds and rain, Puerto Rico’s 3.4 million people are mostly without power and short of food, clean water, fuel, phone service and medical supplies.
Criticized for a lethargic response compared to hurricanes in Texas and Florida, Trump is blaming Puerto Ricans for their own bad luck and bashing island leaders.
After San Juan Mayor
Carmen Yulin Cruz objected to an administration description of the situation as “a good news story,” Trump attacked her as “nasty” and ungrateful.
“They want everything to be done for them,” he groused.
At the time, Cruz was seen wading through sewage to help constituents while Trump was spending a leisurely weekend at his luxury golf resort.
On a grudging visit to the island, Trump shot paper towel rolls to the suffering like basketballs and griped about the cost of the recovery.
Trump amped up his ire on Thursday, declaring that Puerto Rico was a disaster before Maria because of its debt and crumbling infrastructure.
He threatened to abandon the island in its humanitarian crisis by pulling federal troops and relief workers and putting caps on recovery funds that weren’t placed on Texas and Florida after Hurricanes Harvey and Irma.
Trump’s heartless words and actions raise fears that his response to Puerto Ricans compared to Texans and Floridians has to do with the color of their skin, their Spanish language heritage and their lack of Republican electoral votes.
Which is why Hawaii should take heed.
While we’re an island state and not a mere U.S. possession, both Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions have seemed not to grasp this in scornful comments they’ve made about us.
Hawaii is mostly brown-skinned, speaks many languages, worships different deities and votes heavily Democratic. Our infrastructure is decrepit.
Our state government has been prominent in the Trump Resistance, leading a lawsuit against his Muslim bans, and our congressional delegates have been among his harshest critics.
If a hurricane hits here, would you bet on Hawaii getting the Texas treatment or the Puerto Rico treatment?
The GOP would say the solution is simple: Elect Republicans and support Trump.
Certainly Hawaii could benefit from more diverse political representation, but should we have to take up ring kissing and give up the right to think freely and cast ballots as we please in order to receive the same basic services as other taxpaying American citizens?
Our national decency is being whipped by an ill political wind of hurricane force.
Reach David Shapiro at volcanicash@gmail.com.
