On Election Day 2020, the people of the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico voted for statehood for the third time in the last eight years. Although statehood won in 2012 and 2017, last year’s voters faced an up-and-down vote on statehood for the first time. An absolute majority of 52% voted yes.
Having lost the referendum, opponents of statehood now claim that the U.S. Congress should not admit a predominantly Hispanic territory out of fears that statehood will eviscerate Puerto Rico’s culture.
To the contrary, Puerto Ricans and members of Congress should learn from Hawaii’s experience to dispel such myths.
Hawaii enjoys a rich cultural and historical background that, like Puerto Rico, predates the founding of the United States. Over centuries, Hawaii developed its own identity as a gathering point for Polynesian peoples, with local residents creating their own language, customs and traditions. Later, Hawaii received sizable migrations from Southeast Asia, the Philippines, China and Japan, with these new Hawaii people adding flavors and nuances from their own cultures to the framework of the Hawaiian mosaic.
Like Puerto Rico, Hawaiians faced intrusion over matters of culture because of Hawaii’s territorial status. The teaching of the Hawaiian language in public schools was banned after 1896. That changed after statehood, when the state of Hawaii could block any federal encroachment over matters reserved to the states under the Tenth Amendment. The state of Puerto Rico would have the same powers to thwart any unconstitutional attempts by Washington to dictate language and cultural terms.
More so, Hawaii was an independent kingdom for almost a century before the United States annexed the islands in 1898. The Kingdom of Hawaii held sovereignty over its territory and was ruled by a hereditary monarchy. In contrast, Puerto Rico has never enjoyed sovereignty. The islands were a Spanish colony for over 400 years, and the U.S. Congress has held power over them since 1898.
The constitutional integrity and the social fabric of the U.S. neither weakened nor collapsed with the admission of a former Polynesian kingdom in 1959. To the contrary, the United States became a better nation for it. Hawaii’s admission, just as the admission of the former Republic of Texas in 1848, should give pause to any opponent of Puerto Rico statehood about the power and willingness of Congress to admit diverse states.
Today, Hawaii is the only Asian-majority state, the most multiracial state, and the most diverse state of the United States. Hawaiians are rightfully proud of their culture and heritage because it is unique and exquisite. More so, Hawaii demonstrates that a territory’s particular history, culture and traditions can thrive after statehood and become a defining characteristic of its membership within the union.
Much has been said about the cultural implications for Puerto Ricans of admitting Puerto Rico into the union. Nonetheless, Hawaii gallantly persevered in dispelling similar and erroneous myths about cultural unsuitability and showing the viability of statehood.
In the final analysis, Hawaii exemplifies that a former independent nation, with its own cultural and historical background, and a largely non-Caucasian population, can achieve statehood and rely on its vibrant culture to thrive as a state. In turn, Puerto Ricans should take heed of Hawaii’s example and seek admission as a proud Hispanic state.
Attorney José A. Cabrera, a U.S. Army veteran and former resident of Wahiawa, served at Schofield Barracks and now chairs the Puerto Rico Star Project, a nonprofit that advocates statehood for Puerto Rico.
