America has done Puerto Rico wrong. I’m not just talking about the President and his cronies, either. Just about every activist, thought-leader, talking head, “woke” celebrity and journalist in the country has treated Puerto Rico horribly by way of the silent treatment. I’m deeply ashamed of my fellow citizens, today. Because of this, I want to offer my personal apologies to Puerto Rico even if no one else listens or cares.
Why? Well, first think about this:
If our government and news media reported 64 people dead due to a natural disaster in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York or Atlanta, we’d all offer concern and support, right? Of course we would. But if we found out we’d been lied to and the ACTUAL number of fatalities was a whopping 4,645… basically 70 times what was reported… we’d all be in an uproar, no? And if we learned that, based on such low numbers initially reported, very little aid has been extended to these cities, well, we’d be livid!
This is precisely what has happened in Puerto Rico, but, wait, what’s that I hear? Crickets.
Fake News
Initial reports on deaths related to Hurricane Maria totaled 64 people. For those family members and friends who lost loved ones, that number is heartbreaking. Every single life lost mattered and all of us on the mainland grieved with our fellow Americans living in Puerto Rico when we got the news.
However, that news was fake because the number was wrong. Way wrong!
The actual number of people who perished as a direct result of the hurricane was actually 4,645! In case you didn’t know, we lost 1,833 Americans due to Hurricane Katrina and another 2,977 in the September 11 terrorist attacks on New York, DC and Pennsylvania. If you managed to make it past 2nd grade math, you now know more lives were lost due to Hurricane Maria than both of these disasters. Heck, you’d have to combine the total deaths of both those events to only barely result in more deaths than were experienced in Puerto Rico. Sorry, not sorry to be so morbid, but I need people to understand just how serious Maria was, because it’s probable that– unlike the other horrifying events– you haven’t heard much talk about the real tragedy in Puerto Rico, until now.
Why? Well, it seems we’ve all gone Hollywood. That or we’re just immune to the struggles of Black and brown people who suffer tragedy, even if they are our fellow American citizens.
Think I’m exaggerating? Well listen to this chain of events and then you tell me why this hasn’t grabbed the Nation’s attention.
One White Bigot vs 4,645 Late Puerto Ricans
Sadly, around the same time the correct numbers were released, Roseanne Barr was exposed as being a bigot for the umpteenth time. If I were a conspiracy theorists, I’d say that the news about Puerto Rico breaking at the same time as Roseanne’s story was perfect timing. Strategic even. Everyone seemed anxious to fall for it, too. The cover-up (because what else can we call a death toll that was 70 times higher than what the public was told?) was being swept under the rug and right before our very eyes!
Back to Roseanne, though…
Her racially-charged shenanigans are not news to anyone who’s followed her career. But due to her racist rantings on Twitter, her sitcom was finally cancelled by ABC. No comment on why they allowed a woman like her– who’d previously dressed as Hitler while posing for photos holding freshly-baked human-shaped cookies— to even have airtime in the first place, but props to ABC for taking swift action and getting her the hell up out of here (hopefully) once and for all.
I guess they finally gave her enough rope, but…
That’s ALLLLL that was discussed for the entire day and the next! News about Puerto Rico was like a tiny blip on the radar while every news outlet in the country, every activist, journo, political commentator and “woke” social media regular aired their feelings about Roseanne and racism, hardly a word was said in public about Puerto Rico.
Let me be clear. Roseanne is one bigot in a sea of millions. We only need look as far as the White House to find more in even greater positions of power. Besides, her racism surprised no one Black or Jewish. We been knowing.
Still, nothing Roseanne can ever say or do should overshadow the fact that local and federal government officials lied to our faces about the true death toll in Puerto Rico. Nothing she can ever say or do should take away from the fact that, based on that lie, Puerto Rico has received minimal aid and people there are still suffering from a lack of reliable electricity, clean water, repairs and other desperately needed assistance. In fact, it’s a safe bet to say that had our government been honest about those numbers and sent immediate aid, many of the 4,645 may not have perished since so many did so because of a lack of resources needed for them to survive and thrive after Maria touched down.
Disrespect on Top of Disrespect
After the hurricane subsided, our President literally showed up on the island, tossed a few paper towels into the crowd and bounced up out of there. Many of us were supremely pissed with Mr. President for his antics, but we haven’t done any better by Puerto Rico, so let’s just keep it real. It’s bad enough when the government shows no respect to its citizens, but it’s even worse when the rest of America ignores an entire territory, too!
B Strong Foundation
BTW, let me take this moment to give a heartfelt shout out to Bethenny Frankel (yes, the Skinny Girl mogul of Real Housewives of New York fame… that Bethenny) for taking it upon herself to hit the ground in Puerto Rico with borrowed private jets, private donations and a personal interest in the safety and well-being of the people there. Going into the remotest parts of the island, many reported that her team was the only one to even come and check on them! Nearly a year later, her B Strong Foundation is still there providing help wherever she can and not waiting for bureaucrats or Puerto Rican celebrities (or any celebrities, really) to shine a spotlight and help. In fact, she’s ready to do it all again soon, too, since hurricane season is here again. If you’d like to donate time or money to help PR recover, please contact Frankel’s organization.
Where Are the Most Famous Puerto Rican Celebrities Now?
Speaking of Puerto Rican celebrities, next to the silence from some of the most well-known social justice activists and journalists whom I greatly admire, I couldn’t be more disappointed in you, either. I won’t name names, but we all know who you are. As Americans, Puerto Ricans are all our sisters and brothers… but as Puerto Ricans, yourself, I’d think this travesty would especially hit home for you. Yet as I check social media timelines of the most rich and famous Puerto Ricans, your silence continues to baffle me. I can’t tell people who or what to care about, but on this one I didn’t think anyone needed any nudging– least of all, people who are actually from the island or who say they are. And, yes, that is shade.
She’s no celebrity, but shout out to Rosa Clemente for being one of the ONLY well-known social justice front-liners who’s actually angry and actually organizing on behalf of PR as I write this.
Funny thing is, I know many with even larger platforms who follow her… have even seen some who shall remain nameless… comment on her posts regarding this issue, yet they have said hardly anything to their own followers!
The Bigger Picture
Maybe y’all don’t get it. See, if our government and media can lie to us and so grossly underreport something so devastating and we don’t call them to the table for doing so, what’s next? Or should I say who’s next? We’ve already seen what happened with Katrina and how so many poor Black people were disregarded at a time when they needed this country’s help the most. Yes, that made national headlines for days and weeks following and no one has forgotten as Katrina is still referred to often in various publications, documentaries, etc. So it seems like our government has done nearly the exact same thing to Puerto Rico, yet avoided the questioning, the protests, the criticisms of its handling by sweeping it under the rug by way of reporting a death toll of fewer than 70 times what the actual number is. And all anyone can talk about upon hearing this news (if you heard it at all) is one racist White woman losing her job! Thousands of Black and brown lives (with little to no political capital since they can’t vote in presidential elections) are gone forever, but the tweets of one bigot are more important, I guess.
What has happened in Puerto Rico is institutionalized racism in action. Isn’t this what we’re supposed to be fighting? Isn’t this what we say we want to dismantle? So why the silence, people?
And speaking of racism, I just want to address some of you on a more personal level for a moment. I know many of you reading this are so involved in your own struggles until you hardly stop to consider anyone else’s. But for my people (Black folks) to take the stance of Spanish-speaking people not doing anything for us and our causes… and how some who may be black as midnight not wanting to be identified as Black (before being Afro-Latinx came into recent fashion), let me holler at you for a moment. When you visit the island, you’ll see tons of melanated people with hair, lips and other features just like yours. That’s because their ancestors were brought from the Motherland on the same ships ours were but were enslaved in a different location. Many embrace their African roots same as their more recent Latin roots and practice the religions and cultural stylings of our ancestors, too. I shouldn’t have to say all of this to get you to care, but some of us are so wounded until we can’t see past our own pain and suffering enough to recognize the suffering of our siblings who, for some reason, remain “foreign” to us. Besides being human (which should be enough), in our nationality and our race, we are literally the same people!
Any denial of that on either side is nothing but White supremacy at work, but I’ll save that rant for another post.
While we may accuse others of bigotry and racism, what are we participating in if we continue to allow Puerto Rico to be ignored? What are we saying to this administration when we don’t demand more transparency, truth-telling, disaster aid and attention when our fellow Americans and our fellow Black people can be left to die like this and we say nothing?
Who’s Next?
This administration pretty much hates California. Generally speaking, the feeling is mutual. So, what happens when California is hit with that big earthquake seismologists swear is coming soon? This administration isn’t wild about Chicago, either, so when they send the National Guard in as promised, who’s gonna stop them? See, if we ignore what has happened and what is being done to our fellow-citizens, elsewhere, we are setting ourselves up for the same treatment… or worse… when our time of need comes.
Dear Puerto Rico, I’m Sorry
So, Puerto Rico, if no one else will say it, I’m sorry you’ve been so disregarded and so disrespected. I’m sorry for every single one of your losses and I’m sorry much of the island is still without power and needed supplies nearly a year after the hurricane. I’m sorry that hurricane season is just around the corner and I’m sorry for the fear that reality must strike in your hearts. I’m also sorry we’re so self-absorbed, hypnotized by Hollywood, asleep at the wheel and too downright ignorant to even care about the precedent we just set by not being there for you. I’m really, really, REALLY sorry!
Tell us how you really feel. This is sad but very typical of our government and their treatment of black and brown people. The mere fact is the people of Puerto Rico are not some far off third world country and should be given the help they’re entitled to. I typically hate that word but it applies here. It’s sick how this is being swept under the rug because we all just “fake” care about things.
I expect tricky ish like this from our current administration and even from the media. What caught me totally off guard is all of the people who oppose this administration and those who are typically very vocal about social justice issues ALL chose to focus their energy on a cancelled sitcom instead of this. Whether people believe it a miscalculation (yeah, right!) or a cover-up, the fact is that it’s a travesty that shouldn’t have happened and can’t be allowed to happen ever again. People need to be fired and others need their feet held to the fire for this! If they get away with this, and it looks like they will, there is nothing in place to ensure that it doesn’t happen again. Sorry to rant again… my blood starts boiling every time I think about it.