In a Letter to the Editor of The New York Times in 1902, Arturo Schomburg questioned the government’s treatment of fellow Puerto Ricans when traveling to the mainland U.S.

He wrote that during the Spanish-American War and before peace negotiations were completed, the U.S flag flew over Puerto Rico “in supremacy, and to the nations of the worlds stands stands the symbol of sovereign power.”

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When entering the mainland U.S, Puerto Rican residents were being involuntarily “subject to the same conditions and examinations as are enforced against people from a country over which the United States claims no sovereignty.” The government’s actions were also at odds with the Organic Act, he added.

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The Foraker Act—also known as the Organic Act of 1900—gave Puerto Rican residents the protection of the United States but did not grant citizenship.

Mr. Schomburg spoke out about Puerto Ricans living on the mainland and not being able to vote plus Puerto Ricans residents entering the mainland and still being subject to foreign immigration laws in a second letter to the paper’s editor in 1903.

“We would like to know the status of the Porto Ricans who were naturalized previous to the [Spanish-American] war,” he wrote under the pen name Guarionex, “if they are ipse facto Americans or citizens of Porto Rico.”

In 1917, President Woodrow Wilson signed the Jones-Shafroth Act giving Puerto Rican residents on the island U.S. statutory citizenship, an action by Congress. The act created Executive, Judicial, and Legislative branches of government and a Bill of Rights. The act also included a statement that Puerto Rico’s governor and the U.S Executive Branch can override or veto any law passed by Puerto Rico’s legislature. (Currently, Puerto Rico does not have voting representation in Congress.)

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Mr. Schomburg’s 1903 letter also questioned why the island was “deprived of our lovely” name. The government changed the spelling of the island to “Porto Rico” following 1898’s Treaty of Paris. Meanwhile other places on the mainland kept the original Spanish spellings of their names after become a part of the U.S., he wrote.

The government returned to the island’s Spanish spelling in 1931.

With an NYPL Library card, researchers can explore past issues of The New York Times to read the full versions of “Questions by a Porto Rican” and “Status of Porto Ricans”, respectively, at any library location.

To learn more about Mr. Schomburg, explore the Center’s Arturo Schomburg Research Guide. It details his activism, collection, writings, and legacy.

Source: https://t-tees.com
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