A tale of two US territories
Political corruption, military expansion, environmental hazards, and a global pandemic
Welcome to The Breaking Point, a weekly newsletter based on the news cycle and culture trends — with a twist of drawing on the historical legacies of injustice to understand what in the world is going on.
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I remember back in college — I went to the University of Portland — one of the first questions, but also the most difficult, people asked me was “Where are you from?” Not in that sense that needed to satisfy white people of “Where are you really from” because I looked different, but I meant simply, the geographical sense.
As I mentioned before, I was born and raised in Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. territory in the Pacific Ocean. Whenever someone in the mainland asked me where I was from, there was the usual long pause of me thinking how to respond. At one point, I got tired of having to explain to people, especially Americans, where Saipan is. I later realized that not knowing where the Northern Mariana Islands are just represents a gap and the lack of emphasis on U.S. territories in American education.
The U.S. has five territories: Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands in the Caribbean Sea, then Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa in the Pacific Ocean. But even the most well-known U.S. territories like Puerto Rico and Guam are treated as “other,” often thought of as different countries. Even though the residents of these islands are U.S. citizens (except for American Samoans who are considered “non-citizen U.S. nationals”), these Americans are still deprived of their right to vote for president. With elections looming in November, it’s extremely important to uplift voices and issues coming from these communities.
As the islands suffer from severe climate disasters and the same global pandemic that has debilitated the mainland, more attention needs to be paid to these territories. Some of which face the wrath of economic struggle, unnecessary military expansion, lack of federal funding, and most of all, political corruption. In this week’s newsletter, I’ll briefly talk about what’s been going on in two of these territories — which you probably won’t see in major news outlets.
Remnants from World War II on Mañagaha Island in Saipan. Photo by Rachel Ramirez.
Figure of the week: At least 20
The number of times George Floyd uttered “I can’t breathe” during his fatal arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, over a month ago, according to chilling transcripts.
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI): Governor introduces new species to the island of Pagan
The CNMI became a U.S. territory in 1975 after centuries of getting passed around as a prized possession from Spanish, German, then Japanese control. It’s composed of 14 islands in the Marianas archipelago with the vast majority of the population living in the islands of Saipan, Tinian, and Rota.
In the last few weeks, CNMI residents have been talking about one thing: the governor’s tax-payer funded trip to the uninhabited northern islands. Republican Governor Ralph Torres left the main islands in the middle of the global pandemic to go on a trip, as residents who lost their jobs — including my dad — continue to wait for their Pandemic Unemployment Assistance money.
As the CNMI battles the severe impacts of the global pandemic, Torres chose this time to “highlight and promote” the northern islands as a hot tourist destination, which he announced would open up later this month. The news comes on the heels of allegations that the governor’s cabinet members have received overtime pay for “working 24/7” to help residents during the pandemic. Several residents have lost their jobs as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, and many of them are still waiting on their federal unemployment compensation.
As part of his field trip, the governor recruited YouTube vlogger Robert Arrington to promote the northern islands, paying him a whopping $59,000 for video promotions. Arrington’s videos not only underscore what Congressman Kilili Sablan deemed as a “vacation” for Torres, but also the governor’s project of introducing deer to the island. In one of Arrington’s videos, Torres, his officials, friends and family proudly released four deer to run freely on the island of Pagan, after capturing them at a farm on Saipan owned by the CNMI’s Department of Land and Natural Resources secretary then transporting them by boat to Pagan. On a Facebook post, CNMI Representative Tina Sablan claimed that Torres and his officials failed to read the law. She wrote:
IT IS EXPLICITLY ILLEGAL IN THE CNMI. From Public Law 17-23 - 2 CMC Section 5803(i): "Purposeful release of captive deer, especially domesticated progeny, into the wild is prohibited. Penalties for purposeful release of captive animals will be imposed and set by the Director but will not exceed $1,000 per animal. A person who has previously held a captive rearing permit and purposefully released animals into the wild will not be eligible to renew or obtain another permit."
In his famous essay “Thinking Like a Mountain,” ecologist and environmentalist Aldo Leopold explores the issues of predation, particularly the coexistence and eco-relationship between deer, wolves, and forests. In a nutshell, the governor’s intention of releasing the four deer on the island could eventually have severe ramifications to the ecosystem.
Read more: Torres’ northern islands adventure riles critics by Iva Maurin, Saipan Tribune
(A screenshot from Google Maps)
Guam: During the pandemic, US military expansion unveils human remains and cultural artifacts
Guam became a U.S. territory in 1898 as a result of the Spanish-American War. The U.S. considers the island as a strategic and significant location due to its close proximity to Asia.
I once attended a panel event in New York City of Indigenous CHamoru activists from Guåhan, commonly known as Guam, who talked about their work to decolonize the island. “What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Guam?” The panelists asked their audience. Immediately, the words “military” and “island” echoed throughout the room. Since its annexation more than a century ago, the U.S. has turned Guam into a military hotspot.
The global pandemic didn’t slow down the U.S. military’s hunger for more land. In March, a U.S. Navy ship that docked in Guam brought in more military soldiers that tested positive to COVID-19, which escalated the island’s coronavirus cases. It’s as if the existing U.S. Air Force and Navy bases on Guam didn’t pose enough environmental, public health, and cultural destruction, the Department of Defense still went ahead with its plans to build the U.S. Marine Corps base, which is nearing completion along with a portion of a firing range.
But Guåhan is more than just a military hub. It’s an island home to people, particularly Indigenous folks, who are rarely talked about in U.S. history. Earlier this month, dozens of protesters gathered on the street leading up to the soon-to-be Marine base, holding signs that said “You’re on stolen land.”
In a sudden turn of events, this week, the Guam State Historic Preservation Office announced it wants to amend its agreement with the military after the construction unveiled and recovered several human remains and cultural artifacts. The discovery of a burial site sparked a public outcry especially among Indigenous activists. Here’s what state archaeologist John Mark Joseph told the Pacific Daily News:
We've lost hundreds of acres probably to bulldozing, and when (the military) finally did start the monitoring, the sites started popping up. It's a tragic loss to all of Guam.
The U.S. military has long endangered Guåhan’s ecosystem and environment, exacerbating climate risks. Despite the results of the Marine base’s environmental impact reviews, the Pentagon still managed to set up shop on the small island. The Department of Defense is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions — evidently the biggest greenhouse gas emitter of any government agency on the planet. According to my colleague Kate Yoder, “If the Pentagon were its own country, it would emit more carbon dioxide than most nations, beating out Sweden, Denmark, and Portugal.”
With an annual budget of a whopping $700 billion, the U.S. military holds a tank-load of power. As of Tuesday, there have been 312 confirmed COVID-19 cases on Guam with 97 active and five deaths. Imagine if all that money could be funneled towards a pandemic recovery that would help, rather than harm the community.
Read more: 'Sanctioned destruction': Preservation office seeks to amend agreement with military by Anumita Kaur, Pacific Daily News
In case you missed it, I also wrote about how President Trump apparently suggested “selling” or “divesting” Puerto Rico, according to one of his former advisers, as the island’s recovery from Hurricane Maria proved arduous. Et voila, that is what’s been going on within our U.S. territories — and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
by Rachel Ramirez
What I’m reading …
At college health centers, students battle misdiagnoses and inaccessible care by Jenn Abelson, Nicole Dungca, Meryl Kornfield and Andrew Ba Tran, The Washington Post
People are calling for museums to be abolished. Can whitewashed American history be rewritten? by Brian Boucher, CNN
The Decameron Project: New Fiction by The New York Times Magazine
Anthony Fauci: ‘We are living in the perfect storm’ by Hannah Kuchler, Financial Times
The other infectious diseases spreading in the shadow of the pandemic by Katherine Harmon Courage, Vox
thanks for reading, and don’t forget to subscribe if you haven’t already. see you next week!