NAACP rescinds its support of Puerto Rican statehood

The Hill ^ | 07/19/18 | Emily Birnbaum

[yesthatjallen]

The NAACP on Thursday rescinded its support for Puerto Rican statehood.

The civil rights group emphasized Puerto Rican "self-determination" in a statement walking back its endorsement of a bill that would make Puerto Rico the 51st state, which it voted to support on Tuesday.

"Puerto Rico should be free to decide its preferred option in a fair and inclusive manner," the NAACP said, adding that it has a "long history of supporting the democratic value of self-determination."

In a statement on Tuesday, the NAACP threw its weight behind the Puerto Rican Admission Act after an appeal from Gov. Ricardo Rosselló, who described Puerto Rican statehood as a "civil rights issue."

The NAACP reversed course following pushback from statehood opponents.

Though Puerto Ricans voted for statehood in 2012 and 2017, opponents say the votes were "rigged" because the referenda did not include the word "commonwealth" as an option for voters to choose, using instead the more neutral "current status."

In the 2017 referendum -- the basis for the Rosselló administration's claim to statehood -- 97 percent of voters chose statehood, but participation was a paltry 23 percent, largely due to a boycott of the vote organized by the opposition Popular Democratic Party (PPD).

PPD Chairman Héctor Ferrer on Wednesday criticized Rosselló's speech to the NAACP, saying the real civil rights issue for Puerto Rico is to allow supporters of the commonwealth to vote for their preferred option.

"The way to do it is head to head, everybody has the right to vote for what they want," said Ferrer.

[hinckley buzzard]

I believe the law at the present time states that the option of independence, statehood, or status quo is in the hands of a Puerto Rican plebiscite. They can choose statehood if they want it. I wish they would go independent but that probably isn’t in the cards.

[5th MEB]

Most of them don’t, you only hear from the ones the enemedia chooses to put on air.

[skimbell]

When you decide what you want, place your order here...

[Responsibility2nd]

Perhaps they don’t. But they still line up solidly behind the democratic platform.