August 13th 2016 was a memorable day for all Puerto Ricans. On that day, Monica Puig (ranked #34 worldwide) beat Angelique Kerber (#2 in the world) in a heart attack inducing tennis match in the Olympics. The island was immediately filled with pride as Puig won us our first ever gold Olympic medal.
While many Americans were rejoicing in our win and congratulating Puig on her memorable performance, some were confused and outraged that a US colony had participated (and won) on its own. Sports pages announcing Puig’s win were soon flooded with comments questioning to whom the gold medal really belonged.
I was astounded by the negativity and ignorance showed in these comment sections. Puerto Rico has been competing independently in the Olympics since 1948, yet in almost 70 years no American seemed to realize that their colony participated separately from them. The island has won several bronze and silver medals throughout the years, so why was it that when we won our first gold the US suddenly took interest again in its colony?
ESPN even went as low as to make a chart showing the amount of gold medals the US had won (1,000) vs Puerto Rico. Why was this type of petty behavior necessary and why does this medal matter so much? The US has 1,000 medals so why do they want to make claim over the only one we have?
Moreover, them wanting to claim Puig’s gold medal should give Puerto Ricans the right to claim US medals won by Puerto Ricans who, unlike Puig who refused offers, decided to play for the US team.
Puig rejoiced in her win and was joyful to have “united a nation,” as she said in an interview. This comment sparked political debates all over the internet with people claiming that Puerto Rico was neither a country nor a nation, but simply a US territory.
I took the liberty of googling what it takes to be both a country and a nation, and guess what? Puerto Rico completely fills the requirements! A Nation is defined as “a large aggregate of people united by common descent, history, culture, or language, inhabiting a particular country or territory.”
A quick lesson in history will tell you that Puerto Ricans, unlike Americans, are mainly descendants of Spanish, African and Taino blood instead of the German, Irish, English and other European immigrants that came to the US. Historically speaking, Puerto Rico has a very different history from the United States.
As a Puerto Rican studying in the States I can guarantee that the Puerto Rican culture is completely independent from American culture in everything – including music, food, and interpersonal relations. Finally, the official language of the island is Spanish, not English, so Puerto Rico is indeed its own Nation despite not being a Republic.
Is it a country? Well, a country is defined as “a nation with its own government, occupying a particular territory.” Check and check! Puerto Rico has its own government and, contrary to popular belief, the US President does not have absolute control over the island, meaning that all Federal laws passed in the US are not enforced unless the island’s government says so. So now that we’ve cleared up that, despite its colonial status, PR is both a country and a Nation, let’s talk about accountability and taking claim of things.
The US is all too willing to take claim over Monica’s historical win, yet they won’t take claim over the outrageous debt the country is in. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying they have to, but when all the US has done about the debt is enforce a political control board on the island that forces us to pay the debt before using money for education, hospitals, and basic needs, it seems outrageous to want to claim the medal when they won’t claim the island's debt.
Then there were the NBC commentators who in the 2012 Olympics said that there was no way a Nation as small as Puerto Rico could ever win gold. Naysayers like these have always been around so if there was no support for Puerto Rican athletes then, how dare the US make a claim on a medal they didn’t even believe was achievable.
I could go on forever about the absurd nature of the US wanting to claim a medal and only caring about its territory when something good happens, but I’ll try to contain myself. But quite frankly after years of debt, draught, corruption, and the Zika pandemonium the media has created (no, we’re not all infected and live in a zombie land – it’s totally safe to come here!), we deserve this win.
Moreover, Monica Puig was the one to put in all the hours of practice to win that medal, so it should be her choice on who the medal belongs to. While she may have grown up in the States and trained there she was born on the island and is proud to be Puerto Rican and to represent her Nation, so don’t try to take this away from her. #PUIGÑETA!
