Baby Shower?

I was invited to a baby shower this past weekend. It was quite a good time hanging out and playing music and drinking some beer and playing a few games of Dominoes.

But the highlight of my day was arguing with a history teacher about the politics and history of Puerto Rico. This dude taught high school history and politics for years and he was so off the mark on his facts about my island.

First he started out with saying that no Puerto Ricans were ever drafted. I sort of freaked out by how matter of fact he just blurted it out. I was appalled that a teacher would be so ignrant, but then again I know that americans rank lowest for world knowledge. Perhaps it is a government plot that it wants an ignorant populace?

Anyway, back to the ignorance. I set him straight by telling him that drafting Ricans for WWI was the only reason we were given US citizenship.

Then when he said reasserted his misinformation by saying that Puerto Ricans have never been drafted, I had to burst his bubble by informing him that Both my grandparents were drafted. One for WWI and the other for Korea.

He then got into how we are a leech on the US tax payer and how we only pay 6 cents for every US $1 taxed. I then had to drop some knowledge on his ignorant ass with the fact that we are taxed in the same bracket as NYC.

Then he came back with something that I have heard many times by all kinds of americans. He said and I quote, "We gave you guys the chance to become a state and you turned it down."

I dont know where most americans learned this, but it is just so far from the truth that you have to ask where/who do they learn this from? I had to teach him that the plebiscite and how it is to gage how the island feels about their status. We now have it in writing from congress that we are not in charge of our own destiny. The whole island can vote to be independence or for statehood, but it would be up to congress to ultimately decide what they want to do with our island. A bunch of old rich white folk hold our future. As if they would allow us to be free seeing as how they are controlled by special interest groups who are controlled by the pharmaceutical companies that are Puerto Rico's main industry.

I was ultimately disappointed with the ignorance of this man who teaches children. How could a teacher a person who's life is devoted to education have his facts so wrong? A few facts I could understand, but everything he mentioned was so far off the mark. Now I expect your average american to be ignorant about PR but when you start telling me incorrect facts about MY Island like you lived it, well, I get offended.

I probably would not have reacted with such vengeance but he attacked me with misinformation.

Anyway...What really annoyed me was that people people knew he was a teacher they automatically believed that he was right and I was wrong. They were looking at me and saying, "You do know you are arguing with a history teacher?" To which I replied, "You do know that he is wrong and I am from Puerto Rico?"