Half of Americans unaware Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens

[tinman64]

http://www.sfgate.com/news/articleComments/Study-half-of-Americans-puerto-rico-aid-12229923.php

A poll of 2,200 American citizens by Morning Consult found that just 54 percent of those polled knew that people born in Puerto Rico are actually American citizens.

The finding, first reported by the New York Times, comes after Puerto Rico was ravaged by Hurricane Maria. Its plight did not attract as widespread attention as other areas of the United States affected by extreme weather in recent weeks, leading some, like the Times, to acknowledge that that could be because many Americans are viewing the event as a "foreign" disaster, not an American one.

The result of the poll is significant, because 8 in 10 of those who know Puerto Ricans are citizens support the notion of sending aid, while only 4 in 10 of those who are unaware support helping Puerto Ricans.

[ProgressiveCanadian]

God the media does a terrible job informing the public.

[KingSweden]

If you don't know Puerto Ricans are fellow citizens, that's your damn problem. Ridiculous.

[Fight for Trump]

Half of Americans are unaware of a lot of things.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Not surprising, unfortunately.  I've met more than one person who thought Hawaii was a foreign country (this was prior to the Obama birther stuff). 

[Mr. Morden]

I'm reminded of PPP's "birther" poll from early in Obama's presidency, which showed that some of the people polled correctly think that Obama was born in Hawaii, yet aren't aware of the fact that Hawaii is part of the United States:

http://publicpolicypolling.blogspot.com/2009/08/deeper-look-at-birthers.html

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[Dr. MB]

That's why it's time to make Puerto Rico a state.

[Sumner 1868]

Mandatory K-12 geography classes really need to be introduced.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

I bet not even close to 1% would correctly answer that American Samoa is the one area of the US that doesn't get US citizenship by birth.

[Inmate Trump]

Half of Americans are unaware of a lot of things.

Half of Americans are idiots.  The other half voted for Hillary Clinton.

[Inmate Trump]

That's why it's time to make Puerto Rico a state.

It won't happen anytime soon.

Republicans won't allow it as long as they're in power, because it would add 7 or so electoral votes to the Democratic firewall--in all likelihood anyway.  As to the reason why Democrats don't push for it, who knows.  There's absolutely no reason it shouldn't be a state.

[GeorgiaModerate]

I bet not even close to 1% would correctly answer that American Samoa is the one area of the US that doesn't get US citizenship by birth.

I didn't before you mentioned it!  That made me search, finding this: http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2015/06/05/american_samoa_the_only_place_in_the_u_s_where_citizenship_isn_t_granted.html.  How strange.

[Fight for Trump]

That's why it's time to make Puerto Rico a state.

It won't happen anytime soon.

Republicans won't allow it as long as they're in power, because it would add 7 or so electoral votes to the Democratic firewall--in all likelihood anyway.  As to the reason why Democrats don't push for it, who knows.  There's absolutely no reason it shouldn't be a state.

There is no precedent for accession of unincorporated territories into the Union. Hawaii, Arizona, Alaska, etc. were incorporated territories, i.e. legally an integral part of the US. Technically, unincorporated territories are owned by the US, but are not part of the US. American Samoa is unique in that it's both an unincorporated and unorganized territory, the only one in which non-government employees actually live. (a distinction which, in practice, does little to limit the freedoms of American Samoans from settling in the 50 states, despite their non-citizen national status) Now, this doesn't preclude Congress from admitting currently-unincorporated territories into the Union, but it is not the same as Alaska or Hawaii.

[cvparty]

sometimes American ignorance really baffles me omg

[AtorBoltox]

This is not the fault of anyone other than the American people

[fluffypanther19]

I'm reminded of PPP's "birther" poll from early in Obama's presidency, which showed that some of the people polled correctly think that Obama was born in Hawaii, yet aren't aware of the fact that Hawaii is part of the United States:

http://publicpolicypolling.blogspot.com/2009/08/deeper-look-at-birthers.html

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lol

[Rookie Yinzer]

Our education system is so broken.

[Dr. Arch]

I know of many professors and professionals with PhDs who have been unaware that Puerto Ricans are American citizens. So yeah, this doesn't surprise me even in the slightest. If anything, I would have thought the number of people who are unaware would be higher.

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

Not surprising honestly.