Treat Puerto Rico better

The current administration’s response to Hurricane Maria has been late, half-hearted and miserly. Even common-sense measures such as a waiver of the Jones Act and the dispatch of the USNS Comfort medical relief required massive waves of pressure from voters. And then our president and his supporters have the temerity to ridicule Puerto Ricans and call them ingrates.

The racial aspects of his rhetoric are clear. But let’s examine the charge of ingratitude. Whenever our country has called, Puerto Rico has willingly sacrificed the time and blood of its children at rates far out of proportion to its tiny population. Any veteran could talk about the courage, dedication and work ethic of Puerto Rican service members.

Colonialism siphons wealth from remote colonies. The Jones Act doubles the cost of shipping every item that comes into Puerto Rico over water. As the president recently discovered to his apparent surprise, Puerto Rico is surrounded by water. The costs of the Jones Act to the Puerto Rican economy account for the total cost of the territorial debt that was the subject of the president’s first statement on Maria.

Fortunately, international organizations, private citizens and foreign governments are stepping in where the U.S. government has dropped the ball. It is not enough, and may never be enough, but we should support those efforts.

Puerto Rico will survive. Her people are more resilient and tougher than you know. But what will be the state of our national soul? Scott Cromar Longwood