Racism is alive and well

Well, it’s alive and active in a lot of Chamorros over 40, but thank goodness the under-25 set don’t think about it much, if at all. The younger Chamorros, and all people actually living in the CNMI, have far too many other things to worry about except that two-headed snake. If it happened before you were born, it’s none of your business, it might be your parents’ business but it is not yours.

I’ve actually had a Chamorro man tell me he got very upset because he went into a store and on the door on the way out a sign said Ghillisowremi on top of Si Yuus Ma’ase. A 60-something grandmother has absolutely no feelings for the children, the U.S. citizen children, born and raised in the CNMI, being deported along with their parents, or just deporting the parents. An old Carolinian living in CK told me there was such a row over assigning street names in Carolinian in his neighborhood that there were actual fights over it. Chuukese, Pohnpeians, Palauans, Yapese all say they are treated differently in government offices, made to wait longer and have to endure the stares and indifference that systemic racism imposes. Older Chamorros don’t even realize they are doing it, it being such a part of their upbringing, but some still do and encourage it in their children and grandchildren.

Carolinians have learned their place over the years in the CNMI and it is pretty similar to the “place” African-Americans still enjoy in the good old U.S. of A., and untouchables in India today. Racism has no place in the CNMI or any other place on earth. PERIOD. Chamorro is more a state of mind in 2014 than a physiological phenomenon. More than one old man has vehemently denied he is anything but pure Chamorro. As I read history, almost all the people of the Northern Marianas, with the exception of some on Rota, were moved to Guam for over 100 years, where there were more Spanish, Mexican and Filipino single men than locals. So, maybe you don’t have Filipino genes, but it is probable that you have Spanish or Mexican mixed with your Indonesian genes.

It’s 2014 folks and a child dies every 8 seconds from malnutrition-related causes. Can’t you start teaching your children things that might help the world instead of keeping your little piece of it in turmoil? Start with empathy. There seems to be a “mind blindness” here that totally insulates Chamorros from the aspirations, emotions, and feelings of all other human beings except themselves. There are more important issues facing the world and the CNMI than keeping racism alive and well. God really only needed one Commandment, “Love thy neighbor,” or else.

Wow! Where did they get the other $670M from?
You heard it, folks, right from the mouth of Mr. Joseph P. Deleon Guerrero. He said it publicly and in the papers. It’s over, folks, no more problems with the NMI Retirement Fund. Apparently they found the other $670 million needed to make it solvent. That’s just great. Congratulations to them. I Googled, YouTubed, FB’d, Twittered and LinkedIned Mr. Guerrero and nowhere could I find his qualifications as an economist or even a certified public accountant. That may be the key to this moronic statement.

In defense of JP, I love this guy because in the 17th House, he wrote 16 bills, one of which was HR 17-111, to impeach Ben Fitial. He also wrote HB 17-049 and 201, both very good bills. Is there not one honest person in the 18th House or Senate? Voters, remember the 18th, don’t vote for any members that voted for the casino bill. Vote only for those that voted against it; they are Sen. Frank Cruz, Sen. Ray Yumul and Reps. Ray Tebuteb, Edmund Villagomez, and Frank Dela Cruz, decent men all. Maybe one of them will step up to the plate and be as courageous as JP was and introduce an impeachment bill against Inos.

In my opinion, Inos, if it looks like s**t, feels like s**t, walks like s**t, talks like s**t and smells like s**t, it is s**t! Only in Saipan can the emperor fool all the people all the time.

Time to move on and begin an inclusive society
Well, Inos let Best Sunshine go from a 2,000-room integrated resort to a 401-room hotel with a casino to a 224-room hotel with a casino in less than a month. How many rooms does the Kanoa have? It has the casino already. Maybe a mystery man will take it over, repaint it and tell Inos, voila, here is your casino.

If you voters want a shady, under-the-table dealing, crooked, and secretive government then vote for the GOP. If you like a government headed by a “hereditary Chamorro that wants to legislate non-Chamorros out of existence” then vote for the Democrats. That leaves two independents and they might have a chance if they would cooperate but, egos being involved, that will never happen. Heinz and Juan both have more credentials than either Inos or Edward, that’s for sure. They even look better, more statesman like. They have both done more to help the CNMI than Inos or Edward, a lot more.

I urge every voter to check out www.cnmileg.gov.mp. Go to the official Legislature site and learn everything you can about every one running that is in the Legislature now, or has ever been in it. Google everyone else. Don’t just vote a name anymore. You have been doing that for 36 years and you can see the mess we have because of it. Keep an open mind, the CNMI is not just Chamorro—it’s every U.S. citizen that lives here and we are your neighbors. Get smart, get connected and get educated. For your kids’ sake. It may be that all future generations of the CNMI is at stake.

Gary DuBrall
Chalan Piao, Saipan