True liberation for the CNMI

I love barbecue and parades as much as you do. But that’s not the real meaning of Liberation Day. After we enjoy the barbecue and the pageants and parades, let’s remember the real meaning of Liberation Day: commemorating our people’s subjugation and oppression at the hands of Uncle Sam, a hostile foreign power.

They bombed our peaceful villages, held us in concentration camps, and insulted our dignity and our livelihoods. Ask your parents and grandparents about it. We must remember what our people went through. And when we remember those indignities and sacrifices, we should be inspired to act.

Did your teachers never tell you that the real meaning of Liberation Day is what the Americans did to us, not for us?

We NMDs were not liberated by the Americans. We were liberated from the Americans. They kept us in concentration camps, on our own islands. They thought we NMDs were a danger to the Americans’ plans of taking over the Marianas. Maybe we should prove them right on that part.

Meanwhile, the Americans love to talk about freedom and liberty. On July 4 the Americans have their holiday of declaring independence from the British. Great for them. But that’s not what we celebrate on July 4 here in the Marianas. Our experience with July 4 is very different.

After hundreds of years of domination by the Spanish, the Germans, and the Japanese, the Americans came along in the 1930s and put us NMDs in concentration camps on our own islands. Maybe our forefathers were used to that kind of treatment by then, but that doesn’t make it right.

On July 4, those Americans deigned to release us from the concentration camps, to live peacefully on our own islands, as we always had. And for that we’re supposed to be grateful. Do the people liberated from the Nazi concentration camps celebrate the Nazis for finally letting them go? No. Then why should we NMDs kowtow to the foreign power that’s been oppressing us and colonizing us for almost a century? It all started when the Americans imprisoned many of us, or our parents and grandparents. And it’s been continuing since then.

When they took away 197 miles of our coastline, we trusted them that it was in our best interest. When they gave us back just 3 miles, we were grateful.

They promised us a multimillion dollar visitors’ center that would allow a few of our people to earn minimum wage. We were so grateful for the table scraps that we were able to give away all our land and ocean rights for their “Marine Monument.”

When they took away our garment industry, we believed them that it was for the best. They told us that all those empty garment factory buildings would soon be thriving businesses. Really?

And now, when their immigration laws are about to destroy our tourism industry, we’re also all sitting here and acting like we deserve yet another poke in the eye.

Are we finally going to stop accepting and condoning being abused like this?

I understand the idea of a nation. But how are we the same nation as America? Our land is different, our culture is different, our language is different, and even our appearance is different. How is that the same nation, other than by the force of colonialism and subjugation?

Several of our wise forefathers, the signers of the Covenant, are still with us. Let’s ask them: is this what they were promised when they were told to sign their names on the Covenant? Did they know that this would mean the loss of our sovereignty, our culture, and our dignity? With peanuts in return? Or were they tricked into signing for something they didn’t expect?

For all the talk about equality, we don’t even have a vote in America. Our congressional representative is a joke: he does the best he can but, without a vote, how much can he really do for us? It’s not his fault that the Americans consider us not even worthy of voting.

Do you think we’re good enough to vote for our own leaders? Good enough to have a voice in the governance of our islands? Good enough to set our own policies for these islands? I do.

We’re not any worse than the citizens of Palau, FSM, or the Marshall Islands, all of whom are prospering as independent nations. They can set their immigration and labor laws as they see fit. They can manage their own environment and economy. They can negotiate on their countries’ behalf with other countries. That’s just basic human rights. Why don’t we Northern Marianas natives have those same basic human rights?

Are we not good enough? I think we are good enough. Are we any worse than the Palauans? I don’t think so. Are we worthy of standing up independently? We definitely are.

As Liberation Day approaches, remember the real meaning of the day. It’s the day when we threw off the chains of being literally imprisoned on our own islands by the Americans.

Today, we consider ourselves fortunate because we’re no longer literally in chains on our own islands. But the reality is we live just as if we were in chains. We have to do as told, and we’re trained to be grateful when they give us table scraps.

We’re human beings. We’re not any worse than the Americans who are so proud of having liberated themselves from their oppressors. We can liberate ourselves from our own oppressors, and find a new future for ourselves: a future of independence, self-determination, and dignity, for ourselves, for our children, and for our islands.

Stand with me. Let’s celebrate the true meaning of Liberation Day. And let’s look forward to a time when we can truly be liberated.