6 ms·

What surprised me was that almost every news report/pleas on tv shows to help seemed to mention and emphasize that these people are American citizens. I didn't

What surprised me was that almost every news report/pleas on tv shows to help seemed to mention and emphasize that these people are American citizens. I didn't see the same thing happen with the other hurricane coverage. Is awareness about this really an issue?

bshep 9y ago
yes. a lot of people are unaware of puerto rico’s status and its peoples citizenship.
- diggernet 9y ago
  In no small part due to years of national news pretty much ignoring the existence of Puerto Rico.
- bshep 9y ago
  one citation, but i'm sure there are more: "Nearly Half of Americans Don’t Know Puerto Ricans Are Fellow Citizens" - https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/26/upshot/nearly-half-of-americans-dont-know-people-in-puerto-ricoans-are-fellow-citizens.html https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/26/upshot/nearly-half-of-ame...
  - chrisco255 9y ago
    I wonder if these polls are as accurate as election polls.
    - bshep 9y ago
      Well I didn't look at the data and i'm sure theres some error in the results. But even if they are off by 20-30% thats still A LOT of people who dont know about PR status, etc. Anecdotally (i know thats not a good example) most people I speak to always ask if needed a visa to more to one of the 50 states, they ask if you need a passport to visit and they ask if you can drive to PR.
    - learc83 9y ago
      The polls were very accurate at the national level and within a few points at the state level.
      - chrisco255 9y ago
        The same polls that predicted Hillary would win?
        objectivetruth 9y ago
        Most national polls reflected a preference for her of a few percent. Her popular vote victory was well within that margin of error. But you already knew about the statistical peculiarity that was the 2016 Electoral College result, so I'm guessing you're repeating this hoping for some alt-right points on HN? Or just to demonstrate that public policy polling and statistics are somehow a big snake oil discipline that you're too intelligent to fall for?
roywiggins 9y ago
Even a lot of the media has struggled a bit with it- talking about "US aid" when they mean Federal aid. They never say US aid when disaster strikes the rest of the US, they say Federal aid. Interestingly, apparently PR is still considered "unincorporated" meaning that the US Constitution doesn't apply in its entirety there.
neuronexmachina 9y ago
Sadly, it is an issue. From another fivethirtyeight article: https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/more-americans-may-support-puerto-rico-aid-as-they-learn-theyre-u-s-citizens/ https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/more-americans-may-supp... > Last year, YouGov found that only 43 percent of Americans knew Puerto Ricans were U.S. citizens. > Overall, 64 percent were in favor of aid to the island. ... That 64 percent in favor of aid increased to 68 when respondents were informed that Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens. Trump backers specifically saw a 10-point jump — from 57 percent to 67 percent — in favoring aid when told that Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens.
jccalhoun 9y ago
Yes. In grad school I had a prof from Puerto Rico and she said she always had to convince officials that yes she was a US citizen.
sampo 9y ago
You can also google stories about people who don't believe New Mexico is part of the US.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
mwfunk 9y ago
It's absolutely an issue. Sad but true. I would bet that most American citizens don't realize that PR is also part of America, or that the people that live there are American citizens as well.

bshep 9y ago

yes. a lot of people are unaware of puerto rico’s status and its peoples citizenship.

diggernet 9y ago
In no small part due to years of national news pretty much ignoring the existence of Puerto Rico.
bshep 9y ago
one citation, but i'm sure there are more: "Nearly Half of Americans Don’t Know Puerto Ricans Are Fellow Citizens" - https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/26/upshot/nearly-half-of-americans-dont-know-people-in-puerto-ricoans-are-fellow-citizens.html https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/26/upshot/nearly-half-of-ame...
- chrisco255 9y ago
  I wonder if these polls are as accurate as election polls.
  - bshep 9y ago
    Well I didn't look at the data and i'm sure theres some error in the results. But even if they are off by 20-30% thats still A LOT of people who dont know about PR status, etc. Anecdotally (i know thats not a good example) most people I speak to always ask if needed a visa to more to one of the 50 states, they ask if you need a passport to visit and they ask if you can drive to PR.
  - learc83 9y ago
    The polls were very accurate at the national level and within a few points at the state level.
    - chrisco255 9y ago
      The same polls that predicted Hillary would win?
      - objectivetruth 9y ago
        Most national polls reflected a preference for her of a few percent. Her popular vote victory was well within that margin of error. But you already knew about the statistical peculiarity that was the 2016 Electoral College result, so I'm guessing you're repeating this hoping for some alt-right points on HN? Or just to demonstrate that public policy polling and statistics are somehow a big snake oil discipline that you're too intelligent to fall for?

roywiggins 9y ago

Even a lot of the media has struggled a bit with it- talking about "US aid" when they mean Federal aid. They never say US aid when disaster strikes the rest of the US, they say Federal aid. Interestingly, apparently PR is still considered "unincorporated" meaning that the US Constitution doesn't apply in its entirety there.

neuronexmachina 9y ago

Sadly, it is an issue. From another fivethirtyeight article: https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/more-americans-may-support-puerto-rico-aid-as-they-learn-theyre-u-s-citizens/ https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/more-americans-may-supp... > Last year, YouGov found that only 43 percent of Americans knew Puerto Ricans were U.S. citizens. > Overall, 64 percent were in favor of aid to the island. ... That 64 percent in favor of aid increased to 68 when respondents were informed that Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens. Trump backers specifically saw a 10-point jump — from 57 percent to 67 percent — in favoring aid when told that Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens.

jccalhoun 9y ago

Yes. In grad school I had a prof from Puerto Rico and she said she always had to convince officials that yes she was a US citizen.

sampo 9y ago

You can also google stories about people who don't believe New Mexico is part of the US.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

mwfunk 9y ago

It's absolutely an issue. Sad but true. I would bet that most American citizens don't realize that PR is also part of America, or that the people that live there are American citizens as well.