On January 24th, 2022, more than half a day before King Felipe VI of Spain touched ground onboard his royal plane at Muñiz Air National Guard Base, a group known as “Fuerzas Libertarias de Borikén” ( Boriken Libertarian Forces) claimed responsibility for toppling the 140-year-old effigy of Puerto Rico’s first colonial governor, Juan Ponce de Leon, located on La Plaza de San Jose in the island’s capital. The shifty group wrote their intentions in a statement:
“Faced with the visit of the King of Spain, Felipe VI, to Puerto Rico and the escalation of ‘gringo’ invaders taking over our lands, we want to send a clear message: neither kings nor ‘gringo’ invaders.”
This unexpected quagmire has fueled a fiery debate on social media about an issue that Puerto Rico has been tight-lipped about in the 2010s: should a nation remove statues commemorating national figures whose values and beliefs differ drastically from our own? The death of George Floyd opened deep wounds regarding the racist past of nations all around the world and how it is presented not just in physical objects (e.g., statues), but in school books. Surprisingly though, amid heated protests and thunderous condemnation across the internet, Puerto Rico remained unfazed by this worldwide re-examination of history.
I think the principal reason that Puerto Rico has been absent from this discussion is partly because of the series of crises that have assaulted the island in the past five years. Hurricane Maria, Rosello’s resignation, earthquakes, and the worldwide pandemic have effectively put the island on survival mode. We’ve been exhausted and are just hoping to rebuild and move on.
That said, we should not be disgruntled by that day’s unforeseen event; instead, the toppling of the statue should be a jumping off point for a larger and richer discussion about our past and how we decide to remember it. We should ponder some basic questions: Who should we commemorate? Which figures should we look up to in our darkest hour? Which figures cause the most controversy and what impact have they had over the current state of things?
Many people have long-held misconceptions about history, saying that the past is the past and we can’t change it—which is true, but our interpretation of the past certainly can change. That is the point of history. When taking all our sources from a certain period, historians need to piece together the information and make sense of what was transpiring at that time. Naturally, a historian will have beliefs and biases that color the narrative of his book. It’s important then that other historians and experts critique that historian’s work and publish their own take on that topic, surmounting the previous biases.
Much like historians, people will project their views onto past events and demonize the actions of one group while praising the actions of another. Also, a lack of knowledge can certainly lead many to view certain facets of the past through the ideological and distorted lens of politicians. If we wish to have a mature and honest discussion about our history and honor it, our first step is to search for books, articles, and essays written by historians, such as Fernando Picó’s Historia general de Puerto Rico. A diverse read on the different perspectives of a given historical event or figure is an excellent way to challenge our misunderstandings, handed down in most cases by the previous generation, and bring light to facts that were glossed over by our school system. Only then can we judge our forefathers and contemplate whether we should hold up what they stood for or denounce their foolish actions.
All in all, I hope someday soon the topic of history will be brought up in the wake of the King’s visit. We should take heed from the words of Robert A. Heinlein:”A generation which ignores history has no past—and no future.”