After a stimulating conversation on the role of the U.S. Navy on the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico - where it used the island as a bombing range and to test out biochemical warfare - there were many questions and points that I realized we never got to address and that left me wanting to share more. Among them include:
- A further discussion and critique of the role racism plays in colonialism and in particular the use of Puerto Rico as a location to practice biochemical warfare on people of color
- The long-term health and environmental hazards as a result of the Navy's practices and how those can be measured and accounted for, including in the form of compensation. For example, how can we determine what health hazards exist for future generations yet compensate current victims for current health hazards?
- The challenges of overcoming a sovereign immunity defense, even when not explicitly critiquing military policy and decisions, rather the consequences of them.
- The role that civil disobedience and civil unrest played as a strategy of holding the government accountable for its actions in lieu of Puerto Ricans status as a colony unable to vote for the executive or to have federal congressional representation.
- How the environmental justice movement has or has not championed this issue
And whatever else you may want to discuss!
I would like to continue this discussion specifically focusing on the role that racism plays in colonialism and how civil disobedience can be used to create resistance.
ReplyDeleteI was really taken aback by the absence of a plausible explanation of why Vieques was chosen as the site for bio-chemical testing, and the complete disregard from the military to execute orders oblivious to the consequences they create.
We need more than mere accountability because Vieques is one example of the atrocities of warfare and the disgusting role that racism plays in our globalized society.