Governor Rosselló’s Statehood for Puerto Rico Speech at 2018 NAACP National Convention

Jul 17, 2018
4:17 PM

UPDATE, July 19: The NAACP has since rescinded its endorsement.

Earlier on Tuesday, Puerto Rico governor Ricardo Rosselló addressed the attendees at the 2018 NAACP National Convention in San Antonio, Texas. The purpose of Rosselló’s speech was to promote statehood for Puerto Rico, a position the NAACP officially endorsed after Rosselló spoke.

Here is a video of Rosselló’s speech (via the NAACP’s public livestream):

According to an official press release by Rosselló’s team, “Following Rosselló’s speech, the NAACP passed an emergency resolution supporting the passage of the Puerto Rico Admission Act, House Resolution 6246, in the 115th Congress. This bill calls on Congress to admit Puerto Rico as a state of the Union by the year 2021.

“Colonialism is political segregation and it has no place in our country,” Rosselló said at one point.

However, we all know that the statehood question in Puerto Rico is so flipping complicated. Do we really have to remind people?