Why Should Puerto Rico Become the 51st State?

About the Book

With this book, “Why Should Puerto Rico Become the 51st State?”, Dr. González attempts to answer two basic questions. 1. Why has Puerto Rico been a colony for the past 527 years? 2. How could Puerto Rico stop being a colony? Colonialism refers to populations whose government’s sovereignty resides in another country without fair and equal representation in that government. Puerto Rico is a territory that belongs to the USA since 1898 with the signature of the Treaty of Peace between Spain and the USA after the Spanish- American War. The original book published in 2007, “The Governor’s Suits”, was a response to a book written by an ex-president of the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico: “The Trials of the Oldest Colony of the World” by José Trías Monje. After years of asserting that Puerto Rico was a self-governing country, he declared that PR is a colony. He did not understand why Puerto Ricans have accepted colonialism. In his book, Dr. González explained that the experiences of colonialism have been endured because the experiences as a colony for all these years have branded the Puerto Ricans and shaped their personalities to accept and endure colonialism with stoicism. With a near future discussion coming to Congress about the status of the relations between Puerto Rico and the USA, Dr. González feels responsibility to create awareness that PR is a colony, and since 2012, in a popular vote, 54% of Puerto Ricans voted to discontinue the mutually consented colonialism up to then.

About the Author

Dr. Guillermo Gonzalez Roman (the Spanish tradition is to have the mother’s last name as part of your legal name) was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1949. He studied in the Puerto Rico public school system until achieving a degree of doctor in medicine, with a completed residency training program in neurology and psychiatry from the University of Puerto Rico Medical School. He also studied clinical behavioral research training at State University of New York, Downstate Medical Science Campus in Brooklyn for a year. His main interest of research is the study of the interrelations of biology and experiences conditioning and defining personalities. How our living experiences and the living experiences of our communities impact the way we behave and see the world. His pet subject refers to the interaction of history and personality in Puerto Rico. He has practiced medicine for the past 47 years. Like many other Puerto Ricans he has lived in New York City, Massachusetts, and Puerto Rico. Most of his family is dispersed throughout the states including California, Minnesota, Florida, Texas, Massachusetts, and New York. Everywhere he has lived and served his community as a physician he has felt accepted and grateful from each and all. He has an existentialist perspective of behavior within a biological perspective of life. Writing about his pet subject (colonialism) is an attempt by Dr. Gonzalez to promote dialogue among people around something that all Americans should be ashamed that exists in their backyard- colonialism.