YOU don’t have to be a proponent of “Americanism” (whatever that is) or be white to be bothered by the complaints of residents of the CNMI toward the United States. The U.S. paid for those islands with blood during World War II and with lots of money since then (much of which has been squandered) and yes, you should be grateful.
The CNMI is indeed a welfare society leeching off of the American taxpayers. As a former resident, I can attest to the fact that fraud, waste, corruption and abuse are rampant there.
If you don’t like being held accountable, then by all means change your political status and relinquish your American citizenship. By all means become independent and sovereign — the United Nations is waiting to help you with that. And nobody forced your young people to join the U.S. military, so don’t whine about that either.
Don’t hide behind culture and ethnicity when it pleases you — and then wave the American flag when it pleases you.
Lastly, U.S. citizens are not “guests” in the CNMI as long as it is part of the United States. When you leave the U.S. family, then you can refer to U.S. citizens as “guests.” Your only valid complaints are that you don’t have a delegate to Congress and you can’t vote for president. So why not focus on that.

JOE LANDERS
Honolulu, Hawaii