THE classic tale of Cinderella is a familiar story to many individuals: Cinderella wants to go to the ball, but her evil stepmother forbids it; she magically turns into a princess, and in the end, she gets the prince. It’s cute, really. I just wished it didn’t ironically mirror the situation in the CNMI. And no, we have not obtained the prince. We were never meant to, and if we continue to be oblivious to this reality, the greater our islands’ socioeconomic status will suffer, and youth will be left unaware. Escape the fairytale, reject the fable.
The pages of Cinderella may have been fiction, but the articles of the Covenant are very much real. As you all may know, the Covenant between the United States and the CNMI was established to protect the indigenous people, lands, and laws of our islands, halting any presence of the United States’ imperialistic tendencies. The original writing of our Covenant meant the government could manage and dictate international affairs within the Marianas, including immigration, minimum wage, and education requirements. Our former leaders would not have signed the agreement outside of these parameters.
The funny thing about agreements is that both parties have to honor the obligations settled upon, so wouldn’t it be bad if they didn’t? Cinderella agreed with her godmother, similar to how the CNMI negotiated with the U.S., except we weren’t dealing with a godmother. No, we were making deals with our evil stepmother. Since the signing of the Covenant, the United States has misinterpreted the language of our contract and downright dissolved the fundamentals of our Constitution. Section 701 of the CNMI Covenant states that the United States shall assist the CNMI in its efforts to increase the standard of living of its people and the structure of its economy. With this, the United States imposed the U.S. Federal Takeover in 2008 to mitigate inequities and struggles in the CNMI. Spoiler alert: this led to an exponential presence of struggle in the CNMI.
The Takeover altered many elements of the CNMI government’s legislative power, particularly when it stated that the U.S. would manage CNMI immigration. The U.S. believed that the immense amount of labor violations and human rights infringements forced them to support the CNMI in their international endeavors. However, in her journal, Estelle Hofschneider points out that “it [the Takeover] was a decision that came after more than a decade of discussion…over the United States’ treaty obligations under the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees.”
Instead of assisting the CNMI government, the U.S. completely took over the CNMI’s immigration power, lessening their determination capabilities over their Marianas. Human rights infringements are horrible and disgusting, but the people of the CNMI are strong and capable of change. The narrative that CNMI Law Enforcement is not equipped to impose its laws is false. Wake up, USA. How could the CNMI shift its pre-established economic structure without resources and instruction from U.S. officials? CNMI executives were never trained or educated by U.S. federal labor law enforcement. It is difficult for the CNMI to be a part of a nation when the U.S. disappoints the island’s people in effectively integrating them into their normality.
The U.S. fooled us twice, yet the shame is still on them. A second component of their failed Takeover was the mandate of the federal minimum wage. Let me be frank: the previous CNMI wage was unlivable and inexcusable, but the United States has got to halt its tone-deaf actions in regions that they know nothing about. Hasn’t the U.S. learned anything from Cinderella? If the shoe fits, wear it. After establishing the federal minimum wage in the CNMI and the World Trade Organization’s discernment of quotas on textile and apparel imports, corporations started packing up shops and moving to countries with a forgiving market. Assist us to improve everyday life? The U.S. put the indigenous people of the CNMI at historic levels of poverty that are now reflected in the abandoned buildings, crippling roads, and struggling families that are present to this day. Rep. Blas Jonathan Attao of the Northern Marianas Commonwealth 23rd Legislature confirmed this on April 14, 2024, stating that “we [the CNMI] are in a really bad financial situation.”
So many changes to the roots and constituents of the Covenant have left our youth in ignorance, and I don’t blame them. The population of individuals who knew the origins of the Covenant is aging, and with times hitting rock bottom, they hide the realities of our beautiful islands from future generations. Information can only live on through the mouths of individuals, which is how the story of Cinderella is told to this day. Our islands’ native languages, traditions, and practices are slowly dissolving and disappearing right before our eyes: We can’t allow the United States to take over our islands any more than it has. As a child of strong and intellectual Chamorro parents, as many are, I grew up consciously knowing the history of the CNMI and why conversations surrounding the Covenant are paramount in preserving our culture. So I say to unveil the true story: the problem. Literary enthusiasts thrive on the generic plot of the evil person losing and the excellent individual winning. Tell them that the United States never meant to invite us to the grand ball but instead tokenize us from outside its castle’s gates. Inform them of the U.S.’s unjust treatment of all the people of the CNMI, not just the indigenous people. Do this not to scare your kids of the inevitable future but to break free from this recurring story. The U.S. is not our enemy, but I’m tired of the CNMI being Cinderella in this tale. We may not be able to make it to the ball, but we can continue fighting to rewrite our story instead of letting the U.S. write it for us.
Jesus Sablan, a son of the CNMI, is a freshman undergraduate student at Columbia University, intending to study Political Science.
