While America has spent billions on the Insular Islands of America however, too long these Insular Islands have been treated like foreign colonies in many ways. Being a retired educator and former Board of Education Member, I viewed the biggest oversight and most disrespectful phenomenon in America’s relationship with the Insular Islands as being the failure to educate Americans, American Businesses and the American Media Outlets about these islands that are part of the American family. The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is the only island group in Insular America that has some semblance of being known as part of America by most Americans due to its popularity and its close location to the mainland of America as a Tourist Destination.
Insular America has literally been ignored when it comes to the teachings about America in classrooms and by the American Media. The publishing companies who provide the Textbooks to American schools have failed to even mention to American students about Insular America which has been completely left-out of all the textbooks on lessons teaching about “all the state level governments in America.” American school teachers are teaching a “half-truth” about America which is really a “whole-lie.” An overwhelming majority of Americans don’t even know there are 55 State Level Governments Represented in the U.S. Congress. The textbook maps of America and the media outlets of America have all failed miserably to include Insular America on their maps of America which is really a misrepresentation of the geographic areas of America. The Insular Areas are also not included in the national news discussions on things like weather phenomena and even Covid-19 which is truly an oversight that demonstrates there is even a high level of “Professional Ignorance about the Insular America Islands” that needs to be rectified in an expeditious manner because it long over-due as it was NEVER done!
In 1985, when I first met my wife from the CNMI I had to get an encyclopedia to learn about the U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam because Insular America is not being taught in American schools. America is much bigger than the 50 states but most Americans don’t have the slightest idea of Insular America’s existence. The term Insular America, which is the “proper name for the collective of these island groups in the American Family” is literally Greek to most Americans. America may be the only nation on earth where all the people don’t know about all of the state level governments within their nation, which is a genuine travesty.
I am writing to humbly and respectfully ask all of the Delegates from Insular America to band together in offering a “Resolution and even Law” that will mandate the education on the Insular America Islands. The failure to include Insular America is an oversight by Publishing Companies that must be corrected. Future Federal Education Legislation needs to include “the use of Federal Funds to purchase textbooks that address the 50 States must include Insular America to be eligible for purchase with Federal Funds.” Failing to include all of America in our education textbooks about America is incomprehensible for our American Education System in these modern times. There are Typhoons that develop right on top of the CNMI & Guam but the national news media doesn’t mention these Typhoons until they are threatening or causing destruction in Japan or the Philippines while the U.S. CNMI & Guam were left devastated — a complete and disappointing oversight by the national media. Now Covid-19 is sweeping America and the media is still only showing all the 50 states and their statistics but not so much as a whisper about the Insular Islands of America when these islands are doing better than any of the states that would be a real PLUS for our Tourism Industry in the near future. But instead of Insular America being promoted as safe destination they are totally forgotten.
Educating America and even the world about the Insular Islands of America will do a great deal to help all of these island groups in many ways. Most of Insular America depends a lot upon Tourism but when our own nation won’t help these island groups with being known as part of America it makes the Tourism marketing efforts of Insular America even more challenging. I believe that a simple Resolution for Media Sources in America to include ALL of America with Insular America on their maps and part of the national news will do a great deal in giving Insular America the exposure they so rightfully deserve in discussions about America. American Publishing Companies & Media leaving Insular America out only demonstrates ignorance about our nation which needs to change. There are entirely too many businesses that don’t even offer their products to Insular America Islands due to their pure ignorance as all the Insular Island groups have U.S. Post Offices but too many American businesses consider these islands as being “international” and off-limits when they are really American Islands. In fact, one doesn’t even need a passport, just a valid U.S. ID, to travel to the island groups of Insular America.
I know you (Kilili) is well aware of the lack of education on Insular America as you have even purchased some of my “Insular America Booklets” for the new members in Congress in an effort to educate them about Insular America. But it is now time to take this fight to the next level which is why I’m asking you to unite with other members of Congress to offer a Resolution to All American Media Outlets for the inclusion of Insular America in their reporting and maps and a Law requiring Publishing Companies to get it right with all the state level Governments of America in their Textbooks as these Publishing Companies are literally controlling what American youth learn in schools. There is more education in American textbooks on Afghanistan than there is about the Insular Islands of America, a true travesty of our Education System.
If my services are needed as a professional witness to help in convincing the U.S. Congress to do something about this all-important Educational oversight for Americans and especially for the People of Insular America, I am more than willing to appear and offer testimony with factual supporting proof. For me, the lack of education on Insular America is a horrific phenomenon and if our leaders in Washington can’t respond to this request and make sure that ALL of America is educated and informed about ALL of America including the Insular Islands of the American family, then “ America’s Education System and Media Services will continue promoting a misleading representation of all the state level governments in America and a completely false and misleading map of our nation.” This phenomenon should not remain as an oversight of such monumental proportions that was allowed to be perpetrated on America by Textbook Publishers and Media Outlets because our United States Congress failed to conduct any oversight!
This is not an extraordinary request nor even a difficult request requiring funding from the U.S. Congress but a simple ordinary request seeing ordinary solutions to what should be ordinary circumstances of full inclusion for the Insular Areas of America in the American Family. Reiterating my respectful humble and sincere request on behalf of ALL the People living in Insular America for you (Kilili) to share this Public Request with your fellow Delegates from the other Insular Areas and the rest of the U.S. Congress. I’m sure an overwhelming majority of People living in Insular America are hopeful that something can and will be done to “properly educate all Americans, Businesses and Media Services about Insular America in the American Family”. Thanks for your continued work Delegate Kilili and “God-speed with this request.”
The writer is a retired teacher, former CNMI Board of Education Member, James Madison Fellow (U.S. Constitutional Scholar) and a Fulbright-Hays Foreign Scholar who resides in Kagman III.
