Colonial Constitutionalism: The Tyranny of United States' Offshore Territorial Policy and Relations

by Robert E. Statham Jr.

Colonial Constitutionalism exposes one of the great failures of American democracy. It posits that the creation of a U.S. 'empire' over the last century violated the basis of American constitutionalism through its failure to fully admit annexed offshore territories into the Union. The book's focused case studies analyze each of America's quasi-colonies, revealing how the perpetuation of a this 'imperialist' strategy has rendered the inhabitants second class citizens. E. Robert Statham, Jr.'s work emphasizes the pressing need―in the face of increasingly strident calls for sovereign independence from America's offshore territories―for a modern American republic, fundamentally incompatible with imperialism and colonialism, to grant full U.S. statehood to its overseas possessions.

172 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Colleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are interested in learning about the U.S. Territories (the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, and Puerto Rico), and the U.S. policies and relations affecting these areas, then this is a must read. Then again, if you live in or plan to move to any of these territories, you should definitely read and digest the depth of information presented and analyzed by E. Robert Statham, Jr., in this book. It is mind blowing and, indeed, a tyranny! You will gain an extensive understanding of how America has failed these territories and its people - the many who do not look like the average American.

Statham does a terrific job of analyzing how the people in these territories have been constitutionally violated over the years. Many do not realize that people living in these territories are treated like second class citizens. They are not afforded the same constitutional rights as those living in the U.S. mainland, even though they are U.S. Citizens. Furthermore, if you look a little closer, you'll see that Statham's extensive research brings light to a tyranny of affairs that have rendered American democracy as oppressive and controlling in nature.

Statham is a University professor. He moved from the mainland to Guam, only to realize he was stripped of most of his constitutional rights. Hence, his research and culmination of information presented in this book.

I highly recommend this book. It is a great read.

[Stevie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit of background for my perspective: I was given this book as a going away gift from a Chamorro friend who was also a student of the author's at UoG when I left Guam. He was raised as a SOCAL boy and his dad was a Naval Officer who worked for the Navy on Guam, so he was not enthusiastically anti-American, if at all. As a military dependent frustrated by the anti-Haole mentality and constant nannying of the Chamorros by the Federal gov't, I was just happy to be rid of it all when I left. Upon leaving, the Navy had just approved plans to move most of the military currently located on Okinawa (reputed for being hostile towards the locals) to Guam, which was already well overpopulated and underfunded. As plans for development started unfolding, it was revealed that Pågat and Marbo caves would be jeopardized. Both places are amazing without the cultural and ecological contexts. But culturally, they have almost sacred significance in modern Chamorro culture. It really wasn't until then that I started to see what even the active duty call, "Big" military is capable of.
The author is a bit repetitive and it is quite a dry book but many of his philosophies about the role of our gov't are quite groundbreaking and I have to say that as much as I wish I could, I can't disagree. Even now, I can see the way things with our gov't (and all western gov't but particularly ours under the Constitution) play out and I'm reminded..."Oh...this is what he's talking about..." He is extremely fair and I'm not sure what his wish is for the US' parenting role for territories (which is a good thing... but also why this book gets repetitive as far as saying, "Stop holding the territories hostage." He is just as critical of the local gov'ts for these territories mooching off Uncle Sam and not using their benefits to at least prepare for sovereignty or statehood or to educate their people to make informed decisions and take responsibility for their own gov't. If you can follow his philosophy deep enough you can apply it to even our domestic policy. He explains very clearly why no culture including the God-fearing, conservative culture that we often refer to as "Murica!" will ever survive under the Constitution. Unfortunately even the most hardline activist would try to seek a compromise more moderate of the solution he offers. As many of the minds I've recently become attuned to (Chomski, Mander, Vidal....) would agree, people will need to take an incredibly hard turn against corporate gov't if we want to truly be free. Its not likely to happen.