Reverence and Revulsion
A great article that discusses the complexity of the average Chamorro relationship to the United States. It is inundated with sometimes strange feelings of patriotism, desires for inclusion and casual approval of militarism in close to ever facet of life. It feels natural for the most part, but at certain moments, doesn't seem to make sense. As I noted in another article, every once in a while there is a crack in the facade of Americanness for the island, and suddenly the generic patriotism or platitudes of Guam being part of the United States don't make sense. The colonial truth stares out at your through the crack, and if you've spent your life trying to avoid this reality, it can feel terrifying to realize that your relationship to the United States bares little similarity to what you see around you or what is taught to you at almost every level. Si Yu'us Ma'Ã¥se' to Jon Letman for his great article, which doesn't just ignore the ambivalence t