I’ve seen videos of educators who teach the “Bad Bunny” syllabus, with some even claiming that it is their students’ first—and perhaps only—exposure to Puerto Rican history and culture.

There are two things that are problematically wrong here. First, what they teach and argue in their videos is not history, but an ultra-nationalist political tergiversation of it—one not that dissimilar from the MAGA version of reality. Second, what they present as culture is highly selective and reductive.

Especially among “educators” from the Diaspora, there is one common trope—the absurd lamentation: “no one taught me this” or “they hid my true history.” This is nothing but a new iteration of chains enslaving Diasporicans: “vivo en la larga espera de cobrar lo que perdí.” Incidentally, this mindset has been created and facilitated by ultra-nationalist discourses from both politicians and academics telling them that they will never belong in the United States, will always be unwelcomed second-class citizens, and that they are not true Puerto Ricans because they were not born in Puerto Rico or because they moved to “the states.” I have written about this before—a long time ago (Boricuas en la Luna?)

True—academia has changed the tune a little in recent years, in part due to more Diasporicans joining its ranks. But in many ways they have made it worse. While they correctly embrace the idea that “yo sería Borincano aunque naciera en la luna” and reject the ultra-conservative nationalist dictum that the land you inhabit gives you your identity and nationality, they have amplified the colonial complex that they do not belong in the U.S. This has led to self-disenfranchisement and a sense of living under siege among Diasporicans who fall for it.

A big chunk of these PR “scholars” in the Diaspora have also taken the easy road of presenting a minstrel show for the white liberal gaze (which can’t get enough of it in its obsession with the self-indulgence of self-flagellation and its insatiable taste for porno-misery—kind of their own Epstein Island).

And they go for it because these scholars know that’s the easy way to sell books (more like pamphlets), create a following, and be catapulted to positions for which they lack the wherewithal, the integrity, and the ability to discharge the duties of the offices they unduly gain access to.

It sounds like the Trump cabinet and administration—but it is a reflection of Puerto Rican “scholars” in the Diaspora.

These “educators” are the ones amplifying nationalist myths (read—big lies) either because of their ignorance or because they have renounce to the ethics of academia to favor a political agenda- or a combination of both. Some of these myths are:

• Puerto Ricans having citizenship imposed on them to send them to fight in WWI;
  • Citizenship was negotiated and Puerto Ricans not even wanted in the military at the time to the point they had to fight to be included in the draft.

• Puerto Ricans being sent to jail for waving or possessing a PR flag or singing the national anthem;
  • Beating a dead horse – but while you could be under surveillance for having materials associated with the nationalist Party– that wasn’t admitted as evidence in trials because it wasn’t against the law to own a PR flag or singing the anthem.

• The U.S. military bombing Puerto Rico in 1950
  • It was the PR National Guard that fought the nationalist insurrection that tried to stop a decolonial process supported by over 80% of Puerto Ricans;

• The light blue (azul celeste) Puerto Rican flag being the true Puerto Rican flag.
  • Another myth- outright lie. It was the preferred color of the Nationalist Party- an incredibly small but virulently violent organization that at the end of the day tried to impose Albizu Campos’ views on all Puerto Ricans- and failed- defeated by Puerto Ricans themselves.
  • Several tones of blue were used alternately throughout PR history until the darker blue tone was chosen for the official flag in 1952.

And the list goes on…

Nationalism lies because it needs to pit one group of people against another. It needs to create a sense of being so horribly victimized that we have no option but to hate and completely destroy the oppressor—and whoever is not in agreement is labeled a collaborator and a traitor. It is true for Puerto Rican nationalists—and it is true for MAGA.

Puerto Rican “scholars” have been complicit in carrying these lies—some of them because their parents and grandparents told them so, never questioning their ancestors and failing to realize that they themselves may come from an oppressing class.

People have two choices when presented with facts, evidence, and narratives that contradict what they have digested since childhood: you can entrench (like cultists do—a lo MAGA), or you can truly study your history—which is not hidden and is, in fact, readily available to all Puerto Ricans.

The problem is that it doesn’t come in sound bites that reaffirm what you already “know”—and it won’t confirm your bias. So you need several things to be able to handle the truth, to learn true history: humility, integrity, an open mind, and, of course, a modicum of intelligence.

So—what’s your choice? That is, if you are really interested in learning about your (and our) history?

But at the very least- beware of those who prey on your insecurities and fears and sell you a tale in which you have always been a victim- because they are playing you.