What arguments did Puerto Ricans make to oppose being drafted?

April 22, 2024 1:18 PM

I am looking for information about an incident or multiple incidents of Puerto Ricans opposing the Vietnam War draft.

I am looking for information about incidents where Puerto Ricans opposed being drafted during the Vietnam War based on the argument that Puerto Rico was a colonial territory and that Puerto Ricans as colonial subjects should not be eligible for the draft. These arguments might have been made to the draft board, in lawsuits, or to the press.

Does anyone have any information about when and where this occurred and who was involved?

posted by andoatnp to Law & Government (1 answer total)

I assume you've seen this article which outlines some of the draft resistance happening in Puerto Rico including some of the legal cases.

This document from the Coalition to Fight Political Oppression (from a group in Massachusetts) talks about their solidarity efforts and gives some decent numbers.

This article, if you have access, talks about the gender disparities and looks at draft resistance through a gendered lens.

Not sure how deep you want to get into this but there are a lot of oral histories of various Puerto Ricans, people who opposed and people who did not, during the Vietnam War.
posted by jessamyn at 1:35 PM on April 22 [3 favorites]