John Oliver uses Selma to remind America it has 5 disenfranchised island territories

John Oliver reminds America that hit has 4 million citizens who can&#039;t vote

(Image credit: Last Week Tonight)

With eyes turned toward Selma and voting rights over the weekend, John Oliver reminded America on Sunday night's Last Week Tonight that more than four million people live in the U.S. territories of Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and the Northern Marianas, they're U.S. citizens, and they still can't vote for president. "That's the kind of unsettling fact that deep down you probably knew but chose not to think about," he said. And it gets worse when you learn where those restricted voter rights stem from.

Oliver started with a 1901 Supreme Court case which found that, since the inhabitants of the island are "alien races," they wouldn't be able to grasp "Anglo-Saxon principles." Wow, Oliver said, "I find that condescending, and I'm British. We basically invented patronizing bigotry." The status of U.S. territories, and what their inhabitants want, is complicated, he added, "but surely when it comes to denying Americans the right to vote, we have to find a better reason than citing a 100-year-old legal decision, written by a racist, that was always supposed to be temporary." Watch and laugh and learn below. —Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.