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
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
Death Cafe: where people talk mortality over tea and cakeWhy everyone's talking about The meet-ups offer a judgement-free and respectful space to discuss the end of life
-
Mark Menzies: Tories investigate MP after 'bad people' cash claimsSpeed Read Fylde MP will sit as an independent while party looks into allegations he misused campaign funds on medical expenses and blackmail pay-out
-
'Another day of chaos in DC'Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
-
OJ Simpson, star athlete tried for murder, dead at 76Speed Read The former football hero and murder suspect lost his battle with cancer
-
Momofuku's 'Chili Crunch' trademark uproarSpeed Read The company's attempt to own the sole rights has prompted backlash
-
Kevin Hart awarded Mark Twain PrizeSpeed Read He is the 25th recipient of the prestigious comedy prize
-
Is Downton Abbey set to return for a final film?Speed Read Imelda Staunton reveals that a third movie may be in the pipeline
-
'Oppenheimer' sweeps Oscars with 7 winsspeed read The film won best picture, best director (Christopher Nolan) and best actor (Cillian Murphy)
-
'Rust' armorer convicted of manslaughterspeed read The film's cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was shot and killed by actor Alec Baldwin during rehearsal
-
The Beatles are getting 4 intersecting biopicsSpeed Read Director Sam Mendes is making four separate movies, each told from the perspective of one band member
-
Taylor Swift to Miley Cyrus: female artists dominate 2024 GrammysSpeed Read SZA, Phoebe Bridgers and Lainey Wilson were also among the winners at LA gala
