Author Archives: bdawson2

As of now, one of the most pressing issues in Guam is lack of affordable housing. An increasing number of people are finding themselves unable to afford houses on the island due to rapidly rising prices over the past couple of years. The prices continue to rise due to a number of things, but they’re all related to low supply and increasing demand. First of all, building houses on Guam is expensive. The island is quite small, and there isn’t very much developed land. When a house is built, materials have to be imported from overseas, which can be very expensive. Additionally, construction workers are oftentimes hired from off of Guam. However, construction projects for the military bases on Guam pay more than building houses, so there are less construction workers available for housing projects. Another contributor to rising prices is that the housing market on Guam caters to military members. The US military has a large presence on Guam, and military members can often afford to pay more than Guamanians for housing on Guam. Between their board and housing stipend and their access to VA loans, Guamanians can’t compete for housing. This is leading to many people from Guam leaving the island so they can afford to live.

Ethnocentrism in Guam
By Brandon Dawson

Ethnocentrism is viewing people’s actions or beliefs through one’s own cultural lens instead of using the other people’s culture as a frame of reference. Guam’s treatment has been greatly influenced by ethnocentrism, especially in the early 20th century. In the early 1900s, a series of Supreme Court cases known as the “Insular Cases”, in which the court held that the rights given to American citizens in the Constitution applied only to people in what the court called “incorporated territories”. People in other territories, called “unincorporated”, were given less rights. The Court ruled that American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands were all unincorporated territories. These territories were deemed unincorporated in Downes v. Bidwell due in part to the fact that they were inhabited by “alien races” for whom the “administration of government and justice according to Anglo-Saxon principles may for a time be impossible.” This treatment continues to this day, over 100 years later. Residents of unincorporated territories don’t have the same rights as those living in one of the 50 states. Those in American Samoa aren’t even granted American citizenship. People living in unincorporated territories can’t vote in general elections, don’t have a voting representative in congress, and are barred from some federal social programs, such as SSI and certain Medicare subsidies. As recently as April of 2022, the Supreme Court affirmed in United States v. Vaello-Madero that the 5th amendment’s due process clause and the 14th amendment’s equal protection clause do not ensure that residents of unincorporated territories can be eligible for federal aid. Residents of Guam, as well as all other unincorporated territories of the United States are still treated worse than their counterparts on the mainland due to their cultural values and practices being viewed through the ethnocentric lens of early 19th century American imperialists following the Spanish-American war.

Endangered Language on Guam
By: Brandon Dawson

An endangered culture is a culture than may face extinction due to key figures in a small cultural population, such as elders, dying off. An endangered language is a language that is not being taught to younger generations, and as such may face extinction. Guam, the largest of the Mariana Islands, is home to the Chamorro people. Being tens of thousands strong, they don’t face cultural extinction, but the language Chamorro is identified as an endangered language. While there are still nearly 38,000 native speakers of Chamorro, it is common for people to favor English over Chamorro due to a now defunct policy passed over 100 years ago. Naval Government Executive General Order No. 243, made in 1917, made English the official language of Guam, and banned speaking Chamorro. In the past century, a lot of work has been done to reverse the damage done by the naval administration. In 2013, a law was passed in Guam to increase the number of people taught Chamorro in school, and Chamorro immersion schools have been made which teach both Chamorro language and culture. Governor Torres of Guam has said “I know, it’s easier said than done. But my children speak Chamorro, because all we speak at home is our language. I give them love and respect in Chamorro. Children can speak English at school and with their friends, but they must learn Chamorro at home. Chamorro must start at home. Chamorro education is a plus, but it shouldn’t be the only tool for us to know our language.” However, many older people don’t speak Chamorro due to the old laws, so they couldn’t teach their children, so educational programs prove very important.

Nationalism in Guam
By: Brandon Dawson

Patriotism is love or devotion towards one’s country. This is contrasted with nationalism, which is the belief that one’s nation is intrinsically better than others, and should be promoted, sometimes at the expense of others.
On July 21, 1990, the Chamorro Nation, or Nasion Chamoru in the Chamorro language, was formed by Angel Leon Guerrero Santos. The Chamorro Nation is a Chamorro nationalist group that seeks, among other things, independence for Guam from the United States. The Chamorro Nation was relatively short lived, but in its time it managed to get the Chamorro Land Trust Act passed in 1992, and it brought discourse surrounding the future of Guam and discussions about decolonization of Guam into the public sphere. The Chamorro Land Trust Act of 1992 created the Chamorro Land Trust Commission, and gave some land back from the government to Chamorro on Guam.

The founding members of the Chamorro Nation

Before the second world war, the only presence the American government had on Guam was a small naval base. On December 7, 1941, Guam was captured the Japanese military in part of a coordinated attack against multiple American and British military bases in the Pacific, most famously Pearl Harbor. After the US had recaptured Guam, they seized 61 percent of the island to build military installations so that Guam could become a buffer to protect the mainland United States against potential threats from Asia. The United States Government has since given back most of the land to the government of Guam, but retains about 28 percent of the land on Guam. The loss of land, and then lack of it for future generations, fueled Chamorro nationalist movements to regain Guam.
However, Pro-Chamorro nationalism in Guam is fairly rare. Most people living in Guam are vehemently pro-America. Every June 21st those on Guam celebrate Liberation Day in commemoration of the invasion and subsequent recapture of Guam by the US military from the Japanese. Those living on Guam tend to be supportive of the US military, if not at least amicable about their presence on the island.

The Effect of the Russo-Ukrainian War on Guam
By: Brandon Dawson

Despite the war in Ukraine being roughly 10,000 kilometers away from Guam, there are still measurable impacts. When gas prices surged earlier this year, it hurt Guam especially bad. Gas was already expensive since it had to be shipped from somewhere else. Additionally, rising fuel prices increased the prices of airline tickets. This in combination with the destabilization of some east Asian economies led to a marked decreased in tourists coming to visit Guam. Guam’s biggest industry is tourism and air transportation, so there were fears that this could significantly harm the small island. However, Guam has since recovered, with more tourists from China and Japan coming en masse.

Russian refugees in Guam Protest the ongoing war

In May of this year in Guam, there has been an organized effort to gather supplies for war refugees and transport them to Poland so that they can help people who need them. Guam is a territory of the United States, and the United States has issued heavy sanctions against Russia, as well as supplying Ukraine with arms. Many countries around the world have issued sanctions against Russia, resulting in the Russian economy crashing. While the sanctions haven’t stopped the invasion of Ukraine, the looming threat of NATO intervention, headed by the US most likely curbs Russia’s enthusiasm.

Housing in Guam

By: Brandon Dawson

Guam, the southernmost of the Mariana Islands, has been a territory of the United States since it was annexed in 1898 following the Spanish-American War. Currently, it is home to Andersen Air Force Base, Naval Base Guam, Marine Corps Base Camp Blaz, the world’s largest Kmart, and roughly 170,000 people, of which approximately 21,700 are military members or their dependents.

Recently, housing prices in Guam have been surging, reaching a median single-family house price of $426,000. The prices of houses have been increasing recently primarily due to lack of supply. Although Guam constantly is home to many H2-B work visa construction workers, most of them work as military contractors on Guam’s multiple military bases. This leaves far fewer construction workers to be working on off-base housing projects. The lack of workers to build housing is only exacerbated by the unavailability of resources needed to build houses on Guam, for which exorbitant shipping fees need to be payed to receive them from off of the small island. When there are affordable houses available on the market, they are often quickly bought by military members or veterans who have access to VA loans, and can pay cash for the house. For those seeking rentals, many rental houses are priced according to the US Military’s board and housing stipend, which many Guamanians struggle to afford. Lack of available housing is one of the reasons that many Guamanians are leaving Guam for the mainland United States.