In 1898 after 400 years of Spanish colonial rule, Puerto Rico was ceded to The United States of America as a result of the Spanish-American war. In the wake of that 400 year rule nearly all of the indigenious people of the island were killed or sold as slaves. Spain also allowed the importation of African slaves to the island. With this mix between the fair skinned Spaniards, the light brown tint of the natives with the dark color of the African slaves Puerto Ricans come in many shades. Due to this melting pot of colors there is almost no racisim on the island among the natives.
One of the problems Puerto Ricans would have to face in becoming a state is the loss of culture. My family is of Puerto Rican descent. We love and pride ourselves on our language, music, food and athletes. It's not just my family Puerto Ricans in general pride themselves on those things. An example would be when the professional boxer Tito Trinidad who was undefeated at the time) lost to Bernard Hopkins in title fight. The shame and humilitaion in my house was amazing for a non-Puerto Rican it was like "so Trinidad lost." To us it was like we had physically lost the night. The mood in the house was grim and dark no one wanted to talk or do anything. He had the support of a whole island and for him to lose was devasting, if you did'nt know any better you would have sworn that Trinidad died that night. That night still hurts we(as Puerto Ricans lust for Titos revenge) even though it happened 3 years ago.
Having to give up spanish as the official language and adopt US customs and ideals would not be looked upon kindly. Hawaii is an example of this. Hawaii was once a self sufficient island kingdom in the pacific ocean. With an insurrection by a small group of men ( most were American and backed by US troops) the monarchy was overthrown. The people did not want this new provisional goverment they adored their queen. The queen then went to Washington to talk to the President but it was too late the annexation papers were already in Congress. The people were shut out of this process and clearly did not condone a US take over. Thru all this they lost their culture and voice and even now there are some hawaiians who are trying to organize a movement to become independent once more. Puerto Ricans are very proud of their history and what they have accomplished(even with commonwealth status) and would not be fond of such a predicament.
In some instances it is like Puerto Rico is already a state. For one thru the US relationship the island has been able to do buisiness and have relations with companies that they would'nt have been able to have. Because of this the industrial sector has even surpassed agriculture as the primary industry on the island. Defense is also a responsibilty of the US. To attack Puerto Rico is to attack the United States. Puerto Ricans are also legal citizens of the United States and the currency used is in American denominations.
To become a state the commonwealth of Puerto Rico would have to overcome many obstacles and look past the United States transgressions in the past. The people for one seem opposed to statehood they voted against it 4 times, most recently in 1998. I personally feel that Puerto Rico is fine without further involvement with the United States and the people from the island seem to agree. Puerto Ricans suffered a harsh colonial occupation in the 1400's, with George W. Bush at the helm could they begin another with statehood or not.