Guam on the Quarter

Today, whilst perusing Facebook, it came to my attention that the long awaited Guam quarter has been released. This may not seem like a huge deal to most people. But, to people on Guam, the Chamorro people(either on-island or 'displaced'), it is something that we can be proud of. Something that acknowledges the existence of our island. Of our people. I guarantee you, if you were to walk up and ask an average American where our island is or anything that has to do with the Chamorro people, they will look at you with a puzzled look upon their faces. Either that or they will convince you that Guam is in Africa.

I've actually had someone argue with me and tell me that I'm not in the pacific and that Guam was in South America! I couldn't help laughing at the ignorance displayed by said individual. Then, I frown. Because, however proud I am of my tiny island, my people, my heritage, I realize that there is a large percentage of the world's population that don't even know about this little gem of the pacific that I call home. Maybe this event, the appearance of our tiny island on something as insignificant as a quarter, will put a little curiosity in to people's minds. Maybe it will encourage them to find out a little bit about my home.

So, without further ado, I present to you, Guam's mark on U.S. currency!!

Proposed designs:

Final outcome:

Another issue that has come up over the past couple of years... War reparations. On one hand, I feel that the wounds inflicted on our people have had nearly 60 years to heal. Those who were most effected by the events have since passed and the wounds should be left unopened. On the other, those who were left behind, those who were old enough to understand are still around. Some people think that the people of Guam are owed an apology. But, must we keep letting the descendants of these men pay for the misconduct of their fathers? If this were the case, shouldn't we, as Americans, keep paying for the deeds done to the Vietnamese, the Koreans, the Native Americans, or whatever race or nationality we have suppressed at one point or another? If we keep trying to pry apologies and compensation from someone who has done us wrong at any point, we will be stuck in an endless cycle of pain and it would cheapen the significance of our history. It's time to learn from our pasts and start moving towards something better. To heal old wounds rather than peeling the scabs off and letting them fester.