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On Thursday, April 25, the St. Thomas community was enjoying J'Ouvert when the celebration was shattered by gunshots which injured three people. Public safety officials immediately canceled the remainder of J'Ouvert.
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PRINTGrowing up in St. Croix and attending one of the private schools there I always sensed a bit of a racial tension from the continentals that are there. They tended to do their own thing away from the locals and it created a society where every one lived in harmony but did not mix. Certain spots were for locals, certain jobs for locals but the same time, locals were not a part of certain places, events, jobs and so forth. Now that I am older - I have realized that this same dynamic still exists but now the continentals are more friendly and intermingle more with locals on a social level (like when they drink). After being around many of these continentals I have noticed that they try to fit in as locals but yet they step back when the locals try to get too close. I find this ironic because on one hand they try to fit in as locals but on the other they only identify themselves as locals when it is convenient and shun off the real locals when it comes to hiring, teaching and really integrating into their lives. It is like they only want to be "Caribbean" when it suites them and they look down at us when they clan together. If us as the real locals had this same attitude (like we did when we came out with the song 'Kill the Rabbit') we are looked at as hostile people?! This does not add up!?
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Widower who was former funeral home manager for John Thomas Funeral Homes on St. Thomas & St. Coix. Seek to meet single widow lady homeowners in V.I. and others with funds who might be interested in new funeral home partnership. When I lived and worked in V.I. back from 1979 into 1980s and thereafter in Haiti as pilot for father-in-law of Baby Doc (google "ernest bennett haiti") I never had this attitude as at the time former John Thomas was only funeral home on St. Thomas and we buried everyone natives and mainlanders alike and when I came to St. Croix to manage branch of John Thomas Funeral home it was the same and I used locals for part time labor as amount of funerals I did on St. Croix was far less than the company did on St. Thomas and I used only part time local help. I owned a bull in conjunction with a native who lived behind the funeral home at 129 Peters Rest and when I left V.I. I gave him my half interest in the bull (I purchased it but shared ownership with him as he took care of it). I found the people of St. Croix and St. Thomas to dislike each other more than they disliked mainlanders. I worked many funerals where mine was the only white face at the service and never had the first problem.
I too grew up on StX and attended private schools. Like you, I thought the Continentals were a bit stand-offish. Having lived now in the continental US for a number of years, I understand that the reasons behind the Native/continental divide are very complex. Part of it is cultural and part is economic. White, middle- and upper-class Americans tend to have very different values than Crucians. Bridging that cultural and economic gap isn't easy --takes time, patience, and compassion. Try listening to the Continentals. While they're trying to be more "local," why don't you try to be more "continental?" Try to understand their values and perspectives. I'm not saying you'll agree or like those values and perspectives, but at least you'll start to understand better whom you're dealing with. Peace!