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THE VIRGIN ISLANDS HUMANITIES COUNCIL
“WE THE PEOPLE” PROJECT
VIRGIN ISLANDERS: WHO ARE WE? PANEL DISCUSSION
PRESENTED BY
SENATE PRESIDENT, LORRAINE L. BERRY
APRIL 2, 2005 (2:00-4:00 PM)
CHASE AUDITORIUM, UVI
GOOD AFTERNOON, PROFESSOR EMANUEL, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, MABEL MADURO AND MEMBERS OF THE HUMANITIES COUNCIL, FELLOW PANELISTS, DIGNITARIES AND GUESTS PRESENT, FELLOW VIRGIN ISLANDERS…
I WOULD LIKE TO FIRST THANK THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT OF THE HUMANITIES FOR SUPPORTING THE “WE THE PEOPLE” NATIONAL INITIATIVE WHOSE GOAL IS “TO ENCOURAGE AND STRENGTHEN THE TEACHING, STUDY AND UNDERSTANDING OF AMERICAN HISTORY AND CULTURE THROUGH THE SUPPORT OF PROJECTS THAT EXPLORE SIGNIFICANT EVENTS AND THEMES AND ADVANCE KNOWLEDGE OF THE PRINCIPLES THAT DEFINE AMERICA.”
I AM HONORED THAT YOU SELECTED ME TO BE NOT ONLY A VOICE OF REASON TODAY BUT A VOICE OF THE FRENCH CONTRIBUTION TO THE SOCIETY AND CULTURE THAT WE TODAY CALL THE US VIRGIN ISLANDS. I MUST START FIRST BY INFORMING YOU OF A FEW DEFINITIONS AND CONCEPTS THAT MUST BE UNDERSTOOD EARLY BEFORE WE ENTER THE NITTY GRITTY OF THE DISCUSSION.
APPROXIMATELY SEVEN YEARS AGO, JULY 3, 1998, I HAD THE DISTINCT PRIVILEGE OF GIVING A PRESENTATION ON THE EMANCIPATION OF SLAVES IN THE THEN DANISH WEST INDIES. I PRESENTED A WELL RESEARCHED SPEECH AND ONE OF THE PARTICIPANTS IN THE PROGRAM, A FORMER SENATOR, GOT INTO A FRACAS WITH OTHER ELECTED OFFICIALS BECAUSE HE CLAIMED THAT HE DID NOT WANT TO SPEAK AFTER A SLAVE MASTER’S CHILD. TO ADD INSULT TO INJURY HE LABELED OTHERS ON THE PROGRAM UNCLE TOMS AND HE LITERALLY STOPPED THE COMMEMORATION.
AFTER MUCH REFLECTION AND MEDITATION, I CAME TO THE CONCLUSION THAT MANY IN OUR COMMUNITY LACKED KNOWLEDGE IN GENERAL ABOUT THE PAST, AND THEY ARE EXTREMELY UNAWARE OF THE FRENCH CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE VIRGIN ISLANDS.
LET’S WORK ON OUR VOCABULARY AND CONCEPTS FOR A MOMENT. THERE IS NO FRENCH RACE, BUT THERE IS A FRENCH NATION. TODAY, FRENCH NATIONALS CAN BE OF ANY RACE. HOWEVER, THE FRENCH CARIBBEAN POPULATION WHO HAVE BEEN HISTORICALLY CALLED FRENCHIES ARE DESCENDENTS FROM FRENCH EUROPEANS WHO LEFT FRANCE FROM AS EARLY AS THE 1620’S. AT THAT TIME IN FRANCE, THE FRENCH NATION WAS EUROPEAN OR WHITE. WITHIN 150 YEARS, THE FRENCH NATION BEGAN TO EXPAND INTO OTHER CONTINENTS.
IN FACT, BY THE NAPOLEONIC ERA, FRENCH SETTLERS WERE FOUND THROUGHOUT THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE AND CERTAIN ENCLAVES IN AFRICA
AND THE INDIAN OCEAN. BY 1880, THE FRENCH NATION HAD BECOME MULTI-RACIAL.
THUS, IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE THERE ARE THREE TYPES OF FRENCH PEOPLE. LET ME LIST THEM:
- THERE IS THE OLD FRENCH OR THE INDIGENOUS FRENCH SETTLER STOCK THAT LEFT FRANCE IN THE 17TH TO 18TH CENTURIES. THEY SETTLED THROUGHOUT THE CARIBBEAN BASIN, AND DISTINCT COMMUNITIES EXIST TO THIS DAY IN ST. BARTHS, MARTINIQUE, GUADELOUPE, LES SAINTES, TRINIDAD, AND ST. KITTS. MANY OF THESE EARLY FRENCH SETTLERS INTERMARRIED WITH OTHER ETHNIC GROUPS AND TODAY THEIR DESCENDANTS ARE VARIED IN COMPLEXION AND PHENOTYPE.
- THERE IS THE NON-EUROPEAN PERSON WHO WAS EXPOSED TO FRENCH CULTURE AND LANGUAGE AND HE OR SHE IS GALLICIZED. SIMILAR TO THE SPANISH COLONISTS, FRENCH COLONIZATION SUPPORTED THE CONCEPT OF ASSIMILATION AMONG NON-EUROPEAN PEOPLES. THUS, MANY BLACK AND BROWN INHABITANTS OF SAN DOMINGUE WHICH BECAME HAITI, MARTINIQUE, GUADELOUPE, ST. MARTIN AND FRENCH GUIANA HAVE BEEN FRENCH FOR CENTURIES.
- THE LAST GROUP OF FRENCH PEOPLE ARE RECENT ARRIVALS TO THE FRENCH CULTURE AND THEY HAD IMMIGRATED TO FRANCE SINCE
WORLD WAR I. THEY INCLUDE INDOCHINESE, POLYNESIANS, ARABS OR BERBERS, AND AFRICANS FROM THE CONTINENT ITSELF.
THUS, BEING FRENCH IS NOT A RACIAL ISSUE. IN THE VIRGIN ISLANDS CONTEXT, YOU CAN FIND FRENCH PEOPLE WHO FIT THE THREE CATEGORIES THAT I JUST MENTIONED.
BUT FOR THE SAKE OF TODAY’S DISCUSSION, I BELIEVE THAT THE FRENCH PEOPLE YOU HAVE IN MIND ARE THE MAGRAS’, LEDEES, GREAUX’S, QUERRARDS, BERRYS, AUBAINS, BRYANS, OLIVES, DANETS, TURBES, BERNIERS, RICHARDSONS, QUETELS, BLANCHARDS, SIBILLYS AND SO FORTH. YOUR INTEREST IS THE FRENCH CARIBBEAN POPULATION WHO HAIL MAINLY FROM ST. BARTHS. THIS IS THE GROUP OF VIRGIN ISLANDERS WHO THE MAJORITY POPULATION PERCEIVE AS FRENCH, MAINLY DUE TO THE PHENOTYPICAL DIFFERENCES OF MOST OF US.
WE ARE FAIR SKINNED AND OF FRENCH EUROPEAN DESCENT AND THE MAJORITY POPULATION IS DARK-SKINNED AND OF WEST AFRICAN ORIGIN.
THE FRENCH PEOPLE, IF I CAN USE THIS CONCEPT FROM HENCEFORTH IN THIS PRESENTATION, PERCEIVES ITSELF AS 100% CARIBBEAN. IT IS A CREOLIZED PEOPLE WHICH IS EXTREMELY PROUD OF ITS HERITAGE BUT HAS MADE MAJOR ADAPTATIONS TO SURVIVE IN THE CARIBBEAN BASIN. TODAY MOST OF US DO NOT SPEAK FRENCH OR PATOIS UNLESS WE LEARN IT IN SCHOOL, BUT IN THE EARLY PART OF THE 20TH CENTURY FRENCH AND PATOIS WERE COMMON IN MOST FRENCH FAMILIES.
IN FACT, ON THURSDAY, MARCH 31ST, A FEW PANELISTS STATED THAT THE REVISED ORGANIC ACT OF 1954 EXPANDED THE VOTING PRIVILEGES FOR VIRGIN ISLANDERS BY REMOVING THE REQUIREMENT FOR PROFICIENCY IN
ENGLISH AND BY DOING SO IT ALLOWED SPANISH VOTERS TO PARTICIPATE. HOWEVER, I MUST ADD IT ALSO ALLOWED FRENCH SPEAKERS TO PARTICIPATE. NOT ALL FRENCH PEOPLE KNEW ENGLISH IN THE 1930S-1940’S. UNTIL 1954, FRENCH PEOPLE WHO COULD NOT SPEAK ENGLISH COULD NOT PARTICIPATE IN THE POLITICAL PROCESS AND THEY WERE IN FACT DISCRIMINATED AGAINST BY THE LARGER POPULATION.
AND SPEAKING OF DISCRIMINATION, THE FRENCH PEOPLE WHO LEFT ST. BARTHS IN THE 1840’S AND SETTLED IN ST.THOMAS DID NOT OPPRESS ANY ONE IN THE ISLANDS. ACTUALLY, THEY THEMSELVES WERE OPPRESSED. LET ME REMIND YOU OF A FEW HISTORICAL FACTS.
IN THE PRE-DANISH ERA, FRENCH COLONISTS RESIDED ON ST. CROIX FROM ROUGHLY 1625 UNTIL 1695. THEY SHARED THE ISLAND WITH THE DUTCH AND ENGLISH. AND THESE FRENCH COLONISTS MAINLY ESTABLISHED SMALL TOBACCO FARMS; THEIR FORMS OF SLAVERY WOULD BE INDENTURED SERVITUDE AND CHATTEL SLAVERY. IN 1695, THE FRENCH SETTLERS AND THEIR SLAVES LEFT ST. CROIX AND SETTLED IN SAN DOMINGUE. FRANCE KEPT ST. CROIX UNTIL 1733 WHEN IT WAS SOLD TO THE DANES.
DUE TO THIS EARLY FRENCH PRESENCE, THE ISLAND’S NAME WAS CHANGED FROM SANTA CRUZ TO ST. CROIX WHICH IT HAS KEPT EVER SINCE.
BESIDES THIS FRENCH PRESENCE, THERE IS EVIDENCE THAT A NUMBER OF THE MERCHANTS AND PLANTERS WITHIN THE DANISH WEST INDIES WERE FRENCH IN ORIGIN BUT THEY DID NOT CONSIST OF ANY SIZEABLE GROUPING.
HENCE, THE FRENCH PRESENCE WAS VERY SMALL, AND IT ONLY BECAME PRONOUNCED AFTER SLAVERY HAD ENDED!
THE FRENCH CARIBBEAN IMMIGRANTS WHO LEFT ST. BARTHS IN THE MID 1800S WERE THEMSELVES HUMBLE PEOPLE. THEY WOULD BE CONSIDERED PETIT BLANCS WITHIN THE MARTINICAN SOCIETY AND IF YOU RESEARCH THE ORIGINS OF THE PETIT BLANCS THEY WERE ORIGINALLY INDENTURED SERVANTS AND PEASANTS WHO LEFT FRANCE DUE TO EXTREME POVERTY. AS A RULE THIS GROUP DID NOT OWN SLAVES.
ON ST. BARTHS THERE ARE FEW PEOPLE OF AFRICAN ORIGIN, MAINLY BECAUSE SLAVERY WAS NOT ESTABLISHED THERE. SO THE TALK OF SLAVE MASTERS CHILDREN IS OUTRAGEOUS AND INSULTING.
THE FRENCH CARIBBEAN PEOPLE WHO IMMIGRATED TO THE VIRGIN ISLANDS CAME AS FARMERS AND FISHERMEN. THEY FILLED ECONOMIC NICHES THAT HAD EMERGED IN THE POST-EMANCIPATION ERA. FROM 1848 TO 1954, A CENTURY OF EVOLUTION TOOK PLACE. THE FRENCH PEOPLE BECAME DEEPLY ROOTED INTO THE VIRGIN ISLANDS AND MANY INTERMARRIED WITH THE LARGER BLACK POPULATION. OTHERS MARRIED PUERTO RICANS AND YET OTHERS SELECTED WHITE CONTINENTALS AS SPOUSES OR COMPANIONS. AND OF COURSE MANY MARRIED OTHER FRENCH PEOPLE. THUS, IN VIRTUALLY
EVERY FRENCH FAMILY, YOU CAN FIND MULTI RACIAL TIES. EVEN IN MY IMMEDIATE FAMILY, THERE IS A RAINBOW SITUATION.
I GREW UP ON THE NORTHSIDE OF ST. THOMAS, THE DAUGHTER OF A LIVESTOCK FARMER. MY FATHER PROVIDED FOR HIS LARGE FAMILY OF 9
CHILDREN. CONTRARY TO PUBLIC BELIEF, MY FAMILY WAS POOR, BUT WE WERE HAPPY AND LIVED A HUMBLE LIFE. MY FATHER RAISED HIS ANIMALS, AND ALWAYS HAD FRESH MEAT FOR HIS FAMILY DAILY. WE INTERGRATED WELL IN THE COMMUNITY, BUT GROWING UP ON ST. THOMAS HAD ITS MOMENTS. IN SPITE OF THE CRITICISMS WE FACED, AND THE TAUNTING SOME OF US ENDURED, AS HUMBLE, POOR PEOPLE GROWING UP ON ST. THOMAS, WE SURVIVED, AND WE HAVE MADE SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF ST. THOMAS.
OUR FISHERMEN AND FARMERS CONTINUE TO PROVIDE FRESH FISH AND VEGETABLE NOT ONLY FOR THEIR FAMILIES, BUT TO THEIR FELLOW ST. THOMIANS AS WELL. THEY HAVE FED GENERATIONS OF ST. THOMIANS WITH THEIR FRESH CATCH FOR YEARS.
THE FRENCH RESIDENTS WERE NOT ONLY FARMERS AND FISHERMEN, THEY ARE ALSO TALENTED MUSICIANS AND SINGERS AND HAVE PROVIDED MUSIC FOR PARTIES, FESTIVALS, AT HOTELS, AND DURING CARNIVAL. MY HUSBAND RICHARD IS A WELL-KNOWN MUSICIAN WHO HAS SERVED HIS MUSICAL TALENTS WITH THE ST. THOMAS COMMUNITY FOR YEARS.
I HAVE BEEN BLESSED WITH THE GOOD FORTUNE OF BEING THE LONGEST SERVING PUBLIC SERVANT IN THE LEGISLATURE OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS, AND I HAPPEN TO BE OF FRENCH DESCENT. FOR MORE TWENTY FOUR YEARS, OR TWELVE TERMS, I HAVE SERVED THE PEOPLE OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS OF ALL RACES. MY CONSECUTIVE VICTORIES ARE A TESTAMENT TO NOT ONLY THE HARD WORK OF THIS PUBLIC SERVANT, BUT THE FAITH AND TRUST MANY
VOTERS OF EVERY RACE, COLOR AND CREED LIVING HERE ON ST. THOMAS HAVE HAD IN MY LEADERSHIP. I BELIEVE STRONGLY THAT I HAVE SERVED THEM WELL, AND HAVE ALWAYS UPHELD THE HIGHEST STANDARDS OF A REPRESENTATIVE OCCUPYING THIS POSITION OF HONOR AND AUTHORITY ON BEHALF OF THE PEOPLE.
I AM ALSO PROUD OF THE HIGHEST HONOR OF THE FRENCH GOVERNMENT (THE PRESTIGIOUS ORDRE NATIONAL DE MERITE) BESTOWED UPON ME BY THE PRESIDENT OF FRANCE, JACQUES CHIRAC. I AM HUMBLED THAT THE FRENCH GOVERNMENT HAS RECOGNIZED ME, A U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS SENATOR OF FRENCH DESCENT FOR THIS HONOR. I WAS ACTUALLY HUMBLED BY THE AWARD, BUT BELIEVE IN THE VALUE OF HARD WORK AND COMMITMENT TO SERVICE.
THE FRENCH CONTRIBUTION TO THE OVERALL DEVELOPMENT OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS HAS NOT BEEN WITHOUT MAJOR SACRIFICES AND HARD WORK. FRENCH RESIDENTS WILL, UNDOUBTEDLY CONTINUE TO MAKE THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS TO THEIR NEW HOMELAND MANY YEARS TO COME.
I CONCLUDE BY STATING THAT DURING THE FRENCH REVOLUTION, THE MOTTO WAS LIBERTY, FRATERNITY, AND EQUALITY. I BELIEVE THAT MOTTO IS GOOD FOR THE VIRGIN ISLANDS TODAY. WE NEED EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL VIRGIN ISLANDERS, REGARDLESS OF RACE, ORIGIN, RELIGION, AND SEXUAL ORIENTATION. WE NEED FRATERNITY, BROTHERHOOD OR SISTERHOOD OF ALL ETHNIC GROUPS. AND WE NEED OUR LIBERTY, THE FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION, THE FREEDOM OF INDIVIDUAL ADVANCEMENT, AND THE FREEDOM OF SOCIO- ECONOMIC GROWTH.
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My People … Reflections of the Hispanic Contribution to the Virgin Islands
Carmelo Rivera, April 2, 2005
Thank you for inviting me here today to partake of this special event recollecting, recognizing, honoring the contributions of people—who migrated here many years ago, and who made these majestic islands, particularly St. Croix, their home.
As I was thinking about this event, many images and exciting and nostalgic thoughts came to mind about the presence of Puerto Ricans and other people of Hispanic origin in the Virgin Islands.
My talk today is a sort of personal recollection, not a scholarly report by any means. I just wanted to share with you some of the images and thoughts that are so vivid in my mind about Hispanic People in the Virgin Islands.
I am very proud to tell you that the people who came here from Vieques and from the big island of Puerto Rico (who we call today Hispanic Virgin Islanders) made an indelible imprint in every aspect of our society.
Over the years, millions of Hispanics have touched and influenced these islands; they have visited here; they have worked here; they have been born here; have married here; and have died here.
Their influence is plainly evident in our households, in our vernacular, in sports, in music, in our business and economic structure, and in every strand of our culture, and in the psyche of Virgin Islands Society.
As I reflected on today’s theme (We the People…)
I remembered my grandfather, Don Juan Garay, and his stories of La Lancha, the infamous boat that ferried thousands of Viequenses to St. Croix. I remember his stories about the people of Vieques who were forced to leave their island because of economic conditions and because of the transfer of farm lands to the US Military.
As a child, I remember there were hundreds of Puerto Rican cane cutters living in villages such as Bethlehem, Golden Grove, Lower & Upper Love, Castle Burke, Colquhoun, Adventure, Montpellier and other places in the vicinity of this university.
In those days, during the sugarcane harvest, you would see truckloads of men with machetes …. wearing their uniforms going to their assigned fields.
The morning whistle would blow... and the work would begin. You could hear a rhythm of sorts as the men swung their sharp machetes to cut each piece of cane.
In a few hours, under the blazing sun, they would cut large fields of cane and then load them onto trucks and tractor trailers.
A man wearing a capacete (a type of hat) sitting on a horse stood nearby shouting instructions and watching the workers.
When the harvest season ended....
The men would work the land. Each day, brigades of men carried farm tools, hoes and pick axes, to weed the fields, turn the soil, and to plant new cane.
For many years, Puerto Ricans (the Papa-dem, as they were lovingly labeled) were the hands and caretakers of the farms on this island.
-- Thriving Commerce of Frederiksted -- the Hispanic Merchants –
I remember the vibrant town of Frederiksted, the Center of Commerce in the 50’s, 60 and 70’s where hundreds of Puerto Ricans intermingled and shared their culture with others of diverse backgrounds. Professional, middle class and working class people lived together in the Town.
Frederiksted, in those days, was a bustling center of life and commerce.
I remember the friendly merchants of Westend (as we called Frederiksted) — Angel Suarez, Johnny Belardo, Clemente Cintron, Miguel Garcia, Maximo “Chanchin” Garcia, Felix Maldonado, Tomas Morales, the Soto’s and others, who--for many years, were the suppliers of food and essential household products..
In Christiansted, there was another group of Hispanics… Basilio Felix, Leocadio Camacho, Mencho, Brignoni, Marrero, Manocan, Perez, Martinez, Zelinski and many others were thriving merchants.
Hispanic men and women were the merchants who imported and sold the groceries…the rice, beans, the salt fish, the salt pork, the provisions … and most of the things we commonly consumed. Everyone shopped at these stores.
To a great extent, the Hispanic-owned stores (bodegas) were the “social centers” of community chatter and exchange… Every Saturday was a special social event at these food stores. It was more than hacer la compra! It was shopping and gossiping and politicking.
Politicians such as Patrick Williams, Brother Hodge, Ron De Lugo, Fritz Lawaetz, and others did much of their politicking and deal-making in the grocery stores.
Today, many Hispanic owned businesses continue to provide service and survive despite the harsh business conditions. Businesses that come to mind include: Oscar’s Refrigeration; Caribe Home Center; Zennon Construction; Banco Popular; Olympic Car Rental; People’s Pharmacy, and many others.
The Puerto Rican Barbers--
Puerto Rican barbershops were important community institutions. I remember the familiar jingling of scissors. Each barber had a unique style of handling his scissors…. Cosme, Galo Encarnacion, Tomas, Mon’s, Llanos, Mundo, all of these Hispanic barbers would trim and shape any texture of hair as they talked about politics and community events.
The Cookshops & Rum Shops –
In the 60’s and 70’s, Puerto Ricans owned and operated most of the Cookshops, candy stores and the rum shops on the island. Chico’s Restaurant (which is today Villa Morales) was a favorite.
The Cookshops were often the launching pads for many Hispanic entrepreneurs... who later opened other types of businesses.
The Baseball players –
Crucians and Puerto Ricans were always passionate about the game of baseball. On Sundays, the stadium in the West or in the East was filled with families cheering for their teams.
There were quite a few regular baseball teams – Lobos, Vikings, Athletics, Marlins, Giants, Panthers and Commandos from the East. Sometimes, there were heated play-off games as well as all-star games. There were Puerto Ricans on just about every team.
Major league scouts would occasionally visit the island in search prospects for the major league teams on the mainland or for the Puerto Rican Professional leagues.
Baseball stars such as Valmy Thomas, Elmo Plaskett, Miguel Santos, Jose Morales, Julio Navarro, Horace Clarke and others played in Puerto Rico (and in the major leagues) …
[It is significant to note that these baseball players were considered local players in Puerto Rico].
Baseball was really a tremendous vehicle for cultural bonding and exchange on and off the field. It brought everyone together.
The Fishermen –
Many of the island fishermen were Puerto Ricans.. From street to street, and from Village to Village you would hear Puerto Rican fishermen selling their fresh catch. Fish! Pescao!
The cockfights and Dominos—
Cockfighting became a favorite pastime on St. Croix. On weekends, the Lower Love cockpit was filled with passionate cockfighting enthusiasts (Puerto Ricans and non-Puerto Ricans) betting on their favorite rooster..
There were also many domino tournaments…. across the island that would bring everyone together—Hispanics and non-Hispanics.
Soldiers --
Virgin Islanders of Hispanic Heritage have been extremely loyal patriots dedicated to the Territory and the Nation. They have served with valor and distinction in World War I, World War II, Korean War, Vietnam, Persian Gulf, Iraq, and in virtually every US conflict across the globe.
In the Veteran’s Hall, located in Peter’s Rest on St. Croix, hangs a portrait of a hero, a Purple Heart recipient, Sgt. Enrique Romero, the most highly decorated VI soldier. He makes us all proud.
Of course, there are other war heroes… Francisco “Paco or Paquito” Rodriguez, my brother in law, comes to mind. Paco is an incredibly happy and lovable man. He miraculously survived after suffering multiple wounds in Vietnam. He saved the lives of others.
Public Servants and Politicians –
Hispanic Virgin Islanders have contributed immensely to the political dynamics of the territory. Many have been elected to political office… Candido Guadalupe, Aureo Diaz, Eddie Rivera, Clemente Cintron, Juan Luis, Alicia Torres James, Lilliana Belardo, and in recent years Miguel Camacho, Ann Golden, Alicia Hansen, Adlah Donastorg; Pedro Encarnacion, and Juan Figueroa Serville …
Most politicians today are cognizant of the Latino presence and this is quite evident in the proliferation of bilingual ads and commercials during election campaigns.
Prevalence of Spanish Language Influence & Bilingualism
By the early seventies and eighties, bilingualism (Spanish & English) was flourishing in the Virgin Islands, particularly on St. Croix.
The Hispanization of crucian culture was well on its way while the Anglization of the Hispanic community was also its way. It was clearly a two way exchange.
The Puerto Ricans, especially their children, were learning English and retaining Spanish for home conversation. At the same time, Virgin Islanders of non-Hispanic backgrounds were rapidly acquiring Spanish as a second language.
Spanish language television news, soap operas and cowboy shows were commonly viewed and understood by the English-speaking viewers. English-speaking crucians…would often listen to baseball on the radio or on TV in Spanish.
English speakers understood lengthy and complex conversations and they spoke or sang at least some words or sentences in Spanish.
Consequently, most of the English-speaking island population became receptive bilinguals.
[The English Creole vernacular of St. Croix (crucian, as we call it) contains many Spanish derived words such as payasing, paisano, compado, mama, papa, quesecuando, etc.]
Many of the well-to-do families of the island, who craved for a better education for their children, sent their children to boarding schools in Puerto Rico such as Colegio San Justo, Sagrado Corazon, Inter-American University, Catholic University in Ponce and other institutions.
The Young upwardly mobile Crucians were becoming bicultural and bilingual. Amadeo Francis, Former Senator Lew Muckle, Mario, Alex, Mary Moorhead, Mario de Chabert, Glen Bough, Harry Smith, Otto Latimer, Norman Henderson, and many others, attended high school and college in Puerto Rico.
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In the end, English-speaking Crucians and Spanish-speaking Crucians ate from the same plate; drank maubi and coconut water together; walked to school together; played together; worked together; married each other; argued and fought; made up; and we became a family bonded forever.
The Hispanic influence and contribution is evident every aspect of Virgin Islands Culture and society.
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Nina York
"Virgin Islander's: Who are We?"
First, I would like to thank the Virgin Islands Humanities Council for the opportunity to participate in this important discussion, and I also thank the University of the Virgin Islands for providing the forum for this discussion. These islands are uniquely composed of many ethnic groups, each contributing its cultural influence. I hope I am able to convey adequate answers to the question
How Has My Ethnic Group Influenced the History and/or Culture of the Virgin Islands?
My ethnic group, the people of Denmark, has without question greatly influenced the history and culture of the Virgin Islands, not merely as the ruling nation of these islands for far longer than any other nationality, but through the colonization of this area and the implementation of the plantation system in these islands, which entailed the forced importation until the early 1800's'of over a hundred thousand slaves from Africa. While Danes were not a dominant group as plantation owners, the Danish West Indies administration dictated the daily conduct of government through laws and regulations, aided by the Danish military and later gendarmes, who by their presence, albeit temporary, helped set the tone of society at that time. Since the great majority of Danish inhabitants left at the time of transfer in 1917, their influence has diminished.
But in other, more concrete ways, the Danish influence is still present, in the historic architecture of the towns as well as, to a lesser degree, plantation structures in the countryside. The typical Danish fortification, as seen at Fort Christiansværn and Fort Frederik, has only slightly been adapted to tropical climate. The magnificent Government House in Christiansted echoes Danish architectural style, as do the von Scholten schools, and many handsome townhouses. Architectural features such as entrance gates and moldings are often exact copies of Danish equivalents. The use of brick for buildings is also a typical Danish feature. Today, we still see the Danish flag, the Dannebrog, portrayed in our Virgin Islands Coat of Arms, and the Dannebrog is flown from many public buildings, a most unusual phenomenon of honoring a former colonial power
Many people in the Virgin Islands are descendants of a Danish ancestor stationed here, often a soldier or government official. This has contributed to an interest in Denmark among many of these persons. The creation of a Friends of Denmark Society in the 1960's, (with a corresponding Danish West Indian Society in Denmark) attests to this mutual interest and affection. Bi-annual friendship festival exchange visits help strengthen these bonds. Danish last names, such as Larsen, Hansen, Christensen, Rasmussen, are common here, as are traditional Danish first names for men such as Lauritz, Waldemar, Ebbe, Hans and Ingeborg and Agnete for women. Various organizations in Denmark as well as locally focus on the maintenance and restoration of the historic Danish cemeteries in the Virgin Islands.
The Lutheran Church, being the Danish State Church, held considerable influence here in Danish times, and continues a strong presence even today. No other areas in the Caribbean have large Lutheran congregations as we do. In addition to several churches, the Lutherans contributed institutions such as the Queen Louise Home for Children (for the aged in St. Thomas), and deaconesses were sent here to assist in teaching local mothers about child care and hygiene, as well as to train young women of the islands to enter the nursing profession. This tradition endured even after the sale of the islands to the U.S. In addition, Danish religious holidays like Good Friday and 2nd Christmas Day are still celebrated here today. On Danish initiative, the Moravian Brethren missionaries were brought here to bring Christianity to the slaves; their influence and presence through the Moravian church endure.
In mapping the islands around 1750, a Danish surveyor created the division of each island into quarters, a measure that still is in use, and properties are so listed at the Recorder of Deeds. The fact that we still retain the old plantation names from Danish times for our neighborhoods is another legacy, which also illustrates in the predominance of English names the fact that the Danes were not the major plantation owner class. We still find, however, some Danish plantation names: Høgensborg, Marienhøj, Bülowsminde, Frederikshaab, Waldberggaard, and Fredensborg, to name a few. Our street names have remained bilingual, using both Danish and English versions.
We find some tropical versions of Danish cooking here, such as the popular dessert "red grout", a direct translation of Danish rødgrød; herring gundy is another Danish specialty found here, as is asparagus pudding and asha from sweet pickled cucumbers.
A few examples of Danish music have found their way into Virgin Islands culture, such as one of the quadrille dance tunes, which is very familiar to Danish ears.
While the resident population of Danish origin is not large, a family such as the Lawaetz dynasty has contributed greatly to the awareness of the legacy from Danish times as well as helped create goodwill for that country, which could easily have been viewed with hostile eyes by many Virgin Islanders when recalling the cruelties of the past inflicted on the black population, especially during the times of slavery. Current efforts from Danish initiatives such as the Virgin Islands-Danish Apprenticeship undertaking helping restore Fort Frederik carry a message of reconciliation and a desire to assist the islands in a constructive manner. Along those lines, the planned opening of a debate in Denmark on reparations with participation by Virgin Islanders is hoped to have a positive outcome.
How has my Virgin Islands experience influenced me and/or my ethnic group?
Living here during the past almost 29 years has been the most gratifying period in my life. I feel I am where I am supposed to be, a place where I can use the skills I have acquired to the best advantage for all concerned. These skills include my ability to speak and write both Danish and English fluently and being able to translate from one language to the other. This has enabled me to translate books and documents of historical value, which has brought knowledge about island history and environment to a wider audience. My love for St. Croix is centered on its people from all walks of life, many of whom I have befriended through my work over the years, and who have truly enriched my enjoyment of life. Virgin Islanders have taught me a great deal about showing love and caring for your fellow man, and opened my eyes to the joys of living on a small island where friendship and family are so important. Living in a place of great natural beauty and a climate so close to perfection has brought tranquility and a relaxed attitude into my life. Having met people from so many different backgrounds has been truly exciting for me, and I am grateful for every day I spend here.
I have been able to share this affection with Danish as well as American visitors in several ways over the years I have lived here - as a tour guide for visitors from Denmark, as editor of a magazine for visitors to our island, as a hostess or coordinator on behalf of the Friends of Denmark Society to our sister society in Denmark, the Danish West Indian Society, and other cultural exchange programs, such as the recent UNESCO-sponsored teachers' visit, which I helped facilitate, and also establishing contacts between Danes and Virgin Islanders in a variety of fields. Perhaps my proudest achievement was starting a charitable enterprise, the Virgin Islands Children's Seal Fund, which between 1987 and 1999 issued annual stamp-like seals portraying the wonderful cultural and natural features of the Virgin Islands in works by local artists. This revived an old custom from Danish times, and through sales of these sheets of seals at Christmas time; over $100,000 was raised to benefit educational projects for Virgin Islands children. My links to both cultures furthered my participation in a project fostering the exchange of young apprentices in historic building restoration in the Virgin Islands, and I am proud to be a trustee with the St. Croix Landmarks Society in its preservation of island historical resources. Through my membership in Rotary International I have helped establish many international contacts between St. Croix and not only Denmark, but other nationalities. All along, I have continued my studies of Virgin Islands history, a subject that holds unlimited fascination for me.
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“VIRGIN ISLANDERS : WHO ARE WE?”
Prepared by Adrienne L. Williams
April 2, 2005
The Virgin Islands is rich in history and culture. This rich history manifests itself through the strong character and pride of its people. It has been said in numerous forms that you must understand your history to know who you are and where you are going. In order to identify the origin of the strength and pride displayed by Virgin Islanders today, we must closely examine the happenings of yesteryear.
A view of our historical events including the St. John Revolt of 1733, the Fireburn of 1878, the Labor Movement, Freedom Press of 1916 attests to the tenacity and resiliency of the people of the Virgin Islands. We are a proud people whose resolve of self-reliance has spawned movements that have enhanced these islands and created a history and legacy that we can be proud of.
Virgin Islanders are trailblazers and fighters. It can be argued that in the fight for freedom from slavery, the Virgin Islands falls second only to Haiti who shed blood to obtain their freedom. While other Caribbean islands received their freedom through Proclamation or Parliamentary action, our ancestors took to the streets and demanded their freedom, giving genesis to many of the liberties that we take for granted today.
As the ownership of these islands transferred from the Europeans, the British, Danes and ultimately the United Sates, it becomes increasingly difficult to identify what is innately Virgin Islands culture. Cultures will evolve but we must promote and protect what is traditional Virgin Islands culture. Those elements that make Virgin Islands culture vary from the cultures of other Caribbean countries must be preserved.
Our local dish of kallalloo can be cited as an example of a food that is served is some form throughout the Caribbean. What makes Kallalloo in the Virgin Islands different and special is the type of bush used as the main ingredient. This sets our local dish apart from any other in the Caribbean.
We see a resurgence among our young people to promote Virgin Islands awareness and pride in these islands. Bold steps are being taken because there is a sentiment that cultural preservation may be in crisis. The adoption of quelbe music as the official music of the Virgin Islands and the honoring of Stanley and the Ten Sleepless Knights are examples of the efforts to highlight the need to document for posterity. Children of today can identify with rap music and reggae music but we must continue to share the rich history of our quelbe music.
How do we continue to foster Virgin Islands pride? As a result of employment opportunities and opportunities for prosperity, the Virgin Islands has developed a large immigrant population.
Native versus immigrant issues have created ill feelings that have had a lasting impact on the community.
In the past we have seen where efforts by native Virgin Islands to display pride in their place of origin has been viewed as being divisive rather than a display of pride. Going forward, we must accept that this immigrant population has created a unique cultural mix that should be embraced.
Where do we go from her? Understanding you culture is concomitant with understanding you history. Having pride in you island is directly correlated to commitment and dedication to the growth and prosperity of these islands. Pride and the love of these islands can be deterrent from littering and an incentive for community involvement.
It is important to pass on our culture from generation to generation. Culture should not only be preserved by grandparents or older members of society. It is a job for everyone. We must do so by committing our customs, recipes and folklore to writing. We must engage in storytelling and the promotion of activities that will enhance cultural preservation.
Other Caribbean islands and our neighbor Puerto Rico see their nationalism displayed through lyrics in their music, proudly displayed in their apparel and burning in the hearts of their people. This pride should not be introduced at the junior high level with the introduction of Virgin Islands history as a requirement but it should be instilled at a very young age. The people of the Virgin Islands are proud Virgin Islanders first and proud Americans after. We must foster this pride and allow our children to develop a palate for cheeseburgers as well kallalloo.
One of the missions of Generation Now is to preserve culture. It is not a job solely for the Governor, the Legislature, a government agency or the schools. It is a monumental task that requires a collaborative effort by everyone in the community. Our group endeavors to host a Virgin Islands Pride Day where the attendees will be exposed to various customs, foods and music that represent Virgin Islands culture. We envision a day when all members of the community will know the purpose for all local holidays and not view them as day off from work. We envision a day when our children will give the same level of recognition to Bottom Belly, Buddhoe and Queen Mary and Casper Holstein that is given Martin Luther King and Malcolm X.
Our Virgin Islands culture can only live on when we all accept the charge to pass on the customs, food, music and rich history that make these beautiful islands home.
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Virgin Islanders: Who Are We
Presented at Virgin Islands Humanities Council Symposium:
Chase Auditorium, UVI
April 2, 2005
Eddie Donoghue, Ph.D.
Introduction
One is tempted to answer the "Virgin Islands: Who are we? By proclaiming that we Virgin Islanders are a callalo. But there are the two questions to consider, namely, how has your ethnic group influenced the history and culture of the Virgin Islands? And how has your Virgin Islands experience influenced you and/or your ethnic group.
The term 'Ethnic Group' It should not escape us that embodied in both questions is the term "ethnic group". Here I am taking ethnic group to mean a group of people who have a distinct culture, or racial heredity or both.
Ethnic differences may include an array of social and psychological phenomena, including language, religion, national origin, dietary habits and a sense of a common historical heritage. Many ethnic groups, for example, blacks and American Indians, may be racially and ethnically different from the main group.
Fifty years or so after their arrival, under the impact of the phenomenon of the "melting pot", many immigrants lost their cultural identity and had been absorbed into a broader American society. One may say with justification that these ethnic groups had been acculturated. Yet there are those who make the case that the "melting pot" phenomenon has not worked efficiently in the United States or in the United States Virgin Islands, as evidenced by pockets of ethnic prejudice and with it a high level of ethnic consciousness and ethnocentrism. Historically, the pattern of ethnic relations throughout the world has taken six basic patterns or a variety of these forms.
· Assimilation can be mentioned as the first of these forms. As the terms implies, in this case, ethnic groups are eliminated by having different aspects of their culture eliminated. They are assimilated into the main group.
· Secondly, we have pluralism whereby each group exist side by side, retaining their own different cultures.
· The third form is population transfer. In this mode so much hostility exists between two groups that the minority ethnic group is transferred from the majority ethnic group.
· Then there is a fourth mode of continued subjugation of the minority ethnic group by the majority ethnic group.
· We have a fifth pattern whereby the minority group is elimination.
· Finally, in some societies, there is legal protection to protect minority ethnic groups.
Ethnicity in Virgin Islands slave society
Moravian Scholar Christian Oldendorp, after a sojourn in the Danish West Indies between 1767 and 1769, identified Fulani, Mandigo, Amina, Akims, Popo, Ibo, Yoruba as among the main ethnic groups which were captured and transported to the colonies of Denmark. Although he provided no figures, the Moravian maintained that the "Amina" were the most numerous.
Not unlike planters in other areas of the Americas, the Danes were on the lookout for slaves with specific characters which they found in slaves of the Fulani, Mandigo, Amina, Popo, Ibo, and Yoruba nations. The baptismal records at Midlands Church, which was then known as "the Friedensfield Mission," carried the ethnic origin of slaves as being "Congo" than any other African tribe. Oldendorp believed that the behavior of the Negroes from the Congo was due in large part due to their exposure to Christianity.
Other African tribal groups regarded the Congos with a great deal of contempt because of the widespread belief that the Congos accepted slavery without question. It was claimed that when other Blacks rose in revolt, the Congo slaves invariably sided with the whites. Moreover, Pauline Pope cites an observer as depicting Congo slaves as "noted for lightness of heart, mildness of temper, and dullness of intellect".
Slaves belonging to the Congo nation were stereotyped y other slaves as "salt-heads", a term still used in some Scandinavian countries to stereotype persons who belong to minority ethnic groups.
However, prejudice was rampant against slaves labeled as bussals or " just comes".
Just how degrading the term was, is indicated in the text or St. Thomas-born planter and slave-owner, Johan Casten. "If a Christian calls another Christia a bussal, he is obligated to apologize and then pay a considerable fine to the Lutheran church".
The punishment for one in bondage who takes such a liberty is the loss of life. "If a slave was to call a Christian that name, he would pay with his life," asserted the St. Thomian. Moreover, the pride of a Creole was greatly hurt, said Missionary Missionary Christian George Andreas Oldendorp, when a newly arrived slave was assigned to punish him. 'When a creole has to accept punishment at the hand of a bussal, whom he despises, the insult is nearly as painful to him as the beating itself."
The Moravian Missionary took pains to explain the animosity between the two groups. "The Creole Negro looks down with disdain upon the bussals, whom he refers to with the insulting name of salthead and whose intelligence he places in the same class as that of the oxen," said Oldendorp.
The attitude of the Creole, he said, is that "since he was born in the white man's land, he considers himself to be not only more distinguished but also more intelligent than the bussals."
"The Creole slaves, that are born in the West Indies, were the aristocrats of the Negro world," intimated Pauline Pope in her doctor's dissertation.
Changes in the Danish West Indies slave population, 1804-46
Prior to 1804, around 46 percent of slaves who we brought to the Danish West Indies had been born in Africa. However, by 1840 the percentage of slaves in the Danish West Indies who were born in Africa was less than 10 percent.
The slaves population of the Danish West Indies was augmented by about 2500 slaves, most of them from the Caribbean, including St. Christopher, Anguilla, Tortola, and Montserrat. Barbados, Dominica, St. Vincent and Grenada also supplied slaves to the Danish West Indies.
Transformation of demographics of V.I. Slave Population
Significantly, around 1805 most of the slaves imported into the Danish West Indies came from other West Indian islands and not directly from Africa.
Let us focus on the slaves brought from Montserrat and briefly examine their contributions to the culture of the Virgin Islands, especially St. Croix. In fact let us go back to the middle of the eighteenth century.
The Danes purchased St. Croix from the French in 1733. A decade or so later Montserrat planter and devout Catholic Nicolaus Tuite was to play a significant role in the development of the island and the subsequent growth of its population.
"The Danish West India and Guinea Company from 1735 onwards made attractive offers of cheap land, generous loans and tax-free status to planters from nearly islands," underscored University of the West Indies history professor Neville Hall.
Tuite was one of those attracted and visited St. Croix in 1749 to explore the possibility of developing sugar production on a large scale. However, he would strike a hard bargain.
As Hall writes, Tuite elicited a promise from Danish Authorities that he could being his own monk and be given Danish citizenship:
"An influential planter of substance, he helped to finance the migration of his co- religionists and countrymen, who with their slaves numbered some 1,000."
Researchers tell us that through his acumen and wealth, Tuite worked to improve conditions for Catholics in the colony. Among other things, the Montserratian ensured that a provision of a Treaty of 1867 entered into by Spain and Denmark, addressed the question of religious freedom for runaway slaves.
The document stated that those who had adopted the Roman Catholic faith while in Puerto Rico, if returned to the Danish West Indies, would be allowed the free practice of their faith.
As Hall points out, "above all he brought to St. Croix his knowledge of large- scale slave based sugar culture." But let's not forget the cross-fertilization brought about by the 1,000 slaves from Montserrat who settled with Tuite on St. Croix.
I think we would be remiss if we failed to mention the contribution of various slaves such as Budha and the queens from the Leeward Islands who contributed to the freedom movement in the Danish West Indies.
Contribution of Emanuel Benjamin Oliver
Perhaps the greatest contribution to the culture of the Virgin Islands was made in the modern era by Emanuel Benjamin Oliver.
On February 14, 1940, in a speech delivered by J. Antonio Jarvis before students of the Charlotte Amalie High School during Negro History Week some of the many contributions of Emanuel Benjamin Oliver who was born in Montserrat on May 29, 1876 were outlined:
Let me quote from J. Antonio Jarvis' speech.
"Me Oliver completes fifty years of education work this Spring. His has been an enviable record. He has invited here by the Danish government to assist with the building up of educational system because there were few natives available for teaching. Mr. Oliver had been to the training college for teachers and was then working as assistant teacher in the British islands when the call came. He began teaching in St. Croix more than forty years ago, and entered into every community activity. From the fact that he was organist in church and leader in athletics, besides being the guide and friend of hundreds of people of all ages and races, you may have some idea of the scope of his activities. He learned Danish well enough to teach it in the public schools and to teachers. His grasp of mathematics and Latin as well as his insistence upon discipline made him a remarkable person in an age when the first stirrings of education were becoming visible.
More than twenty years ago. Mr. Oliver was transferred to St. Thomas where he has worked and set an example of unselfish devotion to teaching. My first intimation that he was an unusual person came when he visited me to take part in a drama that the school was having to raise funds for a piano. I was not a teacher and I disliked going on the stage, so I declined. Two years after, when I had become a teacher, Mr. Oliver asked me privately if I would train a certain talented boy. He paid for that boy's training out of his private purse. I began to study Mr. Oliver and learned that he was a philanthropist. He did immense good for innumerable students and parents without any time letting his right hand know what his left was doing.
Through the years I have found E. Benjamin Oliver one of the few great men I have been privileged to meet.
I think that he is a highly cultivated man. He believes in education and has been its champion. He has widened the meaning of the term to include beauty. He is a real poet and an artist because he works in the real materials of beauty. Look at the street or stairs on the east of Lincoln School and you will see what I mean. He has beautified the grounds, increased the capacity of the children to appreciate the finer things of life.
Every one has his frailties, and Mr. Oliver is human; but Benjamin Oliver can look back over fifty years of useful service and say that he has made the world a little better for his having lived in it.
In concluding, then, I would say that the Negro must not create false values. He must learn to appraise everything in terms of what it means to life. Mr. Oliver's life of study, preparation for a job, breadth of interests, public service, lack of self-advisement, and quiet usefulness cannot be otherwise classified than as an achievement. The community has need of such people. May your own lives be not less useful." ____ End of quote.
The Montserratian introduced May Day to St. Thomas, which subsequently became one of the island's most popular cultural activities. Pupils were taught maypole steps of the European dances such as lancers, waltzes, minutes, quadrilles, and reels in preparation for a grand finale when schools competed in May Day exercises.
As a firm believer in the development of the whole child, in addition to their academic and moral development, Mr. Oliver introduced several extracurricular activities to the daily programs of the Lincoln School. He provided and supported agricultural activities in which pupils were exposed to planting and caring for fruits and vegetables in lots adjacent to the school. The produce was harvested, displayed, and put to practical uses.
An avid sportsman, he participated in cricket, tennis, and baseball games. He retired from public service in 1945, and died January 31, 1948.
In 1975, the Eleventh Legislature of the Virgin Islands approved Act 3671, which lauded Mr. Oliver for his devoted and meritorious service to the people of the Virgin Islands as an educator. One elementary school in Estate Tutu, St. Thomas, is named in his honor.
Much of this data was gleamed from the third edition of profiles of outstanding Virgin Islanders, edited by Ruth Moolenaar Much of this data was gleamed from the third edition of profiles of outstanding Virgin Islanders, edited by Ruth Moolenar.
In the past two or three decades, Montserratians in the Virgin Islands have proven to be entrepreneurs par excellence, as accountants, restaurateus, builders, electricians, bankers, journalists, teachers, principals, etc. As volunteers they have adopted Emanuel Benjamin Oliver School and the Queen Louise Home for the Elderly and the Lucinda Millin Home for the Aged. In times of disaster they are at the forefront of assisting their adopted homeland and other islands in the Caribbean.
Cognitive Dissonance
Significantly, loyalty to a group may prevent individuals within the constellation from raising controversial issues. Say, for instance, some one in the Virgin Islands "born- here" ethnic group reminds other members that they or their forebears were part of a minority ethnic group in such places as Barahona, Consuelo, Laromana, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Panama, Florida, San Pedro de Macaras, New York, or even in the Virgin Islands community at San Mateo de Congrejos, East of San Juan and now Atlanta. These efforts to improve economic circumstances on the part of Virgin Islanders would be rationalized under the pressure of the group think phenomenon as being something completely different from the immigrant of Eastern Caribbean people to the Virgin Islands. Absolutely no sympathy and empathy is extended by the in-group for the plight of the out-group. In light of the information which had brought to light by a like experience, the in-group will not adjust its thinking to accommodate the new knowledge.
Quite frankly, I think that the attitude exhibited by many members of the in-group is symptomatic of what is alluded to in social psychology as cognitive dissonance, that is, the members of this group has a strong urge to be content in their thinking in order to preserve agreement and harmony among their beliefs, feelings and behavior.
Ethnicity in the modern Virgin Islands
Now we must examine how the theory of social conflict fits its into social reality. As delineated by Klaus de Albugquueroue & Jerome L. Mc Elroy since the United States bought the Virgin Islands, there have been waives of immigration into and emigration from the territory. Fueled by a boom in tourism in the 1960s, the Virgin Islands attracted unprecedented numbers of West Indian migrants.
Albuguueroue and McElroy point out that in respect to Virgin Islands ethnicity, during the 1960s confusion abounded. I quote from the study:
"First, there is no clear consensus as to what constitutes a native Virgin Islander. Second, there is concern as to whether Virgin Islanders can meaningfully be separated from West Indian immigrants by a juridical dichotomy which ignores the fact that both groups are part of a single socio-cultural community. This is attested by common family names in the two island groups. Similar questions can be applied to the artificial cultural division between natives and Anguillians, Kittitians, or Nevisians. Thus the basis for defining West Indian immigrants as a distinct group is really predicated on their jural status ("alien") and socio-economic marginality, and not any real cultural difference. Nevertheless because of their marginal jural and socio-economic status, West Indian immigrants have had a set of socio-cultural traits (quarrelsome, uneducable with them.'__ End of quote
As the co-authors observed, another problem is posed by French and Puerto Rican Virgin Islands whose ethnicity is clearly situational. They are proud of their French and Puerto Rican heritage, but when there is competition for scarce resources, they are quick to claim a native "I born here too" identity.
Difficulties peculiar to the USVI include: (1) ethnic categories which are often circumscribed by nativity, color, jural status and socio-economic marginality; (2) groups which have multiple identities from which to choose, i.e. situational ethnicity; and (3) situations in which self-definitions and definitions by others are occasionally at variance. It is important to keep in mind that ethnic categories are not discrete. They cross-cut other loyalties such as race, color, and class.
Further nativity, color, family, name and length of residence play a very important in the sociological definition of a native Virgin Islander. While being born in the USVI or elsewhere of native parents might afford an individual the right to lay claim to the title of "native", it does not automatically confer wider recognition as such.
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Essay Contest
Topic: “How do I expect to fulfill my role as a citizen of the U.S. Virgin Islands?”
Prize: $200.00  
Nicole Christian, St. Croix Devrelle D. Dumas, STT
Central High School Charlotte Amalie High School
WTP Essay Contest winner WTP Essay Contest winner
Nicole Christian's Winning Essay:
As a little girl growing up, I have always been proud to be born in America’s Paradise, The United States Virgin Islands. I regard the Virgin Islands as being the most exotic and delightful Islands in the entire Caribbean. As the years go by, I realize more and more how special and unique we are. Our history alone makes us one of a kind. No other country or territory has had seven countries to preside over them. Each Virgin Islander must take pride in our islands. A U.S. Virgin Islander is someone who was born in any of the four U.S. Virgin Islands. Although we may have our problems, there is no where in the world that does not have its ups and downs. I think that we all must come together as one. As Mario Moorehead always says, “one, one we can full the basket, as long as we do it together.” We need consider not ourselves Crucians, St. Thomians, or St. Johnians but, Virgin Islanders. We also must stand for that which we believe. Our ancestors have worked hard to obtain the freedom we have today and some have even died striving for a better life. We must not let anyone control or take away the freedom that we have. Although I am only an eleventh grader, I will continue to fulfill my role as a citizen of the U.S. Virgin Islands, as I have strived to do in the past.
They are several things that I accomplished in the past to fulfill my role as a citizen. While attending the Alfredo Andrews Elementary School, I became one of the first girls in the entire Virgin Islands to join Best Friends. Best Friends taught me respect and how to carry myself as a young lady. With the information I gained, I used it to educate others, which helped to prevent several unwanted pregnancies. While in Best Friends I also helped to beautify John H. Woodson. In my church, I participated in beach clean- ups and visited the sick. While a part of D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) I learned the effects of alcohol and drugs on the body. With this knowledge I was able to stop others from even considering doing drugs. Last summer, while I participated in the Summer Science Enrichment Academy (SSEA), I also took part in a beach clean up. In SSEA I also completed Introduction to Disaster Service s, Sponsored by the Red Cross and became certified. Sometime in the future I hope to get certified to give Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation, (C.P.R.) and First Aid training. With these certifications I hope to help my fellow citizens in need. I am also quite active in numerous service organizations at school. As a member of Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA), I went to the Queen Louise Home for the Children and gave them Christmas presents. This made me feel good to see how happy the children were to see us. We also visited The Bethlehem Home and donated several canned goods. While in school, I also encourage my schoolmates not to liter and destroy school property. When I take part in these activities it is not to gain recognition, but to help the less fortunate for whom no help is giving.
Recently, I graduated as a member of the newest chapter of the Guardian Angles, St. Croix Chapter. When I first heard of the Guardian Angles, I knew that this was something of which I wanted to become a part. At first I was nervous that I was putting my life on line, but I realized that it was something positive and I would be helping others. I also said to myself, “you only have one life to live and it matters not how long you live it, but what you did while you lived it.” My main reason for becoming a Guardian Angle was to help stop the violence and make the streets of St. Croix a safer place not only for our visitors, but the locals as well. With safer streets, we are likely to get back Cruise Lines, and more airlines, which means more tourists and a booming economy. I have helped to patrol events such as the Jump Up, the Fair, the Christmas Village, the St. Patrick’s Parade, Sunset Jazz, etc. I have even patrolled the streets of Frederiksted and Christiansted when no major event was taking place. Although there have been a few negative remarks from ignorant people, being a Guardian Angle has left a tremendous influence on my life and the lives of others. It is nice to be considered a role model for the real world. I feel that with more support from the community, we could completely erase the crime and violence.
My role as a citizen of the U.S. Virgin Islands does not stop here. If God spares my life, upon graduating from high school I plan to pursue a career in Forensic Science. I would like to obtain my Masters Degree in this field, preferably as a Forensic Toxicologist. I would also like to study Forensic Physiology. I feel that we need to try to understand the criminal mind. After I obtain these degrees I would work in this field in the states for approximately ten years. When I feel that I have gained enough experience I plan to return home. I think that each one of us needs to make plans to return home. If we do not come back home there will be no one to educate, cure, feed, or nurture the next generation in any way. My main reason for wanting to become a Forensic Scientist is because I feel that this will be an excellent way to give back to my community while doing something that I really enjoy. Personally I believe that there are too many unsolved crimes in the Virgin Islands. The field of Forensic Science is a broad and expanding field. With all this technology, there is no need for guilty suspects to go free. When I return home, if a Forensics Laboratory is not yet in existence, then I would like to build the first ever the Virgin Islands. Here I hope to train young internees to follow in my footsteps. I would also like to open a sanatorium on St. Croix. I think that we need to take all of the mental people off the streets and place them in an institution where they could get a place to live, food to eat, and treatment for their illness.
Although I am only an eleventh grader, I will continue to fulfill my role as a citizen of the U.S. Virgin Islands, as I have strived to do in the past. I gave back to my community by cleaning beaches, schools, and even my church. As a Guardian Angle I have helped to make the lives of others a safer, happier, and a more enjoyable one. In the future with proper founding I hope to help develop my island in as many ways as possible. Being a Virgin Islander is not only about being born in St. Croix, St. Thomas, St. John, or even Water Island. It is about having pride in where you come from and knowing what you’re about. Saying that you are a Virgin Islander means nothing if you’re not playing an active role in society. As a citizen of the U.S. Virgin Islands we must and should fulfill our roles, making sure that we remain the Paradise we are and will always be.
Devrelle D. Dumar's Winning Essay:
Fulfilling My Role As A U. S. Virgin Islands Citizen
Every member of our society plays some part, however small, in this community. However, all do not hold the designation of being a bona fide citizen. The word citizen refers to “ a native or naturalized person who pledges allegiance to a government and is entitled to protection from it.” In this capacity, some play the role of public servant, some that of an educator, and still there are some to whom the role of law enforcer belong. On the other hand, there are those who hold the not-so-easily recognizable roles of criminal and offender of the law. In all of these instances, the privilege of governmental protection is freely given. For this reason, I believe a person’s citizenship is his or her own way of showing gratefulness (or ungratefulness in any case) for the rights and privileges granted to them. This conclusion leads me to a personal question: ‘How do I except to fulfill my role, do my part, as a citizen, and more specifically, a U.S. Virgin Islands citizen?’ This question is synonymous to asking, ‘How grateful am I for having lived in these islands?’ In my opinion, abiding by the laws of the land, consciously working to give back to my community, and encouraging others to do the same would best fulfill my role as a United States Virgin Islands citizen.
Foremost, the quality of my citizenship hinges on my respect for the law. Unless my basic rights and freedoms are infringed upon, abiding by the law should be a way of life. My keeping of the law goes hand in hand with respect for, even if not agreement with, authority. I would find it hard to uphold a law whose enforcers command no respect. Living in accordance to the laws of the land, is the first simple but essential aspect of my role as a citizen.
Although important, simply obeying laws could never be enough to show that I am grateful to live in the Virgin Islands. After all, the privileges endowed to me by my community and nation are many, and to whom much is given…. Therefore, involving myself in my community and giving back with a spirit of service is not only my choice, but also my duty. A conscious effort on my part should be made to make positive contributions. The best time to start is now, even in my own small way. For this reason, I thoroughly enjoy my volunteer work as a tutor for younger children. This type of work gives me the knowledge that I leave an impact, however minuscule, on another’s life. To many, community involvement means having a recognizable face and name, but true service seeks no recognition. A sense of service and duty towards the Virgin Islands community is needed for me to effectively fulfill the role of a citizen.
Lastly, my gift of service would be incomplete unless I pass the torch on to others. My life should be an example of service to those who come after me. I cannot let the sense of service and responsibility to this community stop with me. Encouraging my peers and those younger than myself to become involved almost ensures that this will never happen. In addition to this, I want to instill the same values in the children that I plan to raise. There is always room for improvement. Therefore, efforts to better any community should never cease. Even if I show one person that a call to service is truly the highest calling, my work would be worthwhile. After all, as cliché as it may sound, changes are made one person at a time.
Overall, every aspect of my citizenship must coincide with one another if I expect to fulfill my role as a United States Virgin Islands citizen. Think about it! If I had no regard for the law, I could easily sell drugs to make donations for the homeless and call it contributing to my community! As it is, that is a contradiction to my beliefs. Most important is the example of service I show to others ensuring that the work of the community never halts. Although just beginning, I think I realize what many others before me have known: the work of a good United States Virgin Islands citizen never stops.
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The
Virgin Islands Humanities Council
announces the airing of:
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Click here to view excerpts of the DVD (best viewed with high-speed internet).
Click here to order the DVD.
Monday, June 20th @ 8:30 p.m.
and
Sunday, June 26th @ 7:00 p.m.
on
TV2, Channel 2
“Transfer Day Perspectives” examines the on-going struggle of Virgin Islanders to attain full U.S. citizenship. It will feature interviews with eyewitnesses of the 1917 Transfer Day and with legal and political scholars about the present and future options.
This presentation supports the Virgin Islands Humanities Council’s “We the People” project entitled “U.S. Virgin Islanders: A People’s Quest for Self- Governance”, and is made possible through funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
"Transfer Day Perspectives" is brought to you by:
· Fintrac, an international agribusiness consulting firm
· West Indian Company Limited
· Michael Banzhaf Studio
· Legislature of the Virgin Islands
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Back to Top
September 24, 2005
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Panel Discussion
Topic: “The Ambiguity of Our U.S. Citizenship”
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 Moderator:
Rupert Ross, Jr.
Panelists:
Click on links to view speeches.
Judith L. Bourne, Esquire
Dr. Carlyle Corbin, Representative for External Affairs
Gerard Emanuel, Educator
Malik Sekou, Ph.D., Associate Professor of
Political Science / History
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 This forum informed the public about inherent rights and international laws to seek self-governance.
The Battery (Governor’s Residence)
Cruz Bay, St. John
4:30 p.m.—7:30 p.m.
This event was part of the Heftel Lecture Series.
WTP Project: Funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and co-sponsored by the Office of the Governor
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Malik Sekou Gerard Emanuel Dr. Carlyle Corbin Judith L. Bourne
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Judith L. Bourne
THE AMBIGUITY OF OUR
OF OUR
U.S. CITIZENSHIP
A PRESENTATION DELIVERED BY JUDITH L. BOURNE
AT THE PANEL DISCUSSION ORGANIZED BY THE
HUMANITIES COUNCIL OF THE U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS
THE BATTERY, ST. JOHN - 24 SEPTEMBER 2005
LEGAL HISTORY
In 1916, the Afro-Caribbean inhabitants of the Danish West Indies were
not citizens of Denmark; they were subjects of the Danish Crown. When the
USA purchased the islands in 1917, neither of the parties involved, which of
course did not include these inhabitants, saw any reason to clarify their status.
The treaty of cession simply said that Congress would determine their status
and civil rights, without stipulating when that would occur.
Interestingly enough, although the treaty provided that Danish citizens
residing in the islands who did not elect to preserve their Danish citizenship
would become citizens of the USA, the executive branch of the USA government
held that such persons became non-citizen U.S. nationals, and not citizens.
The question that I expect has leapt into many minds is - what in the
world is a non-citizen US national? Either you are a citizen or you are an alien,
right? Actually, no; that is not correct.
Colonial powers seldom gave their colonized populations a status equal
to that of their home populations, and as of 1899, when the USA took
ownership of Guam, Puerto Rico and the Philippines from Spain, it had become
a colonial power. In modern monarchies, the distinction is often made as
between citizens and subjects; in non-monarchical states, such as democracies,
the distinction is most often stated as citizens as opposed to non-citizen
nationals.
Both citizens and non-citizen nationals owe allegiance to the country
which has sovereignty over them, but a citizen is entitled to full civil rights and
a non-citizen national is not.
This was important in the first ten years of US ownership of the US Virgin
Islands. Although persons born in a territory under US sovereignty had
previously obtained US citizenship at birth, persons who were born in the US
Virgin Islands of parents who were non-citizen nationals of the USA, did not
obtain citizenship by birth; their status was restricted to that of their parents.
All of that changed in 1927, when federal law in essence made US citizens
of all US Virgin Islanders who were US non-citizen nationals. However, that
citizenship was akin to naturalization, in that it was a status awarded by law
and not one acquired as of right. That citizenship became effective by law on
5 February 1927 and could have been eliminated by law for persons born after
such a revocation. It was not until the Nationality Act of 1940 that persons
born in the US Virgin Islands became US citizens at birth in the same way as
persons born in the U.S. itself.
The Nationality Act accomplished this by defining the United States to
include Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, but only for the purposes of
nationality; it did not "incorporate" either territory into the US. In fact six years
later, in 1946, the USA placed both Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands on the UN list of non-self-governing territories - the list of colonies.
THE YEARNING TO BE U.S.
From the mid-1800s, after the sugar economy bottomed out and its
economic heyday as a Danish colony had passed, the Danish West Indies
became anxious to be associated with the rising economic power of the
hemisphere - the United States of America. The USA was interested, but two
possible sales had already fallen through when the possible German threat to
the Panama Canal in what came to be known as World War 1 clinched the deal.
The impetus for the acquisition on the part of the US was military and
economic, the fact that the territory was inhabited was an asset only in that it
meant that labor was available if needed. The fact that the territory was not
considered to be a future part of the US is clearly shown in the treaty provisions
that both left it outside of the U.S. customs zone and exempted it from the
Jones Act requirement that only US ships can carry passengers or freight
between U.S. ports. With respect to these laws, the ports of the US Virgin
Islands are not considered to be US ports.
Given the history and current status of the relationship between the USA
and the USVI, the angst exhibited by many over the differences in the US
treatment of the USVI and of its 50 constituent states is entirely misplaced. In
my view, the analysis of those who decry the disparities is generally faulty:
either they assume that the US Virgin Islands is a part of the USA, which it is
not in either domestic or international law, or they mistake rights obtained
through residence in one of the 50 states as rights of national citizenship, or
they make both the false assumption and the mistake.
IDENTITY AND SELF PRIDE
Probably because it began at an earlier time and developed within a
monarchy, British colonial policy made the distinction between what we now call
the Administering Power and the Non-Self Governing Territory (NSGT) clearer.
The population of its colonies did not become British citizens until quite recently
and even then, their citizenship has never been the same as that of those born
in the UK. There was never confusion concerning the differing status of those
British citizens who settled in the colonies and their descendants on one hand
and the people of the territory on the other. Those who lived outside of their
country, expatriates, were different both from the people of the place in which
they lived and the people of their own homeland and they did not expect to be
equated with either.
At present, the people of most NSGTs other than the USVI see their
identity as separate from that of their administering power. As Anguilla and
Bermuda, to use current examples, debate how to exercise their right to self
determination, they are actively evaluating what their options are and what
each option will mean to their communities before they make a decision. Only
then will they undertake definitive actions to accomplish a change.
Unfortunately, what we hear in the US Virgin Islands are efforts to accomplish
a change to political integration, such as obtaining the presidential vote, being
treated as a state with respect to benefit programs, etc., without having a clear
analysis of what our present status entitles us to and the overall effect of such
political changes.
As a Non-Self Governing Territory, the U.S. Virgin Islands has an identity
and status separate from the USA. As the administering power of the U.S.
Virgin Islands, the USA has certain responsibilities to the territory and its
people. These responsibilities include the promotion of the social and economic
development and the preservation of the cultural identity of the territory.
These responsibilities are designed to encourage the elimination of
dependency, which is as much a state of mind as an external condition, and to
develop self reliance, which arises from a sense of self worth.
With this in mind,
o Rather than justifications for the takeover of USVI park land and
territorial waters on the grounds that the territory does not have
the means to adequately protect and care for it, why don't we hear
demands that the administering power provide the education,
training and resources to build the necessary capacity?
o Instead of allowing the territory to keep only those revenues which
US law requires and doling out limited funds from programs
designed for its constituent states, why doesn't the administering
power identify all of the sources of revenue derived from the
territory, work in partnership with the territory and international
agencies to identify the development needs of the territory as its
own entity, and provide, at a minimum, the identified funds,
together with appropriate education, training, expertise and
additional funds that the territory may not be able to get from
elsewhere.
o As it has acknowledged that it has international law obligations
toward the territory, why doesn't the USA discontinue the outdated
and essentially deceitful method of dealing with the territory
through the Interior Department and eliminate the ineffectual
oddity of a territorial Delegate to Congress, and establish
Congressional and Presidential offices to deal with territorial
officials on a basis of mutual respect.
The granting of US citizenship to the residents of the USVI in the same
manner as obtained by residents of the USA proper has not only caused
confusion in the legal and political spheres. Perhaps more important is the
damage that it has done to the psyche of many Virgin Islanders.
Am I the only person that finds it odd that the news of the country that
insists in so many ways that the USVI is "unincorporated" i.e., not a part of it,
is referred to in the territorial media as our "national" or "domestic" news?
Does anyone else find it anomalous that the Virgin Islands government
demanded that the territory participate in the draft for the armed services of
the USA in World War II, and then cites the past and continuing sacrifices of its
young men, and now women, to "prove" the dedication of the territory to a
country which insists on holding it at arms length while refusing to provide the
information and resources needed for the territory to make an informed choice
as to its future?
Why is it that past or present problems are considered proof that truly
effective government by Virgin Islanders is impossible without the oversight of
the US government when it is universally recognized that one's true character
is shown when you have to stand on your own, knowing that you will bear the
consequences of your actions, a situation which no USVI government has faced
since the late 1950s?
And why is there no outcry, not even a smattering of concern, about the
fact that, although the USVI is a discrete entity, a Non-Self Governing Territory
with its own Olympic teams, its own delegations to World conferences, and its
own international identity, there is no legal status of U.S. Virgin Islands citizen?
It appears to have been implicitly believed, at least since US economy
leapt into high gear in the middle of the last century, that the problems of the
US Virgin Islands, which initially were seen as entirely economic, could be
resolved by becoming a part of the American Prometheus which brought
prosperity, comfort and happiness to all. There does not seem to have been a
widespread recognition of the downside of the workings of that economic engine
and the culture it spawns, of the positive value of many aspects of the Virgin
Islands Caribbean culture, or of the dislocations likely to ensue when those two
forces met in the limited theatre of these islands.
In 88 years, the Afro-Caribbean people of the U.S. Virgin Islands have
traveled a road from an undefined status in a territory under the sovereignty
of the USA to citizenship in a country which maintains that territory in a
condition of uncertainty and instability. It is time to stop reacting to immediate
difficulties as if they were ultimate issues, to look at the world as a whole, to
analyze and evaluate the true range of possibilities for the USVI within that
wider context, to make an informed choice, and to act on that choice with the
dignity of a people sure of their identity and of their inherent worth.
I thank you for your attention.
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Dr. Carlyle Corbin
Notes on the International Dimension of Citizenship
Dr. Carlyle Corbin
to the
Daniel Heftel Lecture Series
We the People Project
Virgin Islands Humanities Council
24th September 2005
St. John, US Virgin Islands
Introduction
The issue of citizenship in small island territories is of particular interest to the inhabitants of these territories as the process of political development intensifies and new forms of political relationships are contemplated. The US territories, including the US Virgin Islands (USVI), are no exception,1 and even among these five US jurisdictions there are some significant differences in the political rights of the US citizens in these territories. This paper seeks to provide some useful comparisons regarding the degree of political rights among the US territories. These rights are then compared to those of the people of other jurisdictions where the level and extent of political rights can be markedly different depending on the nature of the political arrangement of the individual territory.
I. US Territories
As a baseline, the citizenship rights of the people of the territories of Guam, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands (USVI) can be viewed as quite similar, even given the "commonwealth" label of Puerto Rico which would, at first glance, imply a larger degree of autonomy. In a very real sense, however, the major difference in terms of political rights is only the existence of a constitution in Puerto Rico written by the people of that territory which delineates the internal governance structure. In a practical sense, the political rights of the US citizens in Puerto Rico are virtually identical to those of citizens in Guam and the USVI (The issue of political rights for the US citizens of the District of Columbia (DC) will be examined later).
But it is understood that the political rights of US citizens in these three island territories (Guam, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands) are substantially limited, as it relates to the US political process. These limitations also apply to American Samoa and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), the other two US territories. The CNMI, however, has certain autonomous provisions in their Commonwealth Covenant which compensate for the limited rights, and these will be discussed a bit later.
In the case of American Samoa, the people are not US citizens at all, but rather US nationals, and retain many of the traditional governance customs. (This will also be discussed later).
In all five US territories, however, the US Territorial Clause applies which provides that the US Congress has the "power to dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory or other property belonging to the United States."
Given this brief examination description, what are the limitations of political rights of US citizenship for inhabitants of US territories that are different from those of citizens in the 50 states?
US Citizenship in the Territories
The main limitations are well known, and include the lack of authority to vote for the President of the US, and the status of the Congressional representation without the vote in the House of Representatives and without any representation in the US Senate.
Citizenship under these limitations has been referred to as "incomplete" or indicative of a reality that there are "different tiers of citizenship." Former Puerto Rico governor and avid proponent of US statehood for that territory Carlos Romero Barcelo has even described it as an "anti-democratic" relationship.2 On the specific issue of voting rights for president, it is important to note that the US courts have repeatedly confirmed the validity of these limitations. Several illustrations are useful.
Deficiencies in Presidential Voting Rights and political representation for US citizens in Puerto Rico
* In the matter of presidential voting rights, the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in 2000 on a case filed by Puerto Rico attorney Gregorio Igartua "reversed and vacated" a judgement by the District Court of Puerto Rico that had stated that Puerto Ricans as US citizens had the right to vote for President.3 The District Court of Puerto Rico had ruled that the 24th and 26th amendments of the US Constitution "support(ed) that the right to participate in presidential elections is not a function of state residence, but rather of individual right of citizenship."
In the reversal, the concurring opinion of Appeals Court Justice Juan Torruella concluded that " the Constitution does not guarantee United States citizens residing in Puerto Rico the right to vote in the national presidential election," citing "explicit language in the Constitution providing for the election of the President and Vice President by the States, rather than by individual citizens.4
In 2004, the first Circuit again rejected a similar case, and by doing so, ratified an earlier 1996 case, as well as the 2000 case cited above. All three cases were filed by Attorney Igartua.
In the 2004 case, Justice Torruella referred in a written opinion to what he described as "the creation and perpetuation of substandard, second class citizens, with less rights than those enjoyed by the main class of US citizens."
* In the matter of deficiencies in political representation, former Puerto Rico Governor Romero Barcelo articulated in a 2004 Caribbean Business article that:
"...all of the power and authority exercised by the president, the US Congress, and the federal court system is derived from the sovereignty of US citizens residing in the states of the union, not from the US citizens residing in Puerto Rico, who don't vote."5
He went on to describe the peculiarity of the applicability of US laws adopted by a Congress in which the people of the territories have no vote, and signed by a US president for whom the people of the territories have no right to vote.
Deficiencies in presidential voting rights and political representation for US citizens in the US Virgin Islands
This brings us to the case filed by Krim Ballentine in 2001 asserting the right to vote for president on the similar premise as that claimed in the three Puerto Rico cases. A decision from the US Court in St. Thomas is awaited, and an appeal to the US Third Circuit may follow.
The hunger strike and letter writing campaign by St. Croix resident Edward Browne during the last presidential election by a US citizen in St. Croix is another method used to draw attention to the issue of limited rights for US citizens in the territories. What was particularly interesting here was the reply from the White House which advised that voting rights for US citizens in the territories was a part of wider issue of political status development which would be addressed in the context of Puerto Rico. This can be read to mean that what is decided for Puerto Rico will be applied to the other territories. If this is the case, perhaps the name of the White House Task Force on Puerto Rico should be re-cast as the White House Task Force on US Territories.
*****
A potential solution to addressing the citizenship dilemma (in part) is the annual submission of legislation, dating back to the 1980's, by most of the non-voting territorial delegates to Congress proposing a constitutional amendment providing US citizens in US territories the right to vote in US presidential elections.6
Puerto Rico often opts out of the legislation for strategic political reasons. A pro-statehood Puerto Rico government supports the presidential vote,, but only in the context of US statehood where the presidential vote as well as voting rights in both houses of Congress would be the result.
Meanwhile, pro-commonwealth governments view the extension of the presidential vote as upsetting the political balance of their perceived "autonomous" commonwealth relationship with the United States.
But political scientist and columnist Paul Leary views the possibility of a constitutional amendment on the issue as remote given that it would require 2/3 vote of the US Senate and 3/4 vote of the State legislatures - with a favorable result being that some smaller states would lose power. 7Leary questioned in an earlier column:
How is it that the American citizens of the (US)Virgin Islands are still denied basic democratic and human rights? How can a constitutional provision dealing with property be used as the basis for governing people?
If on the surface this question suggests the situation is an infringement on the political rights of US citizens in the territories, one should review the Yale University School of Law 2002 amicus brief filed in the aforementioned Ballentine case in the US Virgin Islands. The brief concluded that the present condition of the US citizens in the USVI "granting neither full political nor civil rights constitutes a violation of its obligations under contemporary international law," as referenced in the ICCPR.8
Specifically, the Yale brief pointed out that "the United States assumed additional obligations towards the people of the (US) Virgin Islands when it became a part to the ICCPR (International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights) in 1992," and as such "it must guarantee rights of political participation to all citizens, including the right to vote and to join in the conduct of public affairs."9
The Yale text went on to conclude that:
"the United States has failed to satisfy its international legal obligations towards the people of the (US) Virgin Islands(which)...remains in a state of colonialism. The United States' efforts to promote the realization of self-determination have fallen far short of the requirements set forth in international law. Further, the United States' failure to extend full political rights to the people of the (US) Virgin Islands violates the international obligations that the United States purposefully assumed."
Limited rights are also a feature of Washington, D.C., and there are important parallels that can be drawn.
District of Columbia
There are also parallels with the District of Columbia. The lack of full political rights was the subject of a resolution of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe last July in support of equal political representation for the citizens of the District of Columbia (DC). Following the adoption of the resolution, Janise Jenkins, president of the group "Stand up for Democracy" (the coalition of organizations lobbying for international support for DC voting rights), expressed that "voting rights will bring, first of all, self-respect, (and) second, it is going to give us control over our own destiny."
There are presently some four bills before the US Congress to extend some form of Congressional voting rights for DC which presently enjoys presidential voting as a result of the adoption of the 23rd amendment to the US Constitution in 1961. In 2000, the US Supreme Court had ruled that the DC did not have a constitutional right to voting representation in Congress on the premise that only states of the union have such a right - a result which shifted the focus to the legislative arena in order to gain this political right for DC. 10
Another international determination regarding DC, and with implications for the US territories in the Western Hemisphere (Puerto Rico, USVI), was made on a case filed by a group of non-governmental organizations before the Inter American Commission on Human Rights, a body of the Organisation of American States (OAS), which in 2003 recommended that the United States provide an "effective remedy" which includes "adopting the legislative or other measures necessary to guarantee...the effective right to participate directly or through freely chosen representatives, and in general conditions of equality, in their national legislature."11
In summary, the political rights of the US citizens in the US territories are substantially limited, and substantial concern has been expressed by the US Courts, by the Organization of American States, and by the United Nations that these restrictions result in political inequality.
Specific Cases of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) and American Samoa
CNMI
The unique conditions in two of the US territories, the CNMI and American Samoa, would be useful to discuss here. In the CNMI, the inhabitants have achieved a form of real autonomous governance while at the same time achieving US citizenship in their negotiation with the US to terminate the United Nations trusteeship arrangement under which the CNMI was formally governed.
Accordingly, the Commonwealth Covenant provides that the US citizens of the Northern Marianas "will have the right of local self-government and will govern themselves with respect to internal affairs in accordance with a Constitution of their own adoption."12 The arrangement also provides for special land ownership provisions for the indigenous population, exemption fro certain Us laws, and other areas of autonomy.
American Samoa
In the case of American Samoa, the inhabitants are not US citizens, but US nationals, and are governed via special arrangements through a Secretarial Order of the US Department of the Interior.
The US republican form of government has been superimposed on the existing traditional system of governance. Thus, the territory has an elected governor, a legislative body (Fono), and a separate judicial system, but also retains elements of the traditional system.
In the case of all five territories, the US territorial clause applies.
How do the political rights of the US territories compare to those of other jurisdictions internationally?
II. United Kingdom (UK) Territories
In the case of the six UK territories in the Atlantic/Caribbean (Bermuda, Turks and Caicos Islands, Cayman Islands, Montserrat, British Virgin Islands and Anguilla), citizenship was conferred on the people following the implementation of recommendations contained in the1999 UK White Paper on Partnership for Peace and Prosperity. This policy supported the right of abode in the UK for the dependent territories citizens (re-named Overseas Territory citizens) It was intended that the right of abode was non-reciprocal, such that UK citizens could not move to the UK in an un-restricted fashion. This was done with the aim of ensuring that the demographic composition of the small territories would not be affected. It is unclear whether the European Union rules would permit such non-reciprocity in future.
Political rights of the new UK citizens
The emergence of the new status of UK citizenship does not, however, come with additional political rights in the UK system. Indeed, legislation was introduced in the UK House of Commons on 1st July 1997 by a ruling party MP in order to provide for some limited form of representation of the UK territories, synonymous to that of the US non-voting delegate to the US Congress. In this connection, the "Representation of Dependencies at Westminister Bill" would have provided for
"limited representation of dependencies other than Gibraltar at the Parliament of the UK...by a non-voting delegate and for the right of the Chief Minister to petition the House of Commons at the bar of the House; to improve for elected members of the Legislative councils (of the UK territories) access to and communications with Members of the House of Commons..."
Interestingly, even this limited form of non voting representation was not considered by the UK Labour Party-led government, even as this would have brought the UK territories up to the level of partial, albeit non-voting, representation in the lower House, consistent with four of the five US territories.
Perhaps this speaks to a fundamental difference in perception on the part of the British vis a vis the US as to the status of the territories. There is no real sentiment in the UK nor in the UKOTs toward political integration - a point made in the White Paper. Contrast this with the clear US statehood sentiment in Puerto Rico through the New Progressive Party (and recently expressed by at least one political leader in American Samoa).
This differing perspective s of the UK and the US have resulted in clear differences in the level of autonomy between, say, the BVI and the USVI. Thus, the BVI controls customs and immigration, while the US controls this function in the USVI (and Puerto Rico). The BVI belongs to a wider range of regional and international institutions such as CARICOM, UNESCO and OECS, while the USVI is eligible to join these same organizations, but experiences inordinate delays in gaining the concurrence of the US Department of State to expand this participation into other regional organizations.
We discussed the US and UK territories. It is useful to also check the citizenship rights of the people of the integrated jurisdictions.
III. Integrated Jurisdictions
When we compare the limited rights of citizens in the UK or US territories with those of the integrated jurisdictions, we see the distinction. The political rights of the inhabitants of the integrated jurisdictions are based on criteria of full political equality with the shared citizenship. This is the only model where the jurisdiction is "part of the cosmopolitan country." Thus, the people of the integrated jurisdictions have full political representation in the legislative, and voting rights for the executive. Of course, they also have little autonomy since they are totally subsumed into the political structure of the larger country.
In the Caribbean, the overseas departments of Martinique, Guadeloupe (and its dependencies of St Martin, St. Barts, and Marie Galante), and French Guiana (which is actually on the northern coast of South America) are models of full integration into the Republic of France. In these cases, the citizenship does not differ from any other French citizen.
In the US context, the inhabitants of Hawaii have the same full political rights (notwithstanding the method by which Hawaii, in particular, was politically integrated, precipitating an apology from former-US President Bill Clinton).
In the French context, full integration implies full participation, as an integral part of the French state, in the European Union and other economic benefits of European integration. The advancement of full political rights for the overseas departments differs from the partial rights granted to the United States or British territories which are not integrated parts of the US.13
A look at the associated countries is also instructive.
IV. Associated Countries
When we compare the rights of citizens in associated countries, we see a further distinction. The associated countries are based on a unique set of political criteria, and are the product of negotiation between the relevant parties. The three models of association are the Dutch model in the Caribbean, and the New Zealand and U.S. models in the Pacific region.
Dutch Model
The Dutch model of association in the Caribbean is the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba. This model of association is enshrined in the Charter of the Kingdom of the Netherlands which describes the constitutional order in the Kingdom as encompassing the three countries of the Netherlands, the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba. An important dynamic of the relationship is that each country of the association, including the two Antillean countries, enjoy a large degree of autonomy while also maintaining citizenship of the Kingdom.
The provisions setting forth the areas of autonomy are contained in the Charter of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and includes that each country "will conduct their internal interests autonomously... on a basis of equality."
The Charter delineates the duties of the Kingdom vis a vis the powers of the autonomous countries within it. Accordingly, the Kingdom maintains control over defence, foreign relations, nationality and other issues.
There is representation of the autonomous countries in the "Council of Ministers of the Kingdom" through Ministers Plenipotentiary appointed by the Governments of the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba, respectively.
There is a formal system of consultation enshrined in the Charter which provides for the two autonomous countries to participate in the proceedings of the Kingdom Council of State when it is considering matters affecting them.
New Zealand Model
Another model of association is that of New Zealand which maintains autonomous relationships with the Cook Islands and Niue. As in the case of the Dutch model, the inhabitants of these islands share New Zealand citizenship, while enjoying a maximum degree of autonomy
In conformity with this model, the representation of these two sets of islands in the New Zealand capital is that of a representative, which differs from the Dutch model which does have direct representation in the legislative branch of the Dutch Kingdom government.
The US Model
The third association model is the one which emerged from the termination of the former Pacific trusteeship. Accordingly, the Federated States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands, and Palau negotiated separate compacts of free association which do not provide for shared US citizenship, but rather a separate citizenship. In these cases, however, favourable entry for immigration purposes is provided, and the three are full voting members of the United Nations, as opposed the associate membership in various UN bodies that is enjoyed by a number of territories (including the USVI) and associated countries.
While this is the only existing model of association with the US, there is nothing to preclude a new model being formulated with shared citizenship. This would be subject to negotiation, and is a main focus of discussion among advocates in Puerto Rico.
V. Other Political Forms
Other political forms of small islands jurisdiction combine attributes of integration with attributes of autonomy. These models include the French overseas countries (formerly overseas territories) of French Polynesia and New Caledonia). The inhabitants share French citizenship, but their government have a fair degree of autonomy. In these cases, there is representation in the French Parliament, while at the same time, these autonomous countries can participate in various regional and international organizations with the concurrence of the French which maintains ultimate control over foreign affairs.
A similar model exists between Denmark and its territories of Greenland and the Faroe Islands, where again, there is maximum autonomy coupled with shared Danish citizenship and with representation in the Danish Parliament.
VI. Conclusion
In a practical sense, the level of political rights of the inhabitants of US and other territories, associated states, and other political forms have some interesting similarities in some areas, and marked differences in other areas.
For the US territories, former Puerto Rico Governor and statehood advocate
Carlos Romero Barcelo observed that "the right to political and economic equality and the right to vote...are undoubtedly the most important components of the American citizenship (and) these are precisely the two rights that (people in the US territories) are denied by reason of domicile."
Others who feel that more political power in the US system would be inconsistent with their political interests actively support more autonomy.
I would argue that where political power at the federal level is limited, there needs to be a quid pro quo of substantial autonomy. This is the case with the Dutch and New Zealand models of association and the French model as well.
These models maintain shared citizenship, and in the Dutch and French cases, substantive representation in the legislative bodies of the larger countries. This is coupled with a substantial degree of autonomy.
In the absence of the extension of full political rights which does not appear likely in the foreseeable future, I am hopeful that a similar model can emerge for the USVI which would maintain the shared citizenship, but also provide us with the necessary flexibility to more effectively participate in the globalised world where the ability to adapt to this ever-changing political and economic landscape will be critical to the sustainability of US Virgin Islands society in the years ahead.
For the purposes of this paper, the US territories are American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands.
Overseas Territories Review, “U.S. Appeals Court Rules Against Puerto Rico’s Participation in U.S. Elections,” Vol. 3, No. 11, November 2000, Washington, D.C.
. ibid, pg. 1
Concurring Opinion of Justice Juan Torruella, Us Court of Appeals; Boston, Mass.;, 13th October 2000.
Romero Barcelo, Carlos, Are we a Democracy?, Caribbean Business, San Juan, Puerto Rico;1st July 2004,
See H.J. Resolution 101, 108st Congress “proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States regarding presidential election voting rights for residents of all United States territories and commonwealths.”
“Leary, Paul, “On the Fringe of National Life; Virgin Islands Daily News; St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands; 8th August 04
I Corbin, Carlyle, “Political and Constitutional Implications of Self-Government in the Caribbean,” A paper presented to the United Nations Caribbean Regional Seminar on Advancing the Decolonization Process in the Caribbean and Bermuda; The Valley, Anguilla; 21st May 2003.
See Article 25 of the “International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,” adopted and opened for signature, ratification and accession by General Assembly resolution 2200 A (XXI) of 16th December 1966, with ehtry into force on 23rd March 1976.
“D.C. Loses Bid for Vote in Congress,” Washington Post, Washington, D.C.; 17th October 2000.
Inter American Commision on Human Rights, Report Number 98/03; Case 11.204; 29th December 2003.
“Covenant to Establish a Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in Political Union with the United States,” Article 1, Section 103; adopted q15 February 1975.
See Note 8,
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Gerard Emanuel
4:30 pm – 7:30 p.m.
Panel Discussion
was a state. An article found on wikipedia.org states. “It is conceivable that, since he was not born within the actual United States, he may not have been a natural-born citizen as required by the Constitution of the United States, and thus it is possible he would have been ineligible to be elected president.” Other presidential candidates such as George Romney, who was born in Mexico, and most recently John McCain, who was born in the Panama Canal Zone when it was a U.S. Territory, have had their eligibility for the presidency questioned.
no Supreme Court case has yet squarely addressed what ‘natural born Citizen’ means in the context of Article II, Section 1, Clause 5 of the U.S. Constitution.” In other words, when it comes to being qualified to serve as President of the United States, the natural born citizenship issue has not yet been settled.
“Upon the other hand, the 14th Amendment, upon the subject of citizenship, declares only that 'all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States, and of the state wherein they reside.' Here there is a limitation to persons born or naturalized in the United States, which is not extended to persons born in any place 'subject to their jurisdiction.' “
“…growing out of the presumably ephemeral nature of a territorial government, the provisions of the Constitution relating to the life tenure of judges is inapplicable to courts created by Congress, even in territories which are incorporated into the United States,
According to inJustice Brown of the Supreme Court:
“…while in an international sense Porto Rico was not a foreign country, since it was subject to the sovereignty of and was owned by the United States, it was foreign to the United States in a domestic sense, [182 U.S. 244, 342] because the island had not been incorporated into the United States, but was merely appurtenant thereto as a possession.
Have you ever heard any more twisted logic? Foreign in a domestic sense?
“We are therefore of opinion that the island of Porto Rico is a territory appurtenant and belonging to the United States, but not a part of the United States within the revenue clauses of the Constitution; “
According to Judge Brown: “It is obvious that in the annexation of outlying and distant possessions grave questions will arise from differences of race, habits, laws, and customs of the people, and from differences of soil, climate, and production, which may require action on the part of Congress that would be quite unnecessary in the annexation of contiguous territory inhabited only by people of the same race, or by scattered bodies of native Indians. “
According to Judge Brown:
“We suggest, without intending to decide, that there may be a distinction between certain natural rights enforced in the Constitution by prohibitions against interference with them, and what may be termed artificial or remedial rights which are peculiar to our own system of jurisprudence. Of the former class are the rights to one's own religious opinions and to a public expression of them, or, as sometimes said, to worship God according to the dictates of one's own conscience; the right to personal liberty and individual property; to freedom of speech and of the press; to free access to courts of justice, to due process of law, and to an equal protection of the laws; to immunities from unreasonable searches and seizures, as well as cruel and unusual punishments; and to such other immunities as are in- [182 U.S. 244, 283] dispensable to a free government. Of the latter class are the rights to citizenship, to suffrage (Minor v. Happersett, 21 Wall. 162, 22 L. ed. 627 ), and to the particular methods of procedure pointed out in the Constitution, which are peculiar to Anglo-Saxon jurisprudence, and some of which have already been held by the states to be unnecessary to the proper protection of individuals.”
It is called:
DECLARATION REGARDING NON-SELF-GOVERNING TERRITORIES
Article 73
It states in part that:
Members of the United Nations which have or assume responsibilities for the administration of territories whose peoples have not yet attained a full measure of self-government recognize the principle that the interests of the inhabitants of these territories are paramount, and accept as a sacred trust the obligation to promote to the utmost, within the system of international peace and security established by the present Charter, the well-being of the inhabitants of these territories, and, to this end:
a. to ensure, with due respect for the culture of the peoples concerned, their political, economic, social, and educational advancement, their just treatment, and their protection against abuses;
b. to develop self-government, to take due account of the political aspirations of the peoples, and to assist them in the progressive development of their free political institutions, according to the particular circumstances of each territory and its peoples and their varying stages of advancement;
e. to transmit regularly to the Secretary-General for information purposes, subject to such limitation as security and constitutional considerations may require, statistical and other information of a technical nature relating to economic, social, and educational conditions in the territories for which they are respectively responsible other than those territories to which Chapters XII and XIII apply.
5. Immediate steps shall be taken, in Trust and Non-Self-Governing Territories or all other territories which have not yet attained independence, to transfer all powers to the peoples of those territories, without any conditions or reservations, in accordance with their freely expressed will and desire, without any distinction as to race, creed or colour, in order to enable them to enjoy complete independence and freedom.
With respect to Resolution 1541, Principle VI lists the specific ways that a non-self-governing territory such as the Virgin Islands can come to be considered as being self-governing
Principle VI
A Non-Self-Governing Territory can be said to have reached a full measure of self-government by:
a. Emergence as a sovereign independent State;
b. Free association with an independent State; or
c. Integration with an independent State.
This Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Article 2
Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.
Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.
The final question was:
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Malik Sekou
Presentation Not Available
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