Our Caribbean brothers & sisters are part & parcel of the fabric of this society. Photo: Internet Source

Our behaviour towards our other Caribbean brothers and sisters, results from a lack of knowledge. Photo: Internet Source

The Almighty God made us all. We are one people. Photo: Internet Source

This was the most ungodly thing I have ever heard in my born life.  This was appalling.  How sad to describe human beings created in God’s image and likeness as dregs. 

Such dejection and wretchedness of spirit in humans are beyond human comprehension. 

According to the Compact American Dictionary the word dregs means—the settlement in a liquid or the least desirable portion. 

Flawed

Although, we are flawed human beings at best, this does not justify our choice of word “dregs” to characterize our other Caribbean brothers and sisters. 

The Almighty God made us all.  We are one people.  The use of such a word to portray a person reveals a heart loaded with hate and resentment towards others.

My mother died when I only seven years old, and my siblings and I were cared for by live-in housekeepers over a period of nine years.

One housekeeper came from Antigua, one from Santo Domingo, and two came from Sandy Point, St. Kitts. 

One of our live-in house keepers who migrated here from St. Kitts was a teacher back home for many years. 

Teacher Lyra

Kittitians here in Tortola affectionately called her teacher Lyra.  Ms. Lyra was like a mother to us; she treated us with love and kindness. 

She had one child, a daughter, Suzan Ramus- Jones who taught secretarial courses at the British Virgin Islands High School, presently called the Elmore Stoutt High School. 

Yes, many of our Caribbean brothers and sisters may be poor and do not have much education; however, they are people just like us. 

Our behaviour towards our other Caribbean brothers and sisters, results from a lack of knowledge.  Many of our other Caribbean brothers and sisters who work in low paying and in service-oriented jobs are well educated; many of them attended private schools, trade schools, and training colleges back in their native islands. 

Some have come from well-off and decent families. 

As a result of their immigration status, they take whatever job they can find to make a living and to support their families back home. 

There is nothing wrong with that! 

What is foolish and unintelligent is when Virgin Islanders look down their noses on decent people who are working for an honest dollar. 

Common Sense Disease

To look down one’s nose on another human being, is not only despicable, but it also discloses, if not, manifests the emptiness in our sick souls and twisted spirits.

Virgin Islanders, amnesia is a very common disease; however, let us not forget that our grandfathers and fathers travelled to Santo Domingo, St. Thomas and the United States to make a better life for their families and themselves. 

Our Caribbean brothers and sisters are helping to build our country. 

Many of them work as housekeepers in our homes, as caretakers for our sick and elderly parents, in the nursing home and the hospital etc.  

They are definitely the back bones of small businesses.   

As a Christian Community and a people who know the redemptive power of love, we should be more loving, friendly, cordial and empathetic to our other Caribbean brothers and sisters. 

My other Caribbean brothers and sisters, always remember that God stands in the shadows watching over His own. 

Admonishes

 When we put on Jesus, love is the acid test that our hearts have been transformed by the power of love. 

The bible admonishes us that if we have love one for another then the world would know that we are Christ’s disciples. John 13: 34 & 35.

Honestly speaking, no one can underestimate the value and role played by our other Caribbean brothers and sisters in the development and growth of our country. 

Honourable Dr. Kedrick Pickering always talks about his vision of the VI becoming a great little nation.  

It goes without saying that this great little nation would not become a reality without the labour, toil, and sweat of our other Caribbean brothers and sisters. 

They need us as much as we need them. 

All in all it is a symbiotic relationship.  Our other Caribbean brothers and sisters are part and parcel of the fabric of this society, and it is time that we accept and embrace them.

Believe it or not they are here to stay!

 I embrace all my Caribbean brothers and sisters because when I look into their beautiful faces I see myself. 

We are proud West Indians.  I speak not as a Virgin Islander, but as a Caribbean woman born in the Virgin Islands. 

We share a common past, and we share a common destiny.