VI lacks assimilation policy for unity – Wheatley
On the Straight Talk radio show aired last evening, July 17, 2013 he said new identities were formed after slavery and colonisation were brought to the Territory.
He expressed that, “right now, it’s just about getting papers; it’s just about getting legal rights someplace, but people don’t understand that it’s not just about legal rights and papers, it’s about an identity.”
According to Wheatley, through the process of gaining citizenship, one has to be able to assimilate into a particular identity, which in this instance, is the Virgin Islands identity that involves some level of assimilation. “We have not had that type of policy here,” he said.
Earlier, host of the show, Donald E. de Castro said, “our identity is first and foremost our name, which is the Virgin Islands. When we proceed with respect for constitution, our national anthem, our flag, each other, our leaders and the offices that they hold; and equally important, our leaders must have respect for the people; national pride is not a phase but a serious commitment.”
He stated that once these elements are understood, “we [Virgin Islanders] will then begin to develop unity among ourselves; then and only then that those who come to live and work among us will have respect for us and unite with us to fight our struggles to maintain a different country that all of us can be proud of.”
Wheatley drew reference from countries such as Guyana and Trinidad where he said a similar policy was lacking to create a shared Guyanese or Trinidadian identity, resulting in continued division between East Indian and African descendants.
“If we are not careful, this is a situation that the Virgin Islands will be; such a fractured society of various identities competing against each other and rather than being united under the identity of the Virgin Islands,” Wheatley said.
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