People of color, African Americans of today, must back off blaming whites for racism as in retrospect it is hard to find one white person who violated the law related to the Constitution of the United States.
Being facetious, no, merely stating facts. In a representative form of governance as our democracy in and of the United States, the representatives of white people exercised racism, discrimination, violence towards people of color; white citizens never got their individual hands dirty. Ergo, that is the reason white people in our America, especially, whites living on St. John United States Virgin Islands, do not understand and defend their not being collectively racists. They attempt to charge people of color as racists (reverse discrimination accusations) who do not and cannot use elected and appointed officials to exercise racism on their behalf, personal racism is not a challenge. Name-calling is not racism but vulgar, obscene, amoral and possibly provocative, an ingredient for violence.
Bull Connors, the infamous commissioner of police of Alabama, ordered fire hoses to be turned on blacks. Governor Maddox wielded an axe-handle to clear people of color from his restaurant. Governor Wallace who stood in the door of the school houses denying admittance of people of color. The Ku Klux Klan who lynched tarred and feathered people to support racism and white supremacy. The sheriffs who turned their heads while people were lynched. The justice system: prosecutors and courts, such as Chief Justice Taney's Supreme Court of the United States in the Dred Scott decision of 1857.
The white people-citizens stood on the sidelines and applauded or cringed. The elected and appointed officials were exercising their representation of a society who had elected them to do their jobs. Elected and appointed representatives of the majority of the people.committed racist's activities. The white citizens did not have to commit racist's acts individually, merely acquiesce in not stopping the illegal acts.
The blacks who sat-in at a lunch counters of a so-called "white" restaurant were challenged by waitresses or owners who then dialed zero that brought the police to enforce their illegal racism, immediately. People of color are now challenged to dial three numbers, 911, to obtain the same urgent response previously guaranteed to white citizens by dialing zero for urgent responses, a white citizens of our yesterday expectation.
The bus driver in the Rosa Parks situation did not physically attempt to remove Ms. Parks from the bus seat but merely dialed zero requesting his police officers to come and enforce their racist law. People of color now are required to dial three numbers, 911, to expect an urgent response. How can a police emergency of today compare to a call to enforce offensive superior separate but equal discrimination, now requiring three numbers for murder and other heinous crimes, 911? Was it really an emergency to enforce segregation?
St. Johnians, who are white skin, please stop denying racism that you do not understand as racism and discrimination acts were enforced by your representatives, not you personally. People of color have never enjoyed our representative form of democracy by their elected officials, black or white. No one responded to the awesome outcries, the person of color's elected and appointed representatives never felt the physical pain.
Representatives of today feel that they are leaders as opposed to representatives; and, people of
color representatives are embarrassed to represent people of color as practiced by whites who represent whites a certain way and blacks another. People of color represent citizens all, they say, while no one represents the people of color openly, denied representation in the United States.
People of color do not have to represent people of color to the detriment of others. Nor should people of color be represented as if black is a superior people but must represent people of color as equal citizens, born natural or naturalized, of the United States and guaranteed to representation and opportunities as every other citizen of these United States. No one, white, black or otherwise, must ever apologize for representing their people as long as their defined people are not represented to the detriment of other people-citizens of these United States of America. We the people must prevail.
Krim M. Ballentine
St. Thomas
Editor's note: We welcome and encourage readers to keep the dialogue going by responding to Source commentary. Letters should be e-mailed with name and place of residence to source@viaccess.net.
