The following is an open letter responding to Sen. Liston Davis' comments on the murder of James Cockayne in a recent FOX News report.
Open Letter to Sen. Liston Davis
Dear Sen. Davis,
To say that your comment about "only when a white person is murdered in the Virgin Islands does the national media pay attention" really raised my hackles.
It is at the least way, way off the mark, definitely racially insulting and totally counterproductive to our common goal. I do not and cannot believe your fellow lawmakers share your view.
And as a lawmaker and presumably, one of many of us who stands to gain by the positive images of our islands and how they are portrayed to the world, your reaction is not only counterproductive, but tends to feed the very negative atmosphere which pervades our lovely islands and its people at this critical time. This is a time to pull together, not pull apart. Divisive comments are not helping.
Sir, there is a cadre of people of all colors presently involved with trying to get answers to why we must endure the horror of this young man's murder. It has taken the concerted efforts of many many people to bring this to light and to demand action. Anyone with a problem of this magnitude in the United States of America has an inalienable right to bring this sort of pressure to bear. And, make no mistake, the light that is shining will only assist in fixing a problem, a seemingly big problem, which exists in our lovely island community: Better protection for ALL the people. We need to pay attention to positive action to clean up our act here. It will take the combined effort of many entities and it is overdue. We need to work together, all of us.
Hear me: This "white person"'s murder is absolutely no more important than the recent murders of our fine contributing citizens, Mr. Trevor Joseph, Mr. Alvin Morton and so many others, visitors and residents alike, which are still unsolved. My heart breaks with this knowledge.
Read the blogs, Senator. See what the traveling public is reading and asking about. National Television is one thing, but the heavily trafficked blogs tell a bigger story. And that is how today's world communicates. The present negative publicity is entirely brought about by stonewalling, and foot-dragging and bungled crime scene procedures.
I have lived here for many years. The success of my business and that of my industry, as does so many others, depends entirely on happy visitors arriving to drink in the beauty of our islands and its peoples, with whom I have interacted so very pleasantly for so many years. And yes, as a white woman.
Please, elevate your thinking to a higher level. We all stand to gain by that.
Thank you.
Margo Rose
St. Thomas
