In a quest to understand what constitutes national identity, I had a very interesting conversation the other day about culture and heritage. It really got me thinking about how we have subscribed to the notion that the words are interchangeable when in fact they are not.
Culture is our way of life, and it changes over time. My grandmother’s way of life was different from mine, but the common thread is our heritage — what we have inherited. I still cook the same foods she did and celebrate Christmas and Easter holidays with the same traditions, but there are new norms, such as the Internet and Blackberrys. The August Emancipation Festival is about celebrating our heritage and the traditional way of life that makes us who we are today. But is there more to culture than just saying “I born here”?
Then, in another conversation I had with my cousin and aunt, a question was posed: “Are you an African or Afro-Caribbean?” My cousin adamantly said she is a Caribbean woman with African heritage and not an African. This made me pause, because when we celebrate Black History Month every year, I don’t think we truly understand what we are relating to. Is it about packing up and returning to the Motherland, or connecting to our African roots, whose branches stretch across the Atlantic?
All that we do in the way of local traditions has its root in Africa or Europe because of the culture of our ancestors, so to recognise it is very important and relevant even today. A people who don’t know their history won’t realise their destiny. Take, for example, our language. Throughout the Caribbean, our various dialects are a fusion of African, English, French and Spanish, and our accents vary even within the islands. Can you tell someone is from Tortola or Virgin Gorda just by the way they speak? It’s all part of our cultural identity, which is what our national identity is founded on.
Dialects and accents
Knowing all this, I am still puzzled why some people do their best to “disown” being a Virgin Islander to fit in to what is seen as better or glamorous. My theory is that in the past there was a stigma attributed to speaking in dialect and that people were considered uneducated if they didn’t speak with an English or American accent. And so the effort to adapt to someone else’s way of life for acceptance was triggered.
Even today, there is the hustle to live a “big” lifestyle: big house, big car, big job and big money. But this comes at a very high price: “big stress.”
While our forefathers raised their families in board or thatch houses and made sure children were schooled in principles such as integrity, self-discipline and mutual love and respect, we have opted for the upgrade: Now we have a whole lot of knowledge, but we’re still clueless as to what is priority. We have lost the principle of being our brother’s keeper and turned on one another because we strive selfishly for independence instead of being dependent on each other. Where are the days when a bag of flour fed the neighbourhood because we shared everything? No matter how much money we acquire, our wealth is found in our relationships.
Identity crisis
We have an identity crisis on our hands to sort out beyond what our name should be: BVI or VI. And until we do, we will continue to suffer from low national loyalty. In the midst of the cultural diversity in the VI, we are still capable of preserving our heritage, because it is up to us as Virgin Islanders to do so.
I don’t buy in to the talk that we are losing our culture because we are a minority. This is not a unique situation.
Even most Americans have cultural roots in other countries. I have yet to visit any part of the US and wonder where I am. The American brand can be recognised anywhere in the world, and we need to do the same here. We need to stop with the excuses and allowing ourselves to feel that because we are small in size, we don’t have anything to offer or be proud of. Everyone should fly their VI flags high all around the territory and have a copy of the Constitution on their bookshelves. We are not perfect — no country or territory is — but the VI holds its own in a lot of respects, or else we wouldn’t have the high rate of immigration that we have.
We need to do a lot more work on building our national identity around our heritage. When we see a coal pot, we should think about the simple existence that we came from where we lived off the land and sea. When we see the flag, we should feel proud of those who marched on Main Street for us to get our own Legislative Council. We need a proper library, museum and archives that capture the essence of who we are. Our children and grandchildren should be able to research local history — including topics like the VI sloop and the VI white sheep — and borrow books by local authors. We need to teach our children to recognise local plants and learn how to use them instead of overdosing on Nyquil at the first sneeze. Sometimes we behave as if we always had private medical clinics, when the truth is that some of our grandparents are healthier than we are today because of bush medicine.
Sister islands
Also, may I suggest that we have museums on each island, because each has its story to tell. Why are we trying to cram everything on Tortola? Is it the VI? We contribute to the social division amongst us by referring to the island group as Tortola instead of the VI. I see it especially when musical artists visit and big-up Tortola instead of the VI, and it’s our responsibility when people come to our shores to educate them on who we are. As simple as this seems, it can create a dividing line in people’s minds not easily erased.
We behave as if the other islands are outposts someplace out in the Wild West. The sad part is that this attitude is propped up by district representatives to the detriment of the common unity needed to reinforce love for territory. Even if it’s 20 people on a rock, they are part of the VI. And at the end of the day everybody is somebody’s cousin — one big happy family. A house divided against itself cannot stand, and this is the vice holding us hostage today and impeding national allegiance.
Culture is about social behaviours. Visitors often refer to us as a friendly people, but oftentimes when we speak to each other, we are filled with negativity. We need to understand that it is hypocritical to roll out the red carpet for visitors without extending the same courtesies to our neighbours. Our grandparents raised us better than this, and if we are letting the bad habits of others amongst us get in us, we need to watch the company we keep. We repeat every morsel of gossip we hear about people we don’t even know and don’t stop to question what the truth is. Gone are the days when every elder in the village was referred to as “auntie” or “cousin” even if there was no blood relation. Respect for others is one example of the societal values we need to maintain, and it starts with us as individuals.
Sacrifice
Our daily lives should reflect our heritage and be endorsed by national leadership at every opportunity and incorporated into national policies. If we are serious about instilling a love of the territory, we have to be the ones to celebrate ourselves and be willing to sacrifice. That is an attitude that once existed amongst us, but the pursuit of so-called prosperity has hijacked our priorities.
Can I submit to you that we are only as strong as our weakest link, and therefore that is where our priorities should lie? The social ills of school dropouts, drug addicts, gang violence and homelessness need to take precedence over building projects of little value in the bigger picture. The argument over the next resort development resolves itself when we can see beyond personal opinion and look about what is best for the territory. How about Ginger Island? Just a thought. We, the people, need to have a common vision and set of values for our territory and select leaders from amongst us who share the vision, are passionate about the vision and commit to making it a reality.
Let’s change the conversation from who’s from here to who’s for here. There needs to be reconciliation between the old and new to create a better way. I can still claim to be from West End, because that is my home base, but remembering the “country village” always comes first.
The change in conversation is about a new philosophy, a new way of thinking: analysing first and then taking action. Let’s shift our focus to the bigger picture, which is the future of the next generation, and change our mindset to one where we don’t live in fear in our own territory for standing for what is right and wanting what is fair for everybody. There are bold decisions ahead to take the VI into a better future, and bold people are needed to make them.