The Virgin Islands Carnival is a sacred cow to many, and one needs to be especially careful when questioning almost any aspect of its influence on the life of the territory.
In this article, I shall argue that beyond the seemingly benign annual fun and frolic that Virgin Islanders have become accustomed to, there is another side of Carnival that should be recognized for what it is worth. After completing 50 years of annual celebrations that locals as well as Virgin Islanders and others residing on the mainland United States look forward to, how has Carnival for locals differed from Carnival for Virgin Islanders and others who visit the territory yearly to observe and participate in the event?
This writer believes that, on the local level, we have developed a state of mind that does not ever allow pause from one Carnival to another. This so-called Carnival mentality permeates everything that we do each and every day of the year without reflection on Carnival’s impact on other business of the territory demanding attention if we are to pass on to the next generation
a legacy that is worthy of mention.
Unlike our family members and friends who travel annually from the mainland to participate in the gaiety and frolic of the official carnival periods and return to their daily routines in the highly competitive settings in which they live and work on the mainland, the Carnival mindset remains active in the daily activities of many Virgin Islanders on the local level. We appear to be in a perpetual state of preparing for the next one. The consequence is that much of the serious business of the territory remains either unattended to or unfinished.
There are groups within the territory who recognize this scenario, and while they, too, observe and/or participate in annual carnival activities, they return to their daily chores of managing their businesses and preserving their personal interests at the conclusion of the official carnival activities. Because many of us fail to place carnival in its proper perspective, we leave ourselves open to forms of manipulation that promote the interests of others over the compelling interests of the territory.
We have serious governance issues that we should have addressed many years ago but failed to do so. Our election method needs to be revised; yet we fail to review and study election method options generally before moving full speed ahead to adopt change that has not been properly analyzed and discussed in the larger public arena. The proposed changes are nevertheless being foisted upon an unsuspecting electorate.
The numbered seats method of electing senators that is being promoted as the change of choice can be adopted only if it is supported by the so-called man-in-the street, but this so-called man-in-the street has not been paying attention, and he is in willy-nilly fashion supporting a change that he is not well informed about. In short, the so-called man-in-the street is being manipulated without knowing that this is actually happening to him.
Improvements to the governance of our educational system remain unsettled as we continue in the mode of unrelenting fun and frolic. There is no outcry from the man-in-the street for change to this system, even though his children are affected directly.
Similarly, there is no outcry for remedial legislation that would close the chasm that allowed the then-retiring presiding judge of Territorial Court to file a claim successfully against the Virgin Islands government amounting to approximately $400,000 for unused leave accumulated during his time in office. Having failed to close this loophole, have we not left in place both opportunity and precedent for others to make similar claims in the future? Notwithstanding the legality of the judge's claim, is it good public policy to ignore the circumstances that allowed this outcome in the first place?
There appears to be serious inability on our part to address the political status issue on the local level, and while we saunter on this matter, federal laws, rules and regulations continue to be applied to the territory without any meaningful voice being offered in opposition to the selective application of many federal provisions on the people of the Virgin Islands. The state of
confusion that we are in on the political status issue serves well the interests of others who are working quietly in the background and maneuvering in ways to transform the territory to their liking while making life for local Virgin Islanders miserable and increasingly unbearable.
We import and sell top-quality mango trees from Florida and grow these trees in our backyards, but the mangoes that they produce are confiscated at the airports when we attempt to take them with us on our trips to the mainland either for personal consumption or to share with family and friends. Yet, unwashed and glue-y mangoes from the Dominican Republic are allowed to be imported and sold in this United States territory.
While all of this and more are going on, the Virgin Islands National Park continues to spread its tentacles across the territory with onerous rules, regulations, restrictions and now user fees that impact on our traditions.
The leadership that is needed to represent the interests of the territory requires that those who lead become serious about the tasks before the territory. There is need to reallocate a portion of the energy that is exerted to keep Carnival alive each and every day in the life of our territory. We must exert ourselves in attending to the business at hand, almost to the point of physical and mental exhaustion, then take time off for fun and frolic in celebration of our successful efforts to make the Virgin Islands the homeland that we seek.
Editor's note: St. Thomas resident Gaylord A. Sprauve is a retired V.I. government administrator. He notes that he learned of the Legislature's late-night action on May 23-24 to make all Senate seats at-large territorywide after having prepared this article for submission and says it's his hope "that it is still relevant."
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