Dear Source,
Though I agree with the writer that 'this too should pass.' We all know 'the reasons' why the Fountain Valley incident will forever be a stigma in the eyes of the VI. It is the same reason why I am sure 1 million+ dollars (private and public) have already been spent searching for ONE white young girl in Aruba. Don't get me wrong, my heart goes out to her family but let's call a spade a spade.
When I left the VI to go to college in 1985, I would never forget the lecture my dad gave me with regards to the Fountain Valley incident. I did not know then why he told me what he did, but later I came to realize the answer. He told me: 'When you go to the mainland do not say that you are from St. Croix because whites are going to bring up the Fountain Valley incident and it may negatively affect you.' I thought to myself this man was crazy, that happened so long ago. Well, years later I was at a conference of some sort and I was talking to an older white gentleman and when I told him that I was from St. Croix the first thing he said was: 'can you believe what those animals did to those people in the Fountain Valley incident.' I was so shocked I did not know what to say. I thought he was talking about a new incident not the one back in the 70s. Immediately I felt like I had to defend the entire VI. He knew more about the incident than I did.
The bottom line is that over time it will probably go away but as long as there are people 50+ years of age and they are white, trust me they know about the Fountain Valley incident very well and they will not hesitate to tell you about it. When people (mainly whites) visit St. Croix that is one of the first horror stories that they are informed about. As a matter of fact, a few years ago I had a white friend (30 ish) who was inquiring about a honeymoon to the VI and when I told them that St. Croix was a great place to honeymoon they immediately brought up the Fountain Valley incident. So even if islanders don't bring it up trust me the stigma is already there. God help Aruba!
Emerson Simon
New Jersey
