While I support Krim Ballentine's right to advocate as he sees fit, I don't think that is the right battle to engage in at this time. While it is true that based on the fact that Virgin Islanders who are members of the U.S. Armed Services are being sent into harms way by the U.S. president should be able to have a say as to who that leader should be, I believe that we must first address the issue of status vis-à-vis the U.S. Mr. Ballentine could always return home to Missouri if he so badly need to vote for the U.S. president.
On the other hand, the Virgin Islands really need to resolve the status issue in a way that would allow us a greater say in matters of much more importance such as immigration, voting laws for immigrants, regional alliances, and what offices are open and/ or closed to non-natives. Right now, native Virgin Islanders have virtually been kicked to the bottom of the totem pole and could only look forward to things getting worse as, more and more, non-natives are being appointed to important positions and they are not hiding the fact that they don't really care for the people. These are not the only issues of greater importance of course, but for the sake of brevity I will end it here.
Norvel Connor
Brooklyn, N.Y.
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.
