Dear Source:
There are couple of things we need to clarify. First and foremost, I am Mr. Courtney Jackson not Ms. Secondly, I think you took on this debate without fully knowing the original issue. The original issue as stated in my first posting is that of the proposed V.I. Constitution, and who should be able to vote on such. This was a topic of discussion on the Renaissance Program on WSTA a few days back. As a result of the question of who should be able to vote, there were some people of the opinion that anyone should be able to vote for such a Constitution, and as such there should be a definition of "Who is a true Virgin Islander" so as to define those that would have the right to vote. There were several people of the opinion that you share that anyone that has lived here and contributed to the community should be considered a "True Virgin Islander" and as such be able to vote. I am of the opinion that a Constitution would first have to be recognized by the Federal Government, and as a result of that, will have to be enacted, voted on or debated in a way that abides by the U.S. Constitution, which is our governing document.
Furthermore, I know that the voting laws are already established, but what you didn't know is that a number of people seem to want to ignore those laws for the purposes of this constitution and the voting, just because they know of people who have contributed greatly to the community and it's betterment, and I was just reminding those individuals that you can't ignore established laws regardless of your personal feelings.
I express my opinions because I was born and raised on St. Thomas, and I am proud of that fact, and I also have several family members still living in the community, including my mother, brothers, aunts, uncles and friends. I think the dialog is good, but you did not have all the information when you entered the debate. I hope that you will go back and become familiar, then you might better understand my commentary. Once again, the scenario was just that, a scenario, to spark your thinking, about what could happen if established laws are ignored. I am even sure I could find examples of that or similar scenarios in the community as we speak. Well, I hope this clears things up for you.
Courtney Jackson
Baton Rouge, La.
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