Last evening I had a chance to watch the Upfront interview between the Yellow Cedar Media team and the Governor and found the conversation to take a lot of interesting turns.
One piece of the conversation that struck me occurred around the topic of gentrification and the notion that the gentrification that is happening now could be likened to the gentrification that happened in the 60s and 70s when a large number of people from the Eastern Caribbean relocated to the Virgin Islands andart of the reason why this comparison struck me is because I’ve heard it used before to undermine the insideous and overt dispossession and displacement of native Virgin Islanders that is happening now, so let’s get really clear on what gentrification is.
According to the Oxford Dictionary gentrification is “the process whereby the character of a poor urban area is changed by wealthier people moving in, improving housing, and attracting new businesses, typically displacing current inhabitants in the process.”
The gentrification that is happening now cannot be compared to the migration of Eastern Caribbean people that took place in the 20th century for several reasons:
1. Each island in the Caribbean shares in its own unique culture and history, but the region in general enjoys a shared culture and history that allows for a smoother assimilation and because so much of the region has been so interconnected for so many years, much of us have familial ties through the Caribbean region.
2. A key element that makes the gentrification machine so destructive is that much of the people who move here from the US or Europe have access to more resources and capital. They are able to come here and use their access to insulate themselves in communities that largely exclude the local population. This widens the gap of wealth inequality in our community that has ALWAYS been extensive and it exacerbates a power dynamic that is already slated against Virgin Islanders.
If you haven’t listened to this interview I highly suggest it. The questions reflected were thoughtful and truthful to the hardship we are experiencing in this community. Also, I highly suggest all of you make an effort to become intimately aware of your history so people can’t weaponize it against you. The true conversations…the ones that have the capacity to shape an equitable Virgin Islands are hidden underneath the ways we try to over simplify our stories.
Leave a Reply