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i have family who are native to st.thomas and the bvi. From observation it seems that everyone who is from those islanbds wish they were anerican. as in mainland american. why do they try so hard to be american? i mean the v.i had there own unique culture and if this is being taken fro granted then the culture will die out. it already is. Kids are more interested in listening to rap then quelbe music. I think parents need to try harder to tech the children there culture. They don't have this probplem in other islands like jamaica and caricaou becasue the children are proud to be jamaican and apreciate there tradititons and customs. I love the VI becaus i am from here but things need to be more for the VI and less for the tourists. Like the bamboula dance, that was onced forgotten and now it is brought back to life, but the younger generation just wants there AMERICAN MUSIC. Dont get me wrong i love the vi but there needs to be a cultural renasaince.
People in the USVI don't have to wish too hard that they were American. They are American. 🙂
I don't think people in the USVI are culturally American. Politically they are, as a US territory, but as a people they are not American in the cultural sense. The USVI has its own culture and way of life different from the mainland, in my opinion.
I feel that youth here tend to forget their culture, especially because of the media like TV and music, but this is often reversed once they relocate to the mainland and actually see how different things are. Once away from the islands, they tend to miss home and want to get to know their culture better. I'm not speaking for all youth, but it was like that for me and some of my friends. Before relocating to Rhode Island to study, I never fully realized the cultural difference. When I was younger, I had always felt both West Indian and American, but had never really defined exactly in what way was I an American. Now that I am older and have figured it out, I can now differentiate between being "culturally" something and "politically" something. I feel that USVIers are only American by what it says on our passports, honestly.
