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I just sent this to the Virgin Islands Daily News as a Letter to the Editor. I would be interested in anyone's comments. Thanks.
My wife, daughter, son-in-law, grandson and I just returned from a week’s vacation in the U.S.V.I. We have vacationed in St. Thomas seven times over the past 10 years. This time we decided to rent a villa in St. John.
On Saturday afternoon, May 28th, we arrived at the Red Hook car ferry operated by the Boyson Company. After we waited for 45 minutes in a long line for the arrival of the next ferry, we observed several local vehicles (mostly work trucks) forming a second line to our right. As vehicles began to board, this second group began to cut in front of cars in the main line. Boyson workers simply stood and watched as cars honked and tempers flared. As the ferry began to fill up, they even held up cars in the main line to let the cutters board. A female Boyston ticket-taker stood directly in front of our car talking on a cell phone to keep us from moving so more vehicles could cut in. The ferry left with us still sitting at the dock.
As the second ferry arrived, we and another family got out and confronted the Boyston workers and remaining car cheats. They began screaming and cursing at us as we refused to move from in front of the landing until we were allowed to board. Then a man who identified himself as “the Captain” showed up. Instead of confronting the car cheats, he confronted us, indignantly asking what our problem was and refusing to allow us to board because of the ruckus we were creating. Finally, a local man in line behind us came to our defense and threatened to beat the entire Boyson staff and anyone else if they didn’t knock it off. We were finally allowed to board.
Unfortunately, we have found this type of treatment toward visitors to be anything but isolated. Over time we have come to learn what everyone in the Virgin Islands – locals and visitors alike - already know deep inside, but few are willing to admit. The U.S.V.I. is a predominantly racist, unwelcoming society of people toward Caucasians – especially white Americans. As an example, just walk into any Pueblo Market as a white person, and feel the coldness. Or go to a certain ice cream eatery in Red Hook as we did last summer and waited while anyone black got served when they walked in the door, while the one employee ignored us and two others sat idly in the back room smoking joints.
White tourism business operators and other transplanted white apologists (most of whom have a financial stake in hoping you can learn to tolerate rude behavior) coach visitors on how to properly address local residents. As one local villa management company states in its magazine, “Remember your Caribbean manners while visiting – a cheery “Good Morning,” “Good Afternoon,” or “Good Evening” before you launch into your conversation with a local will usually get a smile in return.” Whoever penned this needs to get out more. Although we faithfully follow this advice, the simple truth is those locals who are genuinely kind and accommodating are friendly with or without this greeting, while those locals with the born and bred chip on their shoulder are consistently rude - with or without being greeted.
The bottom line is this: lasting relationships of any kind are formed only through mutual kindness and respect. In the case of U.S.V.I. tourism, it has to be earned not only by visitors, but by those receiving visitors, as well. Being subjected to rude treatment by local residents is no less important to us than visiting a place with high or escalating crime. They factor evenly into the equation in considering where to spend our leisure time and tourism dollars.
We just returned from STT on Saturday and unfortunatley I am typing this now at work! Let me start off by saying that I had a wonderful time and now miss STT & STJ dearly and hope to return again soon.
Now onto the issue of rudeness. Yes, my husband and I witnessed this quite often while on the island. We are easy going people, we don't ask for much and we are quite friendly and loads of fun, but by the middle of the vacation we just stopped trying to talk to most of the locals. There were a handful of very nice locals but most were just downright rude and nasty!
While at Coki one day I walked past a little local boy who couldn't have been more than 10 while heading towards the water he turned to me and said "this is a black only beach!" I couldn't believe what I had heard and was very angry by it!
However, the island is way too beautiful to let the rude people keep me away. I will be back again next year (if I can get out of debt from this vacation).
Bluwater, Dominic, and other locals (current and former)-
As most know, I've been visiting STX twice a year since before Hugo and I have made a great many friends there - both West Indian and white. I have NEVER experienced the kind of racism described by Leeko (or any other, for that matter) while visiting all over the island. Quite the contrary, I have had local children come sit with me and chat. So, I would be caught totally flat-footed if I were on the receiving end of such an epithet. What, in your opinion, should be the appropriate response? How could this be made into a "teaching moment"?
And is this type of behavior more common on STT than STX, or have I just been blessed?
I've been going to the islands for over 30 years. Not one bad incident to report.
As an aside; Bluwater, what color is the sky in your world?
I lived in N.J. all my life and never knew anyone who would be caught dead being a fan of any Philadelphia sports team. I do howerver hear they make a half-way decent cheese steak.
One Love.........Ironman
I disagree with those who assert that Boyson is part of the tourism industry; Boyson primarily serves local businesses and residents. Because Boyson is not part of the tourism industry I do not expect the same courtesies from a dockworker that I expect from a concierge or a maitre'd. Like any other business, stateside or on island, Boyson gives preferential treatment to regulars. A stateside homeowner who needs a yard of concrete for a weekend project is unlikely to get the same priority scheduling or favorable price for the delivered concrete as the contractor putting in a new subdivision next door. And while it may not seem fair that a frequent business flyer gets preferentially bumped to first class, I don't begrudge her the nicety but rather I'm grateful I don't have to fly as often as she must to have earned the kindness. We choose how we perceive our world and I choose to view the preferential treatment of regulars as a kindness Boyson employees are showing their regular customers who have to hassle with the carry ferry on a daily basis.
Ironman-
Not sure when you lived in NJ, but there are lots of NJ bandwagon jumpers now that The Eagles are "Superbowl" material. Trust me....since my company is HQ'd in NJ, 90% of my business colleagues are NJers....and they were all claiming to be Eagles fans last year.
dnt-
I disagree with your assessment of Boyson. Since there is no competing Car Ferry for use by non-commercial traffic, Boyson is surely making a TON from visitors. They serve as the only means for visitors to transport vehicles from STT to STJ, which doesn't have an airport. Thus, they ARE part of the tourism industry since they serve tourists. I wonder if Boyson has determined what % of their business comes from tourists. If they're smart, they've done this study and understand what the impact woudl be if someone else started a non-commercial barge business.
A good "best practice" study would be the Steamship Authority Ferry in Martha's Vineyard. The people of MV must use the car ferries to transport their vehicles back and forth, get their mail, haul their trash, bring their goods, etc. But, there is never a problem for tourists to get fair treatment on the car ferry. The Steamship Authority is strict about it's business - they take reservations for non-commerical traffic - and they honor them. If you don't have a reservation, you go "stand-by"...meaning you line up and wait until people with reservations and commercial traffic have filled the ship. It could mean you wait all day....but everyone knows the rules. If Boyson wants to operate in a similar fashion, which it seems they do, they'll need to be more organized about it. When everyone knows the rules and can understand them, there's no room for hard feelings. The problems arise when the rules are "fluid" and are made up as they go along.
And, on a tiny island where the major industy is tourism, FAR and above all else.....EVERYONE is in the tourism business.
I think the poster who thought that Boyson's practice of giving priority to contractors at certain times was more likely the product of a longstanding custom or practice, rather than racism, was right on the mark. As the former NBA star Charles Barkley said recently in an interview, one should not play the race card (accuse somebody of racism) unless one has proof beyond a reasonable doubt of a racial motive. Traveling is a lot more enjoyable when one errs on the side of not ascribing animus (racial or otherwise) to behaviors that seem untoward. If Boyson's practice is part of a longstanding custom, then one can better understand why Boyson employees would react unfavorably to a tourist who demanded that an exception to the custom be made for him or her.
