Guest Opinion: How did we lose it?
Guest Opinion – author has requested to remain anonymous
Let’s be real. Crime is never going to stop. It is an insidious evil that plagues the world, since the early existence of Cain and Abel. However in these territories that we refer to as the America’s Paradise, crime and violence have gotten out of control. Gone are the days when we could go to parties and restaurants and not worry about getting shot.
Lately, teenagers and young adults commit the crimes that are occurring in our territories. Our communities fail to pass the mantra on the importance of education. Many children lack the want for an education or lack the knowing for the need of an education. As a result, they turn to criminal activities to survive because they did not get that education to find a job.
Another important factor that contribute to young people becoming offenders is they are experiencing violence as their way of life. Most of them were victims of violent or sexual assaults by adults they trusted. In addition, children mirror adult behavior in their families, neighborhoods and schools. When adults curse, steal, fight, and sell drugs, children would do the same. Some parents believe it is parenting when they loudly verbally abuse and using profanity on their 3 year old.
Many researchers assert that the rise in violent crime is founded on social conditions such as poverty, racism, unemployment and inequality. However, many people grew up in poverty but they did not turn to criminal behavior. Why is that? They had people who cared about them. Parents need to care for, show love to and be patience with their children. If your child is following the wrong crowd, send them away from the environment. If your child sneaks out at night, put bars on the windows and sleep with the house keys under your pillow. Basically, do what is necessary to protect your child from self-destruction.
As a community, our role is to help protect the children because some children do not have a caring parent or a positive role model in their lives. Organizations and programs that focus on the arts, sports, community service, economic development, education, job training, and gang and violence prevention that are in our community should be greatly supported. Also, we can start other programs or organizations such as Big Brother, Big Sister etc. As the saying goes, “the more the merrier.” In order for these territories continue to be the America’s Paradise, adults must play a positive role in children’s life. Now ask yourself, “What can I do to turn this crime situation around?”
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Anon and others,
Allow me to weigh in (crime is another one of my favorite whipping boys…).
Before you engage in combat you need to know a few things about the enemy. That is, if you really want to crush your opponent and win.
I don’t mean know about the criminal personally, I mean, know why crime is occuring in the first place. And crush that.
Here’s a very informative piece of writing out of Canada. It will help us put the problem in perspective. Once we’ve done that we can design battle plans. Because that’s what this really is: a major fight. And we’re not going to win this fight by holding hands, lighting candles, praying, wishing on a star, wailing or bashing each other. Like solving homelessness (or any other community ailment), these things take time, thought, dedication and perserverence.
http://www.preventingcrime.net/library/Causes_of_Crime.pdf
Paste it into your browser. Or Google ’causes of crime’. Either way, you’ll see the reocurring theme all over the world.
To paraphrase this article:
…to prevent crime it is important to have an understanding of it’s roots. These are complex and interrelated but can summarized in three main categories:
1. Economic Factors/Poverty
2. Social Environment
3. Family Structures
And so on…
Now, can we, as a people, as a community, get together long enough to slay this monster that has been wreaking havoc on our lives?
Yes. We can win this fight. We can win any fight, for that matter. But we need to get organized and work together. No more ‘he said, she said’. No more sniping. No more it’s a white thing or a black thing. It’s a bloody people thing, and the only ones to solve these things are the persons we see looking back at us from the bathroom mirrors.
(The above piece may not have magically provided the solution to our crime problem but hopefully it has begun to get reader’s heads wrapped around how we start to go about tackling it.)
Mr. Bull Foot Soup: I read that article about history and found it fascinating. I also note your ideas on the causes of violent crime and I certainly agree with you. I do have one (honest and serious) question: as a white guy, from the states, seeing all the violence here, what can I do that actually will improve things? It seems that any effort I make will be taken as intrusive, invasive, whitey talking, “we don’t want you” and “we run dem, dem don’t run we”? As a victim of the violent crime here, I am pretty fed up with it. Why did you let it get so bad?
Ah, Mr. Abbott, if only I knew the answer to your last question. Or all your questions, for that matter.
One of the many benefits of this post (and the other subjects people are posting on here at CIF) is the rapid exchange of some brilliant ideas. But what does that mean to you, me and others? What good are some of these ideas and solutions if we just talk about them? Action speaks louder than words. Luckily for us, there are many people on St. Croix that are fully engaged in such actions, actions that hopefully will mitigate crime, homelessness, decaying schools…
But IMHO it sometimes seems that these valiant efforts are spread too thin. We need to join ranks and become a force to be recognized. A united front.
How do we do that?
And after we’ve done that, then what?
When the people of a community get together and get well organized, they can move mountains. It doesn’t happen as often as we’d like because it takes an enormous amount of work. But since many hands make light work, it can be done.
Here’s your next homework assignment. Trot on over to http://www.midwestacademy.com. Then go to the Reading Room and review their approach on Direct Action Organizing. Direct Action sounds militaristic, yes? Hey, that’s good. Because to deal with some of the issues that affect us all, we need, in the words of Bob Marley, to “Get up, stand up, stand up for your rights…” We need to become a strong united front and attack these crime issues head on.
Read first. Then jump back in here.
Mr. Soup: Community organizing and Direct Action Organizing can be quite effective and certainly is part of the solution to our crime problem.
What I am about to write may sound racist or xenophobic. Please. It is not so. Just my observatioon of cultures and people here. IMHO action needs to grow in several areas but “Born Here” islanders need to be fed up with the crime and need to be the ones initiating direct action organization. I believe that if they don’t initiate it, they will find a way to sabotage it. Once they start to organize, they should invite leaders from all communitiesto join with them: non-native blacks, down-islanders, whites, Arabs, Puerto Ricans, and any other “factions” we can think of to add their expertise. We have a huge amount of talent on these islands and we need to tap into it, embrace it, with the common goal of making our islands a home we are proud of.
Mr. Peter,
It’s been said many ways by many people:
“All that is needed for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing.”
Your sentence about “born here” people need to be fed up before something gets done… no doubt they’ve probably been “fed up” by a lot more things, and a lot longer than most realize. Read a few other posts from the other subject categories and you’ll get my drift. The incredible flame-throwers in use right now is downright impressive. Check out “Mafoliegate” for example.
But each crime does push us closer to the tipping point. We may be there now.
Certainly this CIF website is read by more people than who post here. There are many lurkers. I believe those in the government who can (and should) make a difference stay closely tuned in to what is written here. CIF is the pulse.
But your comments above appear to come from a genuine caring interest about these beautiful Virgin Islands and the very cool people who live here, whether they were born here or not. This is a good thing. Your heart is in the right place.
Where will we wind up on this campaign against crime? How will we combat it? Who will start this ball rolling? What will the ball even look like?
This theme of working together for a common cause was introduced in the Community Input column on homelessness. A loose coalition of posters agreed to try and convene sometime, somewhere in September (sounds like a song, eh?) to talk about solutions to this problem.
Perhaps something similar will evolve here. Like something along the lines of Direct Action…
Hope springs eternal.
I definitely see the anger and frustration that abounds. Sometimes I think it may be misdirected. I see anger at the Arabs who own the grocery stores. But they were willing to work and build where others were not. I see anger at East Ender rich folks. But they worked hard (most of them) for their money. I see statesiders frustrated with poor customer service, racism, favoritism, and a bloated, inefficient government that puts so many blocks in the way of growth that it seems almost impossible to get enough permits just to buy a car! But they haven’t been to Rwanda.
For a people to get tired of corruption, violence, neptoism, and lackluster business, they have to quit it themselves. They have to stop going behind the scenes to register their (otherwise unregisterable) clunkers. They have to come in to work on time and give an honest day’s work for a good day’s pay. They have to stop throwing trash all over the beaches and highways and clean up the mess that is there. We need to take pride in and embrace our islands with MANY cultures.
Direct service- SS and medicaid payments should be tied to voluteering in whatever way possible…in food pantrys,clothing distribution, in cleaning the roads and beaches. Judges should order more community service when possible. Community gardens, transportation for the elderly, Meals on wheels, help in the hospitalsand the like are all things volunteers could do.
Education will help to instill the pride of community and the willingness to be a working part of that community as well as preparing our youth to be productive members of society.
Self-Help would be communities cleaning themselves up. Who has to wait for the government to step in to clean up litter? Big brother/sister programs would help young people with absent parents grow.
Advocacy: This is where the “born-here” led island improvement organization could coalesce with the leaders from the various communities and cultures to grow and become a vocal force for change.
Direct action would help the government and police to step up their fight against crime and corruption.
We also need to simplify the rules to encourage business investment here so that meaningful, well-paying jobs can be created.
Long winded, I know, but it’s a start!
Peter Abbot, thanks, fighting corruption begins at the highest levels of this government. The de Jongh administration and its’ henchmen have gotten away for too long. There is nothing misdirected at anyone. The facts or the facts and the facts are printed in black and white right in public view. So the “born-here” WILL continue to open our eyes to what have been done to our beloved United States Virgin Islands.
We are not stupid and we can clearly see who is who. Thanks any way for your long winded suggestions on how the “born-here” should start. The “born-here” has already started its efforts to end public corruption in our territory thanks to the help of CIF in getting the “born-here” voices out to the world.
Mr. Abott, you have some good points that many Virgin Islanders have been preaching for years, however they fall victim to politicians who promise they will turn those ideas into practice. We as a people have a hard time organizing. That is an advantage the Arab and Puerto Rican community have over us. We couldn’t even organize 50 people to protest Act 6905 even though you heard thousands of different voices expressing outrage on the radio and signing petitions. If we can’t even turn that anger into organization it is clear that we have a long ways to go.
We have a government who doesn’t enforce the laws they create. You also have managers, in both the public and private sectors, who don’t know how to supervise employees. You have children raising children as TV is teaching them it is “cool”. You have residents voting for politicians based on slogans (ie. “Education First” (Turnbull, former Education Commissioner) and “Together We Can”), music (ie. “Roll with John”), colorful t-shirts and empty promises rather than specifics as to how they will address the problems.
To sum it up, Virgin Islanders are waiting for politicians to solve their problems rather than holding their feet to the fire, and the politicians have higher priorities that don’t involve us or our children. How do we get out of this deep spiral? After I read the info suggested by Bull Foot Soup I will try to post some solutions here.
Peter Abbot,
Can you explain your comments recently made in the St. Croix Source? Do your comments refer to the “Born Here” or people in general? The Virgin Islands is a melting pot of many races, nationalities, and illegal aliens. Statistics has shown that the majority of crimes committed in the Virgin Islands are not by the “Born Here”. Please explain your comments.
“Here we still have to contend with barbarians who are happy to shoot you if you don’t hand over your watch. When they don’t want to use guns, they use machetes on each other or on innocent victims.”
“The most foolish mistake we could possibly make would be to allow the subject races to possess arms. History shows that all conquerors who have allowed their subject races to carry arms have prepared their own downfall by so doing.” — Adolph Hitler
Peter Abbot
Queens Quarter, Christiansted
http://stcroixsource.com/content/commentary/open-forum/2009/05/20/washington-jefferson-and-hitler
I knew I wasn’t the first to come up with these ideas! Born-Here: Keep at it. Please elect different people next time and don’t just shift people from one position to another. Get in some fresh blood! From what I heard, De Jongh is much better than his predecessor, but seems he may have gotten a bit tainted by the rest.
Busted: The problems we have are bigger than the government. In the US, it was “the people” who formed the government and were wary of giving it too much power. Over the years it has taken more and more power unto itself and now we have a nearly socialist government. The VI had slaves that rebelled against the Danish and grabbed their freedom. Why have they done so little with it? Why are their descendents giving that freedom away?
One thought I have is that those in government like the mistrust between the cultures and like the confusion and bureaucracy in government because it helps them to maintain power over everyone else. We really do need a new constitution, but it has to be real, and nothing like what was done so poorly recently.
So now, everbody, where do we go from here?
Or is this ‘subject du jour’ now passe? And we’re off to bigger and better things?
Or just off to other things?
Annaly Farms was robbed yesterday?