Mapp Responds To Petersen’s Stand On Draft Constitution
(Editor’s Note: During Wednesday’s presentation to the United States Congress on the Virgin Islands draft Constitution, Convention Delegate Eugene “Doc” Petersen, who voted against the document, encouraged the Congress to amend the document and remove a number of provisions relating to native and ancestral native Virgin Islander rights. Petersen stated that inclusion of these provisions would do “irreparable harm” to the “delicate social fabric” of the Virgin Islands. His comments generated a great deal of comment on the airwaves on Thursday. Petersen is gubernatorial candidate Kenneth Mapp’s St. Croix campaign manager. Mapp responded with this message late Thursday.)Â
Kenneth Mapp
Today I heard many concerns about Doc Petersen’s testimony before Congress. Let me reaffirm my respect for Doc and his role as an elected delegate to the Convention and his fundamental right to express his views.
Personally I do not believe that Congress should amend the Constitution as written by the people, but should return it unchanged for debate, approval or disapproval by the electorate.
Be assured that I will state my position publicly and discuss this view in more detail.
I thank all of you for taking the time to call, text or email the campaign with your concerns.
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@ Anonymous 5:52 PM
Are you a desperate De Jongh supporter? You don’t know what you are talking about.Confirm statements before you post them. Some simple and quick research would have yeilded information that Ken Mapp was not even born in the Virging Islands.
Their are many people who get their information about potential candidates credentials solely from hear say,rumor,and conjecture. There are candidates that like people like you and fuel this phenomenon for their political gain.I am here to say that John De Jongh used this evil vise of melle,character denigration,and rumors extensively in the 2006 election.
Here and now on the Eleventh Day of July 2010 your post is stricking evedence of such. Yes I have heard of the nasty acronym recently created by De Jongh strategist and placed in the circles of the Caucasian community . “Mapp” (man against pale people). The height of evil and desperation!
All voters should make it their business to find out about candidates and their platforms by research and asking questions of the candidate. Go to these candidates in person,their web sites,supporters, or their public appearances.
There will be numerous opportunities to engage Ken Mapp personally,or hear from him at public meet and greets. Ken Mapp is dedicated to improving the economy and quality of life for ALL Virgin Islanders .
Anonymous it’s not too late to break free from your evil bubble of hate you are traped in . I hope to see you at a Mapp meet and greet,or a public appearance. You can start here http://www.meetkenmapp.com
Why don’t the people just wait on who Mapp running mate is. All the names that are being called is just speculation. Regardlessd of who Mapp running mate is the team will be better than the deJongh/Francis team. Common people wake up & realize Dejong is for himself & a certain few. Get deJongh out now before we sink so low beneath the Caribbean sea that so one nor anything can bring us above the waters. Crucians we need a governor that can do for us rather than destroy us & the beautiful island. Vote Mapp all the way.
It is this type of arrogance that makes this Constitution so necessary. Without the people of the Eastern Caribbean there would be no Hovensa? Be for real…I guess you need to believe this to validate your greed for what rightfully belongs tothe people born in these Virgin Islands. You came to the Virgin Islands for a better way of life and we employed you…while we pursued intellectual stimulation you came as UNSKILLED labor, ingratiated yourselves with the caucasions who need to believe in the inferiority of black people and now claim to have built Hovensa? As they say in text messaging, LMAO!!! Juan Luis has been and will always be welcome because he is of United States commonwealth descendants…check the United States?
It is your greed that is showing. And it our benificence that has allowed the arabs, Eastern Caribbean, and yes the Poor Wh— Trash that seems to follow you all here, to reside and think that you are entitled a piece of my home…Be careful what you say…we will pull out the history books on you and not the history you want people to believe, but the history of undocumented aliens in the Virgin Islands and the cultural destruction they have wrought.
We are tired of this type of trivia. You will even steal the future from your children and grandchildren who were so FORTUNATE, yes FORTUNATE to have been born and not be naturalized on United States soil. We are a territory but we as born Virgin Islanders have rights which you myopic (near sighted) and ignorant (unexposed)people seek to usurp (steal)…Not this time…the Constitution is coming and it will pass as many are seeing through this emotionally charged but ungrounded argument. I again invite you to go back to where you are born if you want native rights…The rights of the Virgin Islander belong to those born here. How many ways can we tell you this?????
By the only war will be the one we NATIVE VIRGIN ISLANDERS wage to sweep all of you out of here with a big economic and culturally large broom!!!
@ Anonymous 7:34
The only persons that has talked about “war” a violent confrontation,are desperate supporters within the De Jongh camp,that sees fit to muddy the waters. The “war” is one of the pen to vote de Jongh out,out out!
Secondly no ones wants to “run you out of here”. You are not thinking clearly by making that statement. Who would we run?
Have you forgotten that naturalized citizens are married and have children with natives and supper natives. The ties go on and on. Get a grip and stick to the point.
This nonsensical talk aout waging war against Naturalized Citizens is hurtful and demeaning. I am a native virgin Islander and I do not agree with blaming people from other Caribbean islands. We are all people of African decent and we all need to unite as one. For the love and betterment of our islands lets choose a Governor that has everyone’s best interest at heart and in mind. DONASTORG 2010
And yes, I read the Constitution and I support it. But, this action of turning us against one another is unnecessary. De Jongh is trying to make us dislike one another. Any comment with so much hate for naturalized citizen is in fact a de jongh supporter trying to use the Constitution as a campaign ploy.
Don’t buy into it people, we are all smarter than that!
Let me state unequivocably that I AM NOT A DEJONGH SUPPORTER. I was but can never, ever again be! As natives we have not waged war against the people from the Eastern Caribbean. If you have followed the commentary, it is the other way around. And not just on this site but on the radio talk shows, in the grocery and laundry lines and at the bank. If all who come to live here respect the natural born rights inherent in nativity (birth in these islands), then there will be no need to reciprocatae with disinvitations to reside here. We can all live in peace in my beautiful Virgin Islands, but the rights of the native must be repected and protected!
Why is it that we must always remember who our brothers are on ours oil and when we get on theirs, we are non belongers? I might be of African descent but I am first and foremost a NATIVE, SUPER NATIVE VIRGIN ISLANDER!
Ancestral natives are a VERY small minority in the Virgin Islands. So all of you “SUPER NATIVE VIRGIN ISLANDERs” need to shut your mouths, because the rest of us natives and naturalized citizens are the MAJORITY in the Virgin Islands. So you, Bert Bryan, Mary Moorhead, Siego Petersen, and the rest of you can cry all you want about native rights, because this constitution IS NOT going anywhere. Either you all fix the constitution and remove the nonsense or there will be no constitution. This is the FIFTH time that we’re going through this and you folks still haven’t learned anything yet…..so history shall repeat itself.
So be it, we return to the ORganic Act and keep the non natives in check. Bawl like cattle all you like, but you cannot usurp the rights of the natives. This constitution has a lot of support and your arrogance and those like you (this is directed to non natives) will be your downfall. Peopel not born here are articulating the idea that the people who are natives and Supernatives have rights as you do where you come from. If you want native rights, you know what you can do…no need for me to say it again. I do believe Liat flies to all Caribbean distinations. Sorry, no Pan American this time. REspect the poeple born here or go back where you come from. This is my home by birthright and I will not allow you or anyone like you to dictate my future in my home. You truly amuse me in your greed, despotism and misplaced arrogrance…see you at the polls…if you can vote.
Interestingly, Some of the louder voices I have heard on my constitution cannot even vote…imagine that…:)
By the way, I seek intellectual discourse ont his topic. Any takers?
How can you seek “intellectual discourse” when you cannot even spell?? If you do not like the MULTI-CULTURAL society of our Virgin Islands then I suggest that you find a hole and stay in it.
The natives deserve rights. In every other Caribbean island the people born on the island have special rights. Why deny native viegin islanders what they deserve? Please stop allowing de Jongh to separate and destroy us. When he is done with OUR TERRITORY all of us will suffer, ALL OF US AND OUR CHILDREN.
Why does an ancestral native DESERVE special privileges over a native Virgin Islander? Why should an ancestral native be separated from the rest of us natives?? Do natives not also deserve a property tax exemption???
@ Anonymous 10:26
Hello.. It is the norm for post to blogs nat to have 100% correct spelling.
See there I spelled (not) wrong.
I’m sure the blogger is aware of our multi cultural society.Same way let’s say,an Antiguan would be aware of the numerous immigrants in their country. So if you were in Antigua and were of Chinese decent, you would be telling the Antiguan to go find a hole. …… Think about it.
All can coexist. It comes down to RESPECT .
Clearly you focus on minutae. Spelling is all you can address? Simple minds seek simple pleasures. Thank you for the spell check on MULTI-CULTURAL. Forgive the speed at which I am typing my rapid thoughts and focus on the larger messsage. Again, I understand where people like you are coming from focusing on the little things when the issue is so much larger. Rights for ancestral and “regular” natives should not even be an issue of controversy. These rights are inherent with birth on these beautiful virgins. Why does no one question the belonger status of our supposed sister island of Tortola? Will you use the American constitution against me in my own home? American territory or not, this is still my birth home and I am entitled to my birthright. I want to preserve my history and my legacy for my ancestral native children. And I believe that once you are born anyplace you are entitled to certain rights. So let us not muddy the waters with the crap you people continue to dispense. Turn it any way you like, the rights of native born virgin islanders must be preserved and you poser natives (people who call themselves natives because they live and work here and get paid to do so), must learn your place. We let you in, provide you an inch and you take a yard, to which I might add you are not entitled. So, let me resume with my quest for an intellectual discourse and stay away from your emotional and greed inspired postings. Again, thanks for checking my spelling.!
Again….why do natives not get a property tax exemption????
And no one questions Tortola and the BVI, because they are NOT a part of the US VIRGIN ISLANDS and they have NOTHING to do with this constitution. Stop trying to bring up nonsense that has nothing to do with us!
You people are so predictable. The issue is the very same…protecting the rights of native born virgin islanders in their own homes as others have protection in theirs. I expected this response from you as I have heard it before. Just because we are a territory of the United States doesn’t mean we have no protection in our home…you wish this were so. But you are narrow minded and the more you post the more I recognize the desperation to hold on to what is not rightfully yours…a foothold in my home. Oh well, they say you can do what you want but not for as long as you want. Hope you posers enjoyed the large salaries (which you would never earn in your homeland), the 1/4 acre plots to build your home on, the space in our schools (for an education you couldn’t receive in your homeland), a bed in our hospital (as a result of the care or lack thereof in your homeland) and a voice to critcize the native population. Keep talking, the more you speak, the more we recognize you all for what you are. Takers and fakers…Nothing you say changes the fact that the native born have inherent birthrights in their home, whether it is the United States, the Caribbean or my home the Virgin Islands where you and yours so desperately seek to displace us born heres. Good Luck, we are awake, we are aware and we are ready for you after all these years. And nothing will change the way we and many of your people feel…The NATIVES ARE TAKING BACK WHAT IS RIGHTFULLY OURS…OUR HOME, OUR PARADISE, OUR BEAUTIFUL VIRGIN ISLANDS!!!!!!
AGAIN….what is the reason that natives do NOT get a property tax exemption in this constitution, but ancestral natives do?????
What about Ancestral Natives who do not get property tax exemptions because they do not own any land or they are permanent legal residence of other jurisdictions? Only a selected few will get benefits and the rest of the natives and other inhabitants’ socioeconomic situation will not be changed by this document. In the end,this will simply be an exercise in futility. The fact that the U.S.Constitution ,and not any resolution by the United Nation, is the supreme law of the land. You cannot protect rights that you do not have. Only Indians on a reservation in the U.S. are exempted from paying taxes. Read the U.S. Constitution: “Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed.” This section of Amendment XIV applies to the USVI by the Revised Organic Act. If a State cannot deny the equal protection of the law, how can a territory disregard the supreme law?
@’Island Lover’:
My dear sir/madam you have EVERY right to fight for whatever it is YOU think You are entitled to and I commend you for so doing,but I must remind you that nationalized citizens from the Caribbean who are gainfully employed also have the SAME TAX DEDUCTIONS taken from their paychecks….so you need to understand yourself when you talk about their building homes on their I/4 acre lots,getting an education and a bed in the hospital as if these things are GIVEN TO THEM.
Sure,the V.I.is your home and as a resident (not a GUEST) in their adopted home most naturalized citizens are respectful,law-abiding and taxpaying individuals.By all means vent your frustrations and fight for that which is yours,but don’t you dare be talking down your nose at anyone and be giving the impression that they have not earned their keep,as in many instances they have labored twice as hard for half as much….and I do know of what I speak.
Holler if you must.