'Self-hatred' thwarting meaningful integration of VI history into schools– Skelton-Cline
Talk show host Mr Claude O. Skelton-Cline has criticised the local education system for what he said is an inability to meaningfully integrate Virgin Islands' black history into the local educational curriculum.
Skelton-Cline made the comments on his Honestly Speaking radio show aired on ZBVI 780 AM on Tuesday, February 7, 2023.
“To this day, in any meaningful way, we in our own educational system, where supposedly we have power and authority over, we have not meaningfully integrated our own Virgin Islands history in any meaningful, sustainable way, in our own educational curriculum,” he said.
“We talk about it… and when we talk about it everybody applauds,” he further remarked but has put the spotlight on the inability of VI history to be placed in the curriculum."
He said in the VI, there is a
crab-in-the-barrel mentality where some do not like to see others
succeed, including criticisms about clothing or hairstyles as part of
the hatred perpetuated. Inability speaks to self-hatred - Skelton-Cline
Skelton-Cline called on Virgin Islanders to question why after so many years little has changed regarding the subject in the educational system.
“A lot of this… speaks to our own self-hatred and I know it's a difficult subject to talk about,” he added.
He said in the VI, there is a crab-in-the-barrel mentality where some do not like to see others succeed and that part of the hatred perpetuated includes criticisms about clothing or hairstyles.
“It's very difficult to have these kinds of conversations with our people because it's easier, it appears, to make believe that's not my personal problem, that may be someone else's problem.”
Skelton-Cline added, “What you don’t understand is if it's your neighbour's problem and if it's your neighbour's challenge, it's also your challenge, and you are not as free as you are purporting to be.”