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VI ‘seems to be a country @ war with itself’

VI ‘seems to be a country @ war with itself’

Local commentator Mr Claude O. Skelton-Cline has called on Virgin Islanders (VI) to unite against deep social divides in the territory, else see the country fall at the hands of enemies.

Pushing the mantra unity based on several shared factors such as culture and ancestry, Mr Skelton-Cline on the February 18, 2021, edition of his radio show, Honestly Speaking on ZBVI 780 AM, said unless the people of the territory unite, they will inevitably die divided.

People @ war with each other - Skelton-Cline


“We seem to be a people, a country at war with ourselves… whether its black or white, expats or belongers, indigenous or belongers… regional neighbours that often too have been described in disparagingly ways like island person and island man, as if we are not from an island,” he said.

Further divisions, he said include male/female divisions, classism and divisions on the basis of surnames to name a few. He said those flaws have eroded the very foundations of the territory and the ties that bind Virgin Islanders together as a people.

“When you study world history and when you study even empires, you will notice that empires don't fall because they were necessarily attacked militarily with war from the outside, they fall because they implode from the inside because the people turn on themselves,” he said.

He said the attacks have descended into such high levels of filth and low degrees of character, regarding how Virgin Islanders conduct themselves, that people no longer know what is right and what is wrong.

The man of the cloth called on political and other leaders in the territory to come together and address the deep divisions in the territory which he said is in need of healing.

The Virgin Islands is being called to unite or risk losing the country to 'enemies'.


Leaders urged to unite & address division


“They weaponise each other with their tongue, with their mistrust and distrust, they weaponise each other with the naming and the labelling,” he said.

The man of the cloth called on political, religious and other local leaders to come together and address the deep divisions in the territory, which he said is in need of healing.

“Either we change course or we are headed for an inevitable end that is not in our favour,” Mr Skelton-Cline warned.

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