Racial Tensions Increase On Virgin Islands

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32114, 9 October 1969, Page 8

Racial Tensions Increase On Virgin Islands

(N.Z. Press Assn.—Copyright) CHARLOTTE AMALIE

(Virgin Islands).

Although 85 per cent of the residents of the United States Virgin Islands are Negroes, and Negroes control the islands’ Government, racial tensions have increased noticeably in recent months, the New York Times News Service reports.

The tensions appear to be part of a black nationalist movement that has been sweeping the Caribbean area. White residents and tourists in the Virgin Islands have reported an increasingly hostile attitude toward them, and many whites say they have been attacked, especially at night, on St Thomas. The Virgin Islands Government has taken note of the situation but has not yet taken apy major steps to ease the tensions.

A black militant movement was started at the College of the Virgin Islands earlier this year with the stated aim of wresting control of the islands’ commercial enterprises from white people. Although no-one has done an analysis, it is generally believed that whites and their friends in the Virgin Islands Government own 90 per cent or more of the privately held land and control the banks and the limited industry on the islands.

The hotels and restaurants that cater to the tourists are scorned by many Virgin Islands Negroes, who refuse to work in them. Tourism is the biggest industry on the islands.

Last March, when Roy Innis, of the Congress of Racial Equality, helped to form a C.O.R.E. chapter on St Thomas, he questioned the value of the tourist industry to the islands. Owned by Whites Mr Innis, who was born on the Virgin Islands, said that almost all tourist facilities on the islands were owned by whites from the United

States and that they catered to other whites.

Many Negro residents of the islands say that clerks in some stores refuse to wait on them and that white tourists are given preferential treatment.

One complaint, which was lodged against the Hertz Corporation, was investigated by a Government commission. Resident Negroes said that they had reserved rental cars by telephone but that Hertz would not honour the reservations later.

After its investigation, the commission concluded that the complaints were true but it did not recommend any punishment for Hertz because the only penalty provided by law—the revocation or a long suspension of the right to do business—seemed too severe.

Governor Melvin Evans, who took office last July 1, said be was not satisfied with the commission’s report and ordered Hertz to be sued by the Government The suit is pending. Mr Evans hopes that racial discrimination can be curbed by taking offenders to court, and that this in turn will lessen racial tensions. He said he did not place any real significance in the black nationalist movement.

However, there has been an increasing number of attacks by Negroes on whites in the islands reported to the police. The whites consider the attacks to be racial in nature.

“This is especially true in the rape of white women,” a white Government official said.

Samuel Ballard, editor of the “West End News,” a newspaper published twice a week on St Croix, said that eight women were raped in a three-month period this spring. Although all reports were not included, the police records said that 48 women have been raped In the last 12 months. Few Arrest* A white hotel owner maintained that four or five white women were raped every week by Negroes on St Croix. Few arrests had been made, he said.

To protect themselves, the hotel owner continued, the whites bad formed vigilante

groups. Whites often carried pistols and told friends where they were going when they went out at night.

The Virgin Islands police force is seriously understaffed. The Governor said about 50 of the authorised 190 positions were vacant. The Government has tended to blame racial incidents in most of the crime in the islands on alien labourers. The Governor said there were thousands of aliens who had entered the islands illegally. Most of them had no jobs and had to steal to live. These included a high percentage of rapists and murderers. Discontent There is a considerable amount of discontent among the 16,000 legal aliens, who make up 50 per cent of the island’s work-force and do the work that island residents will not perform. Almost all of the aliens are Negroes from other Caribbean islands. They are' not allowed to live in low-cost public housing or to buy the houses, which are built with Government loans. As a result, most of the aliens live in slums, for which they pay high rent