Transfer Day commemoration in 2017. Photo Credit: REEMY-REEMZ PHOTOGRAPHY/VICONSORTIUM.
Ahead of the long holiday weekend marked by both historical and religious significance, Governor Albert Bryan Jr. has appealed to Virgin Islanders to reflect on their fortunate circumstances.
He urged residents to look past frustrations with utility rates, power supply and food costs to appreciate their relatively peaceful lives when compared to the turmoil being experienced by people in the midst of war.
“We live in a country that…hasn’t had war on our soil since…the Civil War,” Governor Bryan said on Monday. “We live in a place where it’s peaceful all the time…you can go to a grocery store, everything you want is there.”
Without acknowledging the United States role in fomenting Middle East conflict, Governor Bryan urged Virgin Islanders to see the common humanity in those depicted as enemies. “There’s 92 million people in Iran,” he noted. “You think 92 million of those people…hate America? There are people over there trying to live just like you and I every day.”
He highlighted the inherent absurdity of the ongoing war’s religious overtones. “I don’t even know if people sometimes recognize that Judaism, Christianity and Islam, is the same God. It’s the same God we’ve been fighting for centuries,” he noted.
The governor characterized the expression of dissatisfaction with local inconveniences as a profound lack of perspective. “I think it’s highly disrespectful to humanity for us as Americans to be complaining about gas pieces and food prices, and these other people’s sacrifice is their lives and the lives of their families,” Governor Bryan said. “Nobody’s blowing up our house. “Nobody is sending off missiles from our backyard.”
The governor’s comments are rendered even more poignant as Virgin Islanders contemplate their addition to the United States empire on the occasion of Transfer Day. Tuesday marks the 109th anniversary of the island’s handover from Danish to U.S. rule on March 31, 1917. People of the Christian faith are also observing Holy Week, which culminates in the Easter celebrations of Sunday and next Monday.
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