When we hear the words “Imperialsm” and “Colonialsm” we immediately tend to think of the late 1800s and early 1900s and then think of countries such as Great Britain and France imposing rule on nations majorly consisting of people of color. The outcome of colonialism has been disasterous for nearly every country that has experienced it, and many of those countries continue to suffer from the oppressive rule that was once implemented. With that being said, we must remember that there are regions that are by definition colonized by America today, such as the United States Virgin Islands.
The United States Virigin Islands is one of the most beautiful, culturally rich, and sadly one of the most frequently forgotten parts of America. It consists of three small islands in the Lesser Antilles in the West Indies. While all three islands are peaceful sanctuaries and popular tourist destinations, the citizens that live there year round are constatnly ignored by the United States Government. Although Virgin Islanders do experience some perks of being apart of the American Empire, they suffer from truncated voting rights and inadequate health care and education. The United States Virgin Islands along with other United States territories have one of the highest rates of military enlistments but they cannot elect the peprson that has the power to send them to war. America prides itself on liberty and democracy but does not extend these rights to every citizen. As discussed in the Insular Cases, territories would be forein in a domestic sense, which translates to the United States not wanting to give voting power to a region majorly consisting of people of color, which is inherently oppresive.
Another consequence of American Neo-Imperialism is the major disparity in the standard of living in comparison to their stateside components. While the Virgin Islands majorly consists of people of African descent, I can personally attest to the fact that most private schools are white spaces. On the other hand the majority black public schools are underfunded and not in good condition. When a parent decides to send their child to a private school to recieve better education they are forced to pay approximately $13,000 to $20,000 per child.
Another major concern is that the cost of living in USVI is extremely high that you can even find yoursled paying over $800,000 for 4,500 square feet, and buying $22 boxes of pizza. Although this cost of living is extremely high the minimum wage is 8.35 which only increased this past year, making it increasingly hard for locals to maintain a high standard of living.
The Virgin Islands has a rich history rooted in Afro-Caribbean tradition wich has been dimmed because of the struggle that locals endure to merely survive due the disenfrahisemnt that comes with being colonized. There are many organizations and non-profits that work to bring bettter education, health care and standard of living to the islands. Other organizations work on getting better representation and attention from the government, while some groups such as Decolonizing the United States Virgin Islands main goal is to acheive independence for the islands in union with the Brith Virgin Islands.
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