notinkansas

I’ve heard numerous people over the last few months say something to the effect that
“well, this is America.” Whether in defense of some typically American behavior or an inherent
civil right, these people are assuming that because these Virgins have a “U.S.” in front of their
name, they are somehow part of the United States. And, nominally (that means, in name) that is
true. But, believe me, that’s where the bus stops.

I hate to rain on anybody’s parade but this is not America. And, you should be damn glad it’s not.

I recently saw a Saturday Evening Post from 1955 that featured an article about St. John and
the handful of American ex-pats that were beginning to make this their island home. I was struck
by the fact that there was a large percentage of artsy or literary types among them. I wondered
what was going on in post-Korean War America that encouraged these emigrants to leave their
homeland for an island that the Post described as “impoverished.” It had to be more than warm
weather and sunny, sandy beaches.

Nowadays, St. John is far from impoverished and people continue to arrive on her shores to
spend a season or a lifetime. Are they leaving America to come to America? Of course not.

You can see the stars and bars flying over the Post Office and Customs House, but do you
really think this is America? Let’s do the side-by-side taste test. These are generalities, but you’
ll get the point. (1.) In these islands you’re considered rude if you don’t say “good day” to those
you pass on the street. In America, if you do, you might be punched out. (2.) America is
governed by a cabal of mostly corrupt, mostly rich, mostly ineffectual, mostly male, mostly white
people. Here, they’re mostly black. (3.) Here, the old, the odd, the really odd and the truly wacko
are tolerated and treasured. In America, the jails, nursing homes and asylums are full to
overflowing. (4.) In America, they’re obsessed with making money. Here… OK, let’s move on
from the taste test.

St. John has always been a very special place. Laurence and Duke and Sarah knew that in
those early days. In the decades that followed, many more arrived, drawn not only by the
weather, but by the generous, welcoming, peaceful nature of the local population. They came to
escape the strictures of stateside life. They came for a slower pace. They came to see how
many green beer bottles they could empty in any given day. Maybe, they came to explore their
unknown and hidden selves. But, they came. They left America, the gray winter skies and the
hustle-bustle of corporate day-to-day.

License plates once read “American Paradise” but that’s been changed to “Our Islands, Our
Homes”, as if to remind those who may have forgotten, that they are someplace foreign. This is
a good thing. This is why tourists come here and spend pockets full of dollars.

Those among us who were born here enjoy the rights and privileges of being citizens of the
United States, to be sure. But, they possess something much more valuable, as well. They are
of these islands. They are born of these beautiful sea-swept rocks, with the active traditions and
histories that make them special on earth. That’s something that America, “the great melting
pot”, has largely lost: the uniqueness of each of her constituents.

It is because of that that we should not be too quick to wave the flag. There is more to be gained
by observing the distinct customs of this place than by enforcing American mores that,
technically legal, are morally reprehensible.

-Jeff Smith