Dear Source,
Without running on as long as Carol King I would agree with much of what she says. I also wonder who would benefit from these reparations.
I should not be able to receive anything in reparations based on being descended from African American slaves. My ancestors were slaves under the British and French. Never have I been African American. I am part African Caribbean. I have not found any African Americans in my family tree yet. Likewise I have not found any slave ancestors who lived as slaves under the Danes.
My family does indeed claim an affinity with Denmark based on living under Danish rule. My grandfather was a civil servant a policeman under the Danes. Before that he traveled as a steward on board the Hamburg America steamboats using a Danish passport.
The earliest ancestor of mine living in the Virgin Islands got here in the 1850s. Much of the population claiming connection with Denmark is descended from people who migrated after emancipation. Some of the most vocal proponents are partly descended from whites sometimes legitimately.
I wonder if the people asking for the end of a distinct Virgin Islands identity will not be in the line for Danish reparations. I refer to people who call for the removal of rights held by Virgin Islanders defined by the UN. There are also other rights defined by birth. Were some Virgin Islander to attempt to run for office in one of the former British islands they would be told that they were ineligible. Yet we see a demand for asymmetrical rights here.
Richard Bond
St. Croix and Boston, Mass

Editors note:We welcome and encourage readers to keep the dialogue going by responding to Source commentary. Letters should be e-mailed with name and place of residence to [email protected].