Virgin-Islands-On-Line's Coconut Telegraph

March in Support of Fretts Scheduled for St. John

From the St. John Source:

Sept. 22, 2005 - Several groups and individuals from St. Croix, St. Thomas and St. John are organizing a protest march on St. John on Oct. 1. According to organizers, the protest is intended to "show solidarity for the Frett family."

"We are coming to demand answers and put pressure on law enforcement to be more engaging to the community," Dr. Chenzira Kherishetapheru, one of the organizers of the protest march, said Thursday. Kherishetapheru said she expects the protest to be peaceful. "We are respectfully asking that anyone who is counterproductive not to attend the protest," she said. "We are within our civil and constitutional rights."

On Aug. 30, news spread around the islands that a St. John woman had been kidnapped, raped and assaulted. The woman, later identified as Esther Frett, had previously been the victim of alleged hate crimes. Someone had written racial epithets on the fence of the house she shares her husband, Jerry. There were also several drawings left on their car of a hangman's noose and stick figures of a woman.

Click here for the full article. I think I am so interested in this story because I see it as a microcosm of America, boiled down to this one tiny island. America is a racially and economically divided place - and now on St. John we are going to see a potentially dramatic event unfold (this planned protest) which could be a harbinger of things to come for the rest of the country.

Update: There is also an article in the Daily News today - "St. Croix group getting permits, making plans for St. John protest"

Posted by afinta at September 23, 2005 07:43 AM

Comments

Post a comment