racism @ uvi

There isn't racism like you think of racism.

Theres a little negativity towards whites by a portion of the population. A pretty small portion.

It's not really an issue at all. Probably really not an issue at the college.

I didn't mean to scare you! I'm not sure what I wrote that put the doubt into you, but please don't take it the wrong way! The caucasions are only a small portion of the population, so they are the ones that are discriminated against, but only to the degree that a black person may be waited on before a white person, or a black person might suck their teeth at a white person if upset for some reason. To call it 'rascism' is wildly blown out of proportion. It is very subtle, and only noticed by people that live here, as visitors aren't here long enough to catch on to the subtlties. Come on down with no worries or preconceptions and be polite to everyone as you would at home and you will be just fine.

just had my first vacation there in a long time. Like anywhere the WAY majority of human beings are incredibly polite, caring people. I came across a "bad apple" and it was kind of a bummer. And if you are on vacation, you are probably MORE likely to run into it, as dealing with tourists can probably get a little tiring for everyone. But, if you are: polite, respectful and friendly you will reap what you sew. I met some really wonderful people and I look forward to living there someday.

Hello Amb,

You shouldn’t encounter a problem with race at UVI. The students as a whole are friendly. The professors include people from the US, VI, Caribbean, Africa, India, Philippines… and I found them to be professionals regardless of where they were from.

The only observation I made while attending UVI along the lines of race actually had more to do with nationality/where you are from. I found that transfer/new students from the states usually all sat together in the cafeteria. This meant that often there was a big table of pretty much all white students. It was obvious since the majority of the student body is black. On closer observation however there were tables of students from the BVI, groups of the students all from St. Kitts… etc. Since many of the students are from the Virgin Islands quite a few of them already know each other as they attended the same high schools. Some friendships are already in place from high school so often you'd have them all sitting together. Friendships did form between people from different places though, primarily dorm-mates or classmates or between those in groups/organizations together. If things are the same as when I was there, then there is this type of 'organization' in the student body which a new student might observe and feel a bit like an outsider as a consequence of. But once you get talking with people, including professors its fine. I mention professors because since the school is small, classrooms are small, which I found great.

I never encountered any issues with professors on the lines of race/discrimination. I recall there was one professor that I felt seemed to favor his VI students over others... I just quickly made sure he knew I was from the VI - LOL. I never saw him actually picking on non-VI students just something about his teaching style came across that way to me. I would add that there is the possibility that in Caribbean Studies courses/discussions non-Caribbean students (black & white) might pick up on some comments that seem a little different, a bit taboo. For example the use of Black & White rather then African American or Caucasian; I remember a Black student from the states asking why we weren’t using politically correct terminology.

My experiences at UVI were positive (tu). I hope you have a great experience as well.

--Islander