Dear sirs and madams,
The Martinican psychiatrist Frantz Fanon, in Black Skin, White Mask, wrote about the idea of Cognitive Dissonance (a term attributed to Leon Festinger):
Sometimes people have a very strong belief. When they see evidence that goes against that belief, they cannot accept it. It would cause a very uncomfortable feeling. Because protecting this belief feels so important, they explain it away, ignore it, or even deny it., like individuals, experience cognitive dissonance when they attempt to hold two contradictory truths at the same time.
Societies, like individuals, experience cognitive dissonance when they attempt to hold two contradictory truths at the same time.
With the upcoming 250th Anniversary of the First Salute in St. Eustatius, which I am sure many of you will attend, how do you plan to reconcile the history you are coming to celebrate? You will celebrate Governor Johannes de Graaff’s act of recognition of the American Flag. Which later became an act of Freedom and Independence. Yet at the same time, the forefathers and mothers of the people of Statia were not physically free.
How will you confront this contradiction, while the Statian child dance and entertain you in bright folkloric colors? The Statian child lives among ruins that constantly remind them how past and present actions keep the unequal sharing of wealth going; how motions adopted by local representatives can be erased like magic; how it is the Hague, not the local politicians, has the final say in how many people can represent them in the Island Council.
You see, dear sirs and madams, freedom and captivity exist(ed) at the same time on Statia. As you come to Statia to celebrate freedom and friendship, I simply want to know: how do you reconcile Statia’s contradictory reality?
I look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
Xiomara Balentina
