Leonard Pitts nails it in his column about the 50 years after the Freedom Rides. >" /> One never encounters this wholesale dismissal of the past when one commemorates, say, the Kennedy inauguration or the Holocaust. That’s because those things makes us feel sorrow, nostalgia, resolve. As Ryan Price would testify, African-American history makes us … Continue reading Pitts on Freedom Rides 50 years later
Category: Race
Quick links 04/13/11
Yes, I'm buried. (Even more so than normal.) A few posts from around the 'net: Norfolk CSB sues staffers to recover no-show worker's pay.This is a no-brainer. Somebody should be held responsible for this. Interesting that the attorney for a couple of the staffers is questioning why the Norfolk City Attorney's office, who investigated the … Continue reading Quick links 04/13/11
Opinion, please: teaching slavery
The story of the fourth grade Norfolk teacher who used a mock slave auction in demonstrating the Civil War has spread like wildfire. It seems nearly everyone is outraged about it. But a question remains: just how do you teach about slavery, the Civil War and race? In an editorial today, The Virginian-Pilot discusses the … Continue reading Opinion, please: teaching slavery
An effort in futility
Leonard Pitts of the Miami Herald wrote an interesting article on futility, opening with this: This will be a futile column. Experience dictates that it will change no minds, inspire no reconsideration among those who disagree. It will sit on the computer screen or the newspaper page taking up space, affecting nothing, until another column … Continue reading An effort in futility
Fiscally irresponsible through any eyes
My latest op-ed, title above, appeared in The Virginian-Pilot Wednesday. The topic, of course, was the now-failed effort to build an office tower. Despite all of this, there was something else going on with this project, an invisible hand pushing it as it rose, phoenix-like, from the ashes for the third time. In various reports … Continue reading Fiscally irresponsible through any eyes
First female chief justice SCOVA
The first ever female chief justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia was sworn in Wednesday. My congratulations to Justice Cynthia Kinser. Whenever one of these "firsts" comes along, I'm reminded of a post of mine from from four years ago where I first (at least on this blog) discussed the whole dynamic of race … Continue reading First female chief justice SCOVA
Black History Month: Recognizing our shared heritage
My latest op-ed appeared in The Virginian-Pilot last Wednesday. (Although I love the fact that the columns are online, I have to admit that the printed newspaper looks a lot better.) A couple of points in the piece that bear a little additional information. First, despite the president's proclamation, I still consider it Black History … Continue reading Black History Month: Recognizing our shared heritage
Top 10 for 2010
A quick look at the top 10 posts (in terms of views) on blog this that were written this year. Military Spouses Residency Relief Act: it's gonna cost us American Idol results 4/28/10: down to five American Idol results 5/12/10: top 3 Why Nye lost Joint Forces Command to close Report: Hampton City Council candidates' … Continue reading Top 10 for 2010
Didn’t think I lived in Texas
Virginia 4th-grade textbook criticized over claims on black Confederate soldiers A textbook distributed to Virginia fourth-graders says that thousands of African Americans fought for the South during the Civil War -- a claim rejected by most historians but often made by groups seeking to play down slavery's role as a cause of the conflict. Local … Continue reading Didn’t think I lived in Texas
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 