Category: Race and Race Relations
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A List of the Police Reform Proposals So Far
By Dick Hall-Sizemore As we have discussed on this blog over the past few days, the Democrats in the General Assembly have put together extensive and far-reaching packages on police reform. Steve Haner was considerate enough to provide a list of the Senate Democrats’ proposals, as well as a link to the package released by…
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The Big Lie of Unequal Funding
by James A. Bacon The Virginia Board of Education (VBOE) has unanimously adopted a statement regarding its commitment to provide equal access to a high-quality public education. “Systemic racism and discrimination still exist in public education, and too often, a student’s skin color or socioeconomic status predicts the quality of their educational opportunities,” says the…
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Senate Democrat Promises on Police Reform
By Steve Haner What follows, without edits, is the full list of legislative proposals now endorsed by the Virginia Senate Democratic Caucus. With 21 members, if they all show up and vote aye on all of these, they pass in the upcoming special session. Bills would then have to also pass the House of Delegates…
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“Equity” and the Performance of Virginia’s Black and White Students
by John Butcher The estimable Jim Bacon suggests that the Northam administration’s emphasis on “equity” and “restorative-justice” is keeping disorderly students in the classroom to the detriment of the other students. As well, he posits that behavior problems are more common among black students so the effect should be larger in divisions with larger black…
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“Bring That Sucker Down Without Anyone Getting Hurt”
By Peter Galuszka In a striking sign of the times, Popular Mechanics magazine has published a how-to article regarding removing statues on your own. The article is titled: “How to Topple a Statue Using Science: Bring that sucker down without anyone getting hurt” by James Stout. The force need to bring down a controversial statue…
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Another Use and Abuse of Statistics…
by James A. Bacon The Fairfax County Police Department publishes a statistical report every year on the police use of force in the county. There were 594 use-of-force incidents reported in 2019, up from 510 the previous year. The publication provides data with minimal commentary. This is the headline from the Reston Now article summarizing…
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The Systemic Racism of Monument Avenue
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in Blogs and Blog Administration, Consumer Protection, Courts and law, Crime, Corrections, Law Enforcement, Culture wars, Demographics, Electoral process, Federal issues, Housing, Labor and Workforce, Money in politics, Politics, Poverty & income gap, Property rights, Public safety & health, Race and Race Relations, TransportationBy Peter Galuszka Richmond’s grand Monument Avenue, a double lane, tree lined thoroughfare, has been the epicenter of the Black Lives Matter campaign that has focused on the statues of several Confederate figures one the road, including Robert E. Lee, J.E.B. Stuart, Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson and Jefferson Davis. All are up for removal, but the…
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COVID Restrictions Slam Black Businesses the Hardest
by James A. Bacon If Governor Ralph Northam needs further justification for reversing his emergency shutdown measures, perhaps he should consider this recently published paper by Robert Fairlie with the University of California-Santa Cruz. Analyzing the impact of COVID-19 social distancing restrictions on small business, Fairlie found that they disproportionately hit minority enterprises. The number…
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Justin Fairfax Wants $30 Billion to Replace Old Schools
by James A. Bacon And so the campaign for the Democratic nomination for Virginia governor gains momentum… with a bidding war for who can spend the most money. Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax, one of five declared or likely Democratic candidates, has announced plan to rebuild all public schools in Virginia that are more than 40…
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The Very Real Threat of “Boogaloo”
By Peter Galuszka White protestors have smeared a statue of Arthur Ashe, the African-American tennis star who faced systemic racism when he was growing up in Richmond. True, the Ashe memorial had earlier been defaced by “Black Lives Matter” messages spray painted on its base. On Wednesday, a small band of protestors painted over the…
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Second Amendment is Not for Everyone
By Dick Hall-Sizemore For anyone who doubts that black people are harassed in everyday actions by other citizens and law enforcement, there is the recent incident in Shenandoah County to consider. A black pastor was on the property of some apartments he owns when he saw a man and a woman, not his tenants, dragging…
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Look, Over There, a Squirrel!
by James A. Bacon Ever alert to signs of racism so subtle that most people can’t see them, the University of Virginia has altered its new V-Sabre logo to remove curves that had been added to the sword handles. At the unveiling of the original logo, the university had noted that “detail was added to…
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Administrative Bloat and Racial Inequity in Higher Ed
by James A. Bacon Recently, I told the story of how Virginia Commonwealth University, which prides itself for embracing minorities and first-generation college students, is enacting a left-wing social justice regime. While fostering a culture of minority victimhood and grievance, VCU charges its students $25,419 in tuition, fees, room, and board. Among the “students of…
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By the Way, Assaults on Virginia Police Officers Surged Last Year
by James A. Bacon So, the nation is in an uproar again, this time over the shooting death of Rayshard Brooks by a white police officer in Atlanta after Brooks resisted arrest, grabbed the officer’s taser and turned it on him. While this incident, like every other episode fueling the Black Lives Matter movement, occurred…
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Want to Advance Racial Justice, VCU? Look at Your Bloated Cost Structure and Runaway Tuition
by James A. Bacon Three days ago I described how Virginia Commonwealth University is in the process of installing a new “social justice” regime that will mandate “non-discrimination” training to exacerbate snowflake sensibilities, encourage students and employees to report “micro-aggressions,” and adjudicate grievances in a way that will be “affirming for those who have been…