by Sarah Becker Copyright ©2021 Sarah Becker Celebrating Women’s History Month “I am absolutely convinced that the forces of ill will in our nation, the people on the wrong side in our nation—the extreme rightists of our nation, have often used time more effectively than the people of good will,” Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., wrote in 1967 in The Future of Integration . “And it may well be that this generation has to repent, not merely for the vitriolic words and violent action of the bad people, but for the appalling silence and indifference of the good people who sit around and say ‘wait on time.’” After more than 110 years, Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s statue has been removed from the Statuary Hall of the U.S. Capitol. If Virginia’s Lost Cause advocates are riled others are quietly rejoicing. March is Women’s History Month and the Commonwealth has chosen to honor sixteen year-old, black student activist Barbara Rose Johns (1935-1991) instead. “It was time that Negroes were treated equally with whites, time that they had a decent school, time for students themselves to do something about it,” Johns explained. “There wasn’t any fear. I just thought—this is your moment. Seize it!” Barbara Johns 1951 “plan was daring, even risky: Convince the entire all-black student body to walk out of [Farmville, Virginia’s, Robert Russa Moton High School] and not return until the government gave them a bigger, better building—one like the white students had,” The New York Times noted in 2019. “The case Johns would join, Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County, would not only have the largest group of plaintiffs; it would also be the only one that was led by students.” The Davis case was one of five consolidated cases known as Brown…
©2017 Sarah Becker The Sounds of Silence In 1966 Simon & Garfunkel had a number one song, President Lyndon B. Johnson created the U.S. Department of Transportation, and U.S. Senator Harry F. Byrd, Sr. (D-VA) died at his Berryville home. The Byrd machine passed politically from father to son, Johnson appointed the first black U.S. Cabinet member, and U.S. Senator Willis Robertson (D-VA) lost Presidential favor. Virginia’s failure to comply with the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1954 Brown decision, Byrd Sr.’s co-authorship of the Southern Manifesto left many Civil Rights issues unresolved. “We regard the decision of the Supreme Court in the [bundled] school cases as a clear abuse of judicial power,” the Manifesto said. “It climaxes a trend in the Federal Judiciary undertaking to legislate…to encroach upon the reserved rights of the States and the people.” Virginia massively resisted Brown. In Alexandria, in 1966, the subject was integration of the all-white Thomas Jefferson Middle School. If integrated, the re-fashioned school, located at Cameron and N. West Streets, “would draw from nearby census tracts designated as ‘poverty stricken.’” The Rosemont neighborhood protested and the building was torn down. “Alexandria quietly is making plans for a model community-centered facility to replace its least integrated elementary school, Charles Houston,” The Washington Post reported in January 1968. “But present indications are that the new Jefferson-Houston Elementary School [K-5] will be as segregated as the old one.” “The new building is now on the drawing boards and expected to open in 1969,” The Post continued. It could provide an opportunity for the city to redraw attendance boundaries and promote integration, if it chooses…[but]…Alexandria school authorities have no plans to cross the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad tracts that have been the traditional boundary between the city’s Negro district and white, middle-class neighborhoods [like…
By Sarah Becker On September 24th, the long awaited Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture opens to the public. Its five acre site, located in the District of Columbia on Constitution Avenue between 14th and 15th Streets NW, is “a place where everyone can explore the story of America through the lens of the African American experience.” President George W. Bush gave his approval in 2003; President Barack Obama will cut the Saturday ribbon. “After 13 years of hard work, I am thrilled,” founding Director Lonnie G. Bunch III said. “The Museum is a place for all people. We are prepared to offer exhibitions and programs to unite and capture the attention of millions of people worldwide.” The $500 million museum opens with 11 inaugural exhibitions. The Museum’s more than 34,000 objects illustrate the major periods of African American history. All were acquired after 2003 and highlights include: an 1800s South Carolina slave cabin; Virginia slave and insurrectionist Nat Turner’s 1831 Bible; Maryland underground railway conductor Harriet Tubman’s 1876 hymnal; a 1920 segregation-era Southern Railway car, and pop-singer Michael Jackson’s 1992 fedora. The building’s exterior bronze finish contrasts sharply with the nearby George Washington Memorial’s white marble. It is intentional. Americans increasingly are People of Color and coexistence has not always come easily. George Washington’s adopted grandson, slave owner George Washington Parke Custis of Arlington House explains slavery as the “unhappy error of our forefathers.” The 400,000 square foot Museum stands five stories tall. Four additional stories are located underground. Among the building’s signature spaces: a water and light-filled Contemplative Court; a theater; café and store; an education center and library. The Museum’s educational standards are tied to Standards of Learning, standards which favor historical knowledge; its application, analysis and evaluation. Slave preacher Nat Turner’s…