See below for an excellent speech by Del. Jeff Bourne (D-Richmond), delivered earlier this afternoon on the floor of the VA House of Delegates, as Black History Month comes to a close. As VAPLAN/Cindy summarized:
Del. Bourne “says Gov Youngkin’s report released last Friday eliminating all curriculum mentioning equity is an ‘attempt to erase our history…It is an assault on Black history’…’We teach black history as if it’s a box to check on our list of things to do,’ says @JeffMBourne. But it’s important that kids in school learn ‘not only about Black figures’ like Harriet Tubman and MLK, ‘but also about the complexity of race and Blackness in America’…’When people ask me if it’s personal, this is why!’ @JeffMBourne says, pointing to his son clinging in his mom’s arms the day they visited the Marcus-David Peters monument. ‘It’s uncomfortable hearing this, but we need to reckon with these truths every day not just in February’.”
Also, great points by Del. Bourne about “the still ever-present systemic and institutionalized racism that continues to pervade our society,” how we “can’t afford to go back,” about how “Black folks in particular don’t have the privilege of treating what happens in this room and on this Capitol Square purely as a policy discussion…there’s no way for it NOT to be personal.” Exactly!
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