Tag: Diversity

Good stuff from the Commonwealth Institute: Representation Matters: Why and How Virginia Should Diversify its Teacher Workforce Strong relationships between students and their teachers are vital...

The following infographics, courtesy of VPAP, tell us a great deal about diversity - or lack thereof - in the Virginia Democratic and Republican...

Check out the following, thought-provoking public Facebook post by Sean Perryman (Fairfax County Democratic Committee Recording Secretary; Fairfax NAACP First Vice President), which I...

by Lowell Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, January 4. ‘They can do what they want’: Trump’s...

This piece is appearing in newspapers in my red congressional district (VA-06). ******************* The recent election in the United States showed a divide between rural areas,...

What, you ask, could the Fairfax County School Board's Republicans members have against affirming a resolution, passed unanimously by the Fairfax County Board of...

There's been a lot of discussion recently about this story: A group of Arlington high school students lambasted the county school board Thursday over a...

From Virginia Organizing:  Lee County, Va.—A recently released report from the Rural Power Project shows undemocratic election procedures resulting in disproportionate board representation in electrical...

Welcome to this twelve part series looking at the challenges, obstacles, and future possibilities of Virginia Democrats. Thank you for reading, look back at the past entries here: Day One, Competitive Districts. Day Two, Turnout Problems. Day Three, Past Mistakes. Day Four, Downstate Democrats. Day Five, Unchallenged Incumbents. Day Six, Present Opportunities. Day Seven, Democratic Trends. Day Eight, Swing Voters. Day Nine, 2021 Redistricting. Day Ten, Independent Redistricting. Thank you for reading.

On the eleventh day of Christmas, the Commonwealth of Virginia gave to me ...

A blueing electorate, increasingly racially diverse. While Virginia is growing fast enough to pick up an extra Congressional seat in 2020, it's also becoming less white. Projections from the Weldon Cooper Center at the University of Virginia show increasing shares of Hispanics and Asian-Americans across the Commonwealth through 2040.

It will take time, but there's an upside to this demographic trend. With each year, Virginia will become a little bit more diverse, some districts faster than others. Day by day, the younger, more diverse population will turn of age and join the ranks of the potential electorate.

Last night, I watched the Republican National Convention and thought to myself, "Is there an African-American, Latino, Asian or, for that matter, any minority in this audience? It has to be a 99% white." Should I be surprised by that fact?  No. But it is still startling to realize how small the constituency of the Republican Party has become. They have alienated immigrants, and African Americans, and gays, and women. There aren't too many more groups to alienate.

I was excited to have tickets to the Obama Rally in Charlottesville today.  My 15 year-old son, his friend Zach and I headed off to Charlottesville at 10:30 this morning for a projected 3:00 pm speech by the President.  One of the first things I noticed was the make up of the crowd.  There is no question that the President has the support of many, many people from all walks of life....young, old, white, black, Latino, Asian.   It was an audience filled with diversity, but more than diversity, the audience was friendly, humble and helpful.  

We went early enough and were therefore lucky enough to be on the front row with two other Dems from Nelson.  I said to the boys, "You are going to shake the President's hand today."  Of course, they looked at me as though I had two heads and had lost my mind.  We talked to our neighbors, listened, danced to the music and had a great experience.  When someone needed help, folks surrounding them responded.  If someone was walking with a cane, folks created a path, offered an arm.