Virginians continue to reap what they sowed by electing faux moderate Bob McDonnell as Governor of Virginia. In addition to the hugely publicized elimination of employment protections for gay state employees in his new Executive Order (it is virtually all over the Internet), McDonnell has also tipped his hand as to the latent racism so prevalent in Virginia's GOP establishment and party base. How so? McDonnell has targeted for closure a state park which was once the only state park which allowed blacks to visit - even though other parks have had lower attendance and this park remains hugely popular with black Virginians. Sadly, McDonnell's move mirrors the undercurrent of racism that I believe prevails within the national GOP where blacks and Hispanics and other minorities are not deemed "real Americans." McDonnell has been in office less than two months and his actions so far bode for a very bleak four years for Virginia. Voters across the USA need to watch what happens in Virginia under McDonnell because it is a harbinger of what the national GOP would like to inflict on the nation as a whole. Here are highlights from the Virginian Pilot.*
One of the five state parks Gov. Bob McDonnell wants to close to save money has a singular distinction in Virginia history - it contains what once was the state's lone blacks-only park. And growing awareness of that fact has caused some legislators to call for rejecting that aspect of the governor's recommendation in efforts to narrow a $2.2 billion state budget shortfall.
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"It's going to be problematic for that to get passed," Norfolk Democratic Del. Kenny Alexander said of the proposal to shutter Twin Lakes State Park in Prince Edward County. Alexander, chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus, said he expects his group to include the park in a statement it plans to issue next week about budget priorities.
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[I]n 1950. . . state officials established Prince Edward State Park for Negroes in response to a lawsuit from a black citizen who had been denied admission to another state park. Venerated civil rights attorney Oliver W. Hill Sr. spearheaded that lawsuit, . . . To this day, Twin Lakes remains popular among African American visitors, many of whom hold family reunions there, explained local historian Lacy Ward Jr., director of the Robert Russa Moton Museum in nearby Farmville.
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While more than one-third of Virginia's 35 state parks had fewer visitors than Twin Lakes' 102,000 last year and the park's nearly $2.4 million economic impact is greater than some others, . . . McDonnell administration officials say the selected parks were included in the proposed budget cuts based on "objective criteria."
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Virginia has a long and sordid history of discrimination - something that Bob McDonnell seems intent on continuing under his regime. Virginia is for Lovers as long as they are white, straight, and preferably evangelical Christians and far right Roman Catholics. The rest of us are more or less not welcome.
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"It's going to be problematic for that to get passed," Norfolk Democratic Del. Kenny Alexander said of the proposal to shutter Twin Lakes State Park in Prince Edward County. Alexander, chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus, said he expects his group to include the park in a statement it plans to issue next week about budget priorities.
*
[I]n 1950. . . state officials established Prince Edward State Park for Negroes in response to a lawsuit from a black citizen who had been denied admission to another state park. Venerated civil rights attorney Oliver W. Hill Sr. spearheaded that lawsuit, . . . To this day, Twin Lakes remains popular among African American visitors, many of whom hold family reunions there, explained local historian Lacy Ward Jr., director of the Robert Russa Moton Museum in nearby Farmville.
*
While more than one-third of Virginia's 35 state parks had fewer visitors than Twin Lakes' 102,000 last year and the park's nearly $2.4 million economic impact is greater than some others, . . . McDonnell administration officials say the selected parks were included in the proposed budget cuts based on "objective criteria."
*
Virginia has a long and sordid history of discrimination - something that Bob McDonnell seems intent on continuing under his regime. Virginia is for Lovers as long as they are white, straight, and preferably evangelical Christians and far right Roman Catholics. The rest of us are more or less not welcome.
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