Category: The Editor’s Desk

A week ago, federal health officials warned that the spread of coronavirus in the U.S. was inevitable, and that Americans should prepare for the possible shutdown of schools and other institutions. President Trump then contradicted those warnings, saying the virus was “very well under control in our country.” A few days later, he cast concern about the virus as a political ploy by Democrats, calling it “their new hoax.”

Since then, identified cases in the U.S. have risen from 57 to more than 200 in 18 states, and 12 people have died.* Most of the deaths were in Washington state, where the virus appears to have been circulating locally for weeks undetected. The confirmed case of a Florida man who had not traveled to or had contact with anyone from the hardest-hit countries indicates that COVID-19 may also be spreading locally in that state, and Florida officials declared a public health emergency.

At press time, there were no known cases of COVID-19 in Virginia, and health officials in Charlottesville say long-standing preparations for other flu pandemics have well positioned them to handle any potential outbreak. At the moment, the biggest local impact may be felt in the form of cancelled travel plans: UVA has asked its students studying abroad in Italy to return home and WorldStrides has relocated planned programs in some affected countries.

Meanwhile, as Virginia primary voters head to the polls, it’s a good time to see painter Robert Shetterly’s “Americans Who Tell the Truth” exhibit, now on view at several sites around town.

“So much depends on an individual who refuses to give in,” says Shetterly, who has painted nearly 250 portraits of truth-tellers, and recently added local residents Zyahna Bryant, John Hunter, and David Swanson to the series.

Perhaps Dr. Anthony Fauci, longtime director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who has steered the country through numerous disease outbreaks, should be next on Shetterly’s list.

“You don’t want to go to war with a president,” Fauci told news website POLITICO on Friday, explaining his refusal to downplay the potential impact of coronavirus. “But you got to walk the fine balance of making sure you continue to tell the truth.”

*Updated 3/5 to reflect the rapidly increasing number of identified cases and deaths; live updates here.

Less than a week after county resident Richard Allan was arrested and charged with two felonies for stealing Court Square’s modest slave auction block marker, The New York Times Magazine ran a new story from its 1619 Project on the issue of slave-sale sites nationwide, and how inadequately we commemorate the horrific tragedies that happened in these places.

As SUNY Binghamton professor Anne C. Bailey writes, “Family was one of the few bright spots in the long night of slavery, and the auction was the event that ripped enslaved families apart.”

The article notes that only a small percentage of these sites have been properly documented and preserved. “To look at some of these images,” Bailey writes of the accompanying photographs of slave-sale sites today, “is to grasp how invisible some of American history’s most grievous wounds have become.”

In Charlottesville, Allan’s theft galvanized ongoing discussions by the city’s Historic Resources Committee to create a more prominent slave auction memorial. And the county is hosting community conversations on the broader issue of how history is told in Court Square, which includes the county-owned monument to Confederate soldiers that dwarfed the city’s markers to Albemarle’s formerly enslaved majority.

These are positive steps, and Charlottesville has done better, more inclusive work than many other areas in Virginia in beginning to acknowledge its African American history. But whatever new memorials emerge, it will only be the beginning.

On Monday, Times reporter Nikole Hannah-Jones, the originator of the 1619 Project, came to Charlottesville for talks with UVA President Jim Ryan and journalist Jamelle Bouie, and said acknowledging the legacy of slavery is only the first step. “Courage is in the doing,” she said, in a call for universities to go beyond studying these issues and provide monetary reparations. “The courage is in trying to repair that damage.”

Richard Allan III, who has the long white ponytail and gentle manner of an old-school hippie, came to our office on Friday afternoon to confess. Before he allowed himself to be turned in to the police, he wanted to explain, for the record, why he’d pried the slave auction block marker out of the sidewalk in Court Square, and made sure it could “not be recovered.” And he wanted to talk face to face.    

The outrage comes quick these days; social media, especially Twitter, doesn’t lend itself to nuanced thinking, and people are seldom offered the benefit of the doubt. But Allan’s decision, both impetuous and years in the making, to simply remove the plaque from the sidewalk and throw it in the James River, seemed to resist knee-jerk reaction.

The marker was most notable for the contrast it showed between the way the Confederacy, which fought to preserve slavery, is memorialized in Court Square (with a statue of a Rebel soldier atop a 25-foot-tall column, flanked by cannons), versus the paltry recognition granted to the enslaved majority who built this area, via this small plaque in the sidewalk and a nearly illegible marker on a building nearby.

Which is to say, it was beloved by no one.

A project to create better signage in Court Square has been in place since 2011, according to the city’s assistant historic design planner. Allan says he was told in 2014 that better, more legible signs were in the works. The Blue Ribbon Commission, in 2016, recommended both replacing the existing marker and building a new memorial to enslaved laborers.

Sometimes change comes painfully slowly, after years of steady effort, as this week’s feature on abolishing Virginia’s death penalty shows.

Days after meeting Allan, I’m still not sure what to think about his actions, but I can relate to his impatience. Allan was tired of waiting.

The news is bad. I don’t mean any news in particular, though you can insert the latest crisis you’re most concerned about here (the extension of Trump’s racist travel ban, which has already affected more than 135 million people, including many families split between continents? The gutting of the Clean Water Act? The refusal of almost every Republican senator to even pretend to carry out their constitutional duty in investigating a potential abuse of power by the president?). As musician and artist Laurie Anderson recently put it, “I wake up every morning full of dread and disbelief.”

Anderson’s survival strategy is reading, which I heartily endorse. But there’s also solace to be found in one another. On a local level, neighbor to neighbor, we have the opportunity every day to create the kind of community we want to see. This week, we bring you a handful of stories of residents who are making our city a little kinder, from supporting new moms to paying a stranger’s grocery bill. We hope they will not only make you smile, but also inspire your own acts of kindness.

Working to affect positive structural change, both locally, and nationally, is as important as ever. But let’s make sure to take care of each other along the way.

We all need good health care, but too many Americans don’t get it, and a big part of the reason is its crippling expense: Despite strong employment, the number of people without health insurance has grown under President Trump, to 27.5 million in 2018. And even for those who have insurance, high deductibles and limited coverage can discourage people from seeking the care they need, and health emergencies can be disastrous: A recent study found that more than half a million families declare bankruptcy each year due to medical bills they can’t pay.

Our area, of course, isn’t immune to these problems (see the recent scandal over UVA suing patients for unpaid bills). But the state legislature’s 2018 decision to extend Medicaid coverage is already making a big impact. And here in Charlottesville, plenty of people and organizations—including at UVA—have stepped up to help those at risk of falling through the cracks. This week, for our annual health issue, we look at local efforts to extend care to some of our most underserved residents.

That includes everyone from new moms (with physical therapy that should be routine, but isn’t) to new arrivals (with a UVA family medicine clinic designed for refugees). The Charlottesville Free Clinic tackles a significant health care gap, providing free services to those who make too much to qualify for Medicaid but too little to afford health insurance. The Women’s Initiative offers free mental health care. And a new clinic at The Haven brings walk-in treatment to people experiencing homelessness.   

Like the Habitat for Humanity program we write about this week, these efforts speak to our community’s generosity, and they make a huge difference for the people they reach. But they also make clear that our health care system, like our housing system, is in dire need of repair. Help is always welcome, but there’s no substitute for systemic change.

Some places get a hold on you, and you never recover. This week, our Q&A asking how the place you’re from has shaped you, garnered the most responses from ex-New Yorkers.

As a Jersey girl-turned-diehard New Yorker myself, this is easy to understand. Growing up, “the city” was the center of the universe, the place where my father worked in a tall black tower, where we went on school field trips to magical places like the natural history museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Twelve years of living there as an adult only confirmed this utterly provincial belief.

But for my daughters, it will be different, being raised in this beautiful, quiet, landlocked place, with rivers instead of the sea, and mountains instead of skyscrapers. Maybe the riot of dogwood blossoms in the spring, or the intense green and thick humidity of a central Virginia summer, will always feel like home to them, 50 years from now, no matter where they are.   

A deep connection to land, place, and home pervades many of the Indigenous Australian art shows on view this winter, right here in Charlottesville. From the other side of the world come deeply felt works that draw on distinct cultures, from traditional pieces like the larrakitj (memorial poles) on view at The Fralin to modern twists like Brian Robinson’s prints juxtaposing Island motifs with classical figures and global pop culture references.

That seven such shows will be on view simultaneously is a rare occurrence, and a special gift—a glimpse into other worlds. Be sure to take a look.