Tag: Johnny Reb

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News

In brief: Biden defeats Trump, ’Hoos rank high, and more

In Washington, D.C., thousands flocked to Black Lives Matter Plaza—close to where federal agents teargassed protesters over the summer so Trump could take pictures holding a Bible—to celebrate Joe Biden's electoral victory. PC: Eze Amos

Bye-bye, Trump!

A quiet fall day on the Downtown Mall quickly turned into a party on Saturday morning as word spread that Joe Biden had won Pennsylvania, giving him enough electoral votes to win the presidential race.

People cheered and clapped in celebration of the Democrat’s long-awaited victory, while cars sporting Biden-Harris flags honked as they passed the mall.

Several hours later, community organizers Don Gathers and Katrina Turner led a last-minute victory rally at the free speech wall. Following several speeches from activists and community members, the crowd sang and danced, overjoyed at Donald Trump’s defeat.

“It is a historic moment. We now have a woman going into the executive office, and to put the cherry on that sundae, a Black woman,” said Gathers.

Celebrations erupted across the country as Biden’s win dominated headlines, sparking fireworks, parades, and other festivities.

In nearby Washington, D.C., thousands flocked to Black Lives Matter Plaza—close to where federal agents teargassed protesters over the summer so Trump could take pictures holding a Bible—waving flags, banging pots and pans, dancing, and popping champagne bottles amidst whoops and hollers. Others reveled in front of the fenced-off White House, later booing and flicking off Trump’s motorcade when he arrived back from hours on the golf course.

“Sha na na, hey hey, goodbye!” shouted the crowd at the White House.

Confederate time capsule

In September, Albemarle County removed the Confederate statue from in front of the courthouse, and in the process revealed a dented, waterlogged time capsule that had been filled with mementos and buried below the monument more than a century before.

Archivists at UVA library have now sifted through the time capsule’s contents. Most of the documents are unreadable, the paper not having survived “a century of immersion in dirty, acidic water,” the librarians wrote in a blog post. Other things did last, however, including three bullets that had been collected from a local battlefield. The capsule’s creators must have thought they were burying Confederate bullets, but modern historical analysis reveals that the bullets were in fact fired by Union guns.

                                                      PC: Eze Amos

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Quote of the week

“That man is gone! That’s it. Trump is gone.”

—community activist Katrina Turner, speaking to NBC29 during an impromptu Downtown Mall rally on Saturday

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In brief

Hopeful ’Hoos

UVA men’s basketball clocked in at No. 4 in the nation in the first AP preseason poll of the 2020-21 season. The Cavs are still, technically speaking, defending national champions. The team will look to build on a strong finish in last spring’s COVID-shortened season. UVA opens on November 25 with a neutral-site game against St. Peter’s.

Tragedy on 29

After being struck by a car on U.S. 29 last Tuesday evening, 23-year-old Marcos E. Arroyo died of his injuries at UVA hospital on Monday. He had been trying to cross the highway near the intersection of 29 and Twentyninth Place, close to Fashion Square Mall. Last year, 41-year-old Bradley Shaun Dorman also died after trying to cross 29 North near Gander Drive, highlighting the need for improved pedestrian infrastructure on the busy highway.

Free college

Piedmont Virginia Community College will use CARES Act funding to offer free spring tuition to those who’ve received unemployment benefits since August 1—or who’ve taken on a new part-time job that pays less than $15 per hour. The no-cost classes will apply to high-demand career areas, including early childhood education, health care, IT, and skilled trades. Students must enroll by December 14.

Military surveillance

Just days after The Washington Post published a scathing report last month on the “relentless racism” Black students and alumni faced at Virginia Military Institute, Governor Ralph Northam ordered a third-party investigation into the state-funded school. Last week, Northam pushed forward with the plan, adding $1 million to the proposed state budget for the probe. Lawmakers will review and approve budget revisions during this week’s special session.

Categories
Opinion

Poem on the Removal of the Statue of Johnny Reb

A crew removes Johnny Reb from his pedestal. PC: Eze Amos

By Gregory Orr

 

I won’t miss the way

Your bronze body

Froze

History into bitterness.

 

That spot you occupied

No longer radiates

Shadows

In every direction

Like a malign sundial

Designed to thwart

The slow

Progress of time.

 

Your absence: a form

Of hope,

a flat

And empty space

Where citizens stand

In a circle

And mark the hours

Of our town’s

Mortal

And peaceful clock.

Categories
News

In brief: Richardson steps down, Johnny Reb goes down, and more

A crew removes Johnny Reb from his pedestal. PC: Eze Amos

One down

Johnny Reb, the bronze Confederate soldier who has stood, musket in hand, outside the Albemarle County Courthouse since 1909, has been replaced by a patch of hay.

After the Unite the Right rally accelerated the national debate over Confederate monuments, Charlottesville finally took down one of our own. The Albemarle Board of Supervisors voted to remove Johnny Reb, officially known as “At Ready,” earlier this summer, and on Saturday morning a truck arrived to haul off the Lost Cause relic. A small crowd gathered to watch as the crew’s yellow ropes slowly lowered Johnny Reb off his pedestal.

The removal revealed a time capsule encased in concrete below the statue’s concrete plinth. Charlottesville Tomorrow found an old Daily Progress clipping in which the monument’s erectors declared that the capsule shall remain untouched “until the angel Gabriel shall put one foot on the land and one in the sea, and proclaim that ‘time shall be no more.’” Those plans went awry sometime in the course of the last 111 years—the capsule was breached by groundwater long ago, and when the Confederate relics contained within finally saw the light of day, they were so waterlogged as to be almost unrecognizable.

The time capsule buried below the “At Ready” statue is in bad shape after more than 100 years underground. PC: Eze Amos

UVA religious studies professor Jalane Schmidt, who has spent years researching Johnny Reb and lobbying for his removal, says “it was a relief” to see the statue come down. “It’s gratifying to see public opinion shift, especially among elected leaders,” she says.

Still, Schmidt has serious concerns about the monument’s future. As per the new law, these Confederate statues must be offered to a museum rather than just melted down. A dubious list of organizations volunteered to take Johnny Reb, including the Sons of Confederate Veterans. In the end, the Albemarle Board of Supervisors voted to send him to the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation, a New Market-based public history organization with a checkered record: In February, C-VILLE wrote a story about the foundation’s (unsuccessful) attempt to secure state funding for a Black history museum, despite the all-white board neglecting to consult any Black people about it. Last year, the foundation actually installed a new Confederate monument on a Winchester battlefield.

Schmidt says we’ve “disposed of our toxic waste” elsewhere, but that plan “doesn’t bode well for the disrupting of the transmission of Lost Cause narratives.”

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Quote of the week

“Our work is not done…The forces of destruction who didn’t want him to go are alive and well and in our midst.”

—UVA professor and activist Larycia Hawkins, at a ceremony held to cleanse and reclaim the former site of the Johnny Reb statue

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In brief

Richardson rolls out

City Manager Tarron Richardson, the most powerful individual in Charlottesville’s municipal government, resigned Friday afternoon. The move won’t come as a surprise to those who have followed his tenure here. Richardson, City Council, and other city officials have repeatedly clashed during budget discussions and in the course of regular business. After helming the city government for 16 months, Richardson’s severance package includes a year’s salary: $205,000. City Attorney John Blair will step in as interim while a search is conducted.

Clark conquered

UVA’s Board of Visitors voted this week to remove the statue of George Rogers Clark from the Corner. The monument, which shows Clark and his men attacking Native Americans, has been the site of several protests this summer—one activist even tried to saw Clark’s head off, but couldn’t make it through the metal neck. The BOV also agreed to strip the names of slaveholders Curry and Withers from university buildings and “contextualize” the Jefferson statue outside the Rotunda.

Voting begins

Early voting in Virginia begins this Friday, September 18. Get registered online or at the registrar’s office, grab your ID, and make your way to the polls as soon as possible. This is the big one, folks.

Categories
Coronavirus News

In brief: Johnny Reb’s coming down, Kanye’s off the ballot, and more

The infamous Johnny Reb statue in Court Square is finally coming down on September 12. PC: Staff photo

In brief

Officer arrested

Charlottesville police officer Jeffrey Jaeger was charged with misdemeanor assault and battery last week. The charges stem from a March 3 incident in which three officers, including Jaeger, who is white, arrested an unnamed Black defendant for being drunk in public. After showing body camera footage during the trial, the defendant was found not guilty. It’s the latest incident in a disturbing pattern for the Charlottesville police: In a separate episode in July, a CPD officer was caught on film violently arresting a homeless man on the Downtown Mall.

No more ballots in VA

Two weeks ago, allegations surfaced that the signatures rapper-entrepreneur Kanye West had collected to make the presidential ballot in Virginia had been gathered fraudulently. Last week, those allegations were confirmed, and a Virginia court booted West from the ballot. How could they be so heartless?

Save the date

After years of activist campaigns, Johnny Reb is finally coming down on September 12. The removal of the infamous Court Square statue, as well as the two cannons and stacked cannonballs, will be livestreamed on the Albemarle County Facebook page. The event will feature guest speakers. A handful of organizations with dubious motives, including the Sons of Confederate Veterans, have volunteered to rehouse the statue. 

Campus crises

COVID cases continue to rise at UVA. The school reported 227 total positive cases as of September 6, as well as six new hospitalizations this weekend. Thomas Jefferson Health District has reported 198 new cases in the last week. The New York Times reports that cases have spiked in 100 college towns since students returned, especially in the Midwest and South.

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Quote of the week

“[There’s] no real policy changes [coming], in that the system did work in the way that it is supposed to and it is designed to.”

—Charlottesville Police Chief RaShall Brackney after a CPD officer was charged for the assault and battery of a Black resident.

Categories
News

Reb on the run: Albemarle County votes to remove courthouse statue; Lee still stands

Johnny Reb's days outside the Albemarle County Courthouse are numbered. Staff photo.

Last Thursday, six days before the third anniversary of the Unite the Right rally, the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors voted 6-0 to remove the statue of a Confederate soldier, known as “Johnny Reb,” which stands outside the county courthouse.

The Board of Supervisors vote comes after the newly Democratic Virginia legislature narrowly passed laws allowing localities to move or remove war memorials. The Johnny Reb statue was protected by the war memorials restriction, even though it was installed during Reconstruction in 1909.

So far, Albemarle County has wasted no time. The new law went into effect on July 1, and the county held its vote shortly after the conclusion of a mandatory 30-day public comment period. Now, post-vote, the statue county is required to offer the statue to museums or historical societies for another 30 days before initiating the removal. The county will send the cranes in for Johnny Reb on September 6, at the earliest.

A number of residents spoke on behalf of the removal during the board’s meeting. The Charlottesville-Albemarle BAR Association threw its support behind the monument’s removal, as did Albemarle County Commonwealth’s Attorney Jim Hingeley.

In their comments about the monument, multiple supervisors cited the location—outside the courthouse—as a particularly harmful feature of the statue.

The statue, “symbolizing an effort to maintain a plantation society, slavery, and white supremacy, and the tools of a war fought against the United States, should not be collocated with our court facility,” said Board of Supervisors member Diantha McKeel.

In a virtual webinar last week, UVA religious studies professor and local public historian Jalane Schmidt spoke about the significance of the statue’s placement outside the courthouse.

“It begs the question of why we would have an image of the forces that tried to overthrow the United States Constitution on the lawn of the courthouse? Inside the courts, we’re supposed to all be treated equally under the rule of law of the U.S Constitution,” Schmidt said. “The Articles of Secession were specifically about rescinding the U.S. Constitution.”

Schmidt also pointed out that the statue does not possess any value as a piece of art, but rather is one of many bronze replicas scattered across the country.

Down the road from Johnny Reb, the Robert E. Lee statue at the heart of the Unite the Right rally still sits atop its pedestal in Market Street Park. The Unite the Right anniversary will not pass unacknowledged in that space, however, as a coalition of activist groups plans to gather in the park on August 12.

“We are done ceding this space to others,” a statement from the activists reads. “For a total of six hours, community members will be sharing food, making art, listening to the histories of resistance against fascism in Charlottesville, dancing, holding space with each other, listening to each other’s grief and rage.”

Charlottesville’s City Council must wait for the Supreme Court of Virginia to remove a remaining injunction left over from the original court case before it can begin the 60-day removal process for the Lee monument.

 

Categories
News

In brief: Black at STAB, a win for Webb, and more

Black alumni and students at the St. Anne's-Belfield School have anonymously shared their experiences online, including microaggressions from teachers and uses of racial slurs by other students. PC: Skyclad Aerial

Private protests

For decades, students in collared shirts and plaid skirts have strolled across St. Anne’s-Belfield’s well-manicured lawns. But even this historic bastion of prep has felt the effects of our transformative moment, at least in a small way.

After the murder of George Floyd, a group of STAB alumni, led by Sophia Hunt, created a petition with a list of demands for the administration, including publicly condemning racial violence, acknowledging the presence of racism in the community, hiring a full-time global diversity and inclusion officer, and diversifying the faculty, board of trustees, and student body.

Meanwhile, students have begun calling for change on the Instagram page @blackatstab. On the account, Black alumni and students have anonymously shared their experiences, including microaggressions from teachers and uses of racial slurs by other students.

When asked for a statement, STAB did not address the Instagram page, instead directing C-VILLE to an email in which the school says it’s “launching a series of dialogues within our entire community.”

STAB declined to release a detailed breakdown of its student body’s demographics, only sharing the statistic from its website that 32 percent of students are “of traditionally under-represented groups.” Elsewhere in town, The Covenant School’s student body is 87 percent white, and Tandem Friends School is 78 percent white. The city public school district is 42 percent white.

(The phenomenon isn’t unique to Charlottesville: Nationally, 69 percent of private school students are white, though just 51 percent of the country’s school-aged population is white, according to research from the University of California Los Angeles.)

Piper Holden, one of the STAB alums who started the petition, says she felt like the message was received. “But obviously this isn’t over,” she says. “I’m really hoping to see those changes. But we’re going to have to wait and see.” — Claudia Gohn

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Quote of the week

“November Cook Political rating: Lean R. But if
you’re looking for an upset, this is one to watch.”

—Election forecaster Dave Wasserman, on the race for Virginia’s 5th Congressional District

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In brief

Fireworks frenzy

People have been launching fireworks around town for weeks—and it’s not just happening in Charlottesville. In New York City, the fireworks have been so prevalent that conspiracy theories have started circulating about their origins. If you haven’t had your fill of fireworks, the city’s annual Fourth of July show hasn’t been canceled. But instead of gathering in McIntire Park, you’re advised to stay socially distant and look toward Carter Mountain, where the show will go on, beginning at 9:15pm on Saturday.

Dr. Cameron Webb PC: Supplied photo

Webb wins big

In case you haven’t heard, UVA doctor B. Cameron Webb picked up a landslide victory in last Tuesday’s primary for the Democratic nomination to represent the 5th District in the House of Representatives. If Webb beats Bob Good in November, he’ll be the first Black physician to serve in Congress. 

Absentee action

With the pandemic keeping people away from the polls, 49 percent of primary voters in Charlottesville cast absentee ballots last week. (In the March presidential primary, just 7 percent of local votes were absentee.) This election could be a valuable test run for a November contest that might see large numbers of absentee votes—in this election cycle, Virginians requested 118,174 absentee ballots and submitted 87,052 a return rated of 74 percent.

Johnny Reb on the run

Legislation allowing localities to remove or recontextualize Confederate monuments goes into effect today, July 1, and Albemarle County is wasting no time—the Board of Supervisors will discuss the removal of the Johnny Reb statue outside the county courthouse at its meeting this evening. The statue could legally come down as early as September. More hurdles still remain before Charlottesville can begin the same process.

Categories
News

In brief: People power, tech takeover, bye-bye bikes, and more

The old Monticello Dairy building will house at least two big tech companies. PC: Skyclad Aerial

People power

Opponents of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline scored a huge victory last week when the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals repealed Dominion Energy’s permit to build an invasive compressor station in Buckingham County’s historic Union Hill neighborhood.

“Today we showed that our community, our community’s history, and our community’s future matters more than a pipeline,” said Buckingham activist Chad Oba.

Union Hill became a flashpoint for the pipeline fight when activists began emphasizing the area’s long history. Free black people and former enslaved people founded the neighborhood just after the Civil War. The story of a historic community threatened by an energy monopoly attracted

Al Gore to speak in Buckingham last February. The former vice president called the pipeline a “reckless, racist rip-off.” 

“Environmental justice is not merely a box to be checked,” the court wrote in its decision. “The [Air Pollution Control] Board’s failure to consider the disproportionate impact on those closest to the Compressor Station resulted in a flawed analysis.”

Anti-pipeline groups have sought to slow down Dominion by tying up the project in litigation. The compressor station permit is one of many that pipeline opponents have contested. In the fall, the Supreme Court announced it would hear arguments about whether or not the pipeline could bisect the federally protected Appalachian Trail.

The strategy to slow the project seems to be working—Dominion’s initial estimates said the pipeline would be completed in 2019, but according to the Southern Environmental Law Center, less than 6 percent of the pipe has been laid in the ground so far.

Anti-pipeline protesters gathered in rural Buckingham County last year. PC: Friends of Buckingham County

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Quote of the Week

“This is my life, history. I returned to this area to make sure this story gets told correctly.”

—Calvin Jefferson, archivist and descendant of enslaved people at Monticello, speaking about his family at a panel event this week

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In Brief

You never forget how to ride a scooter

UBike, UVA’s languishing bike-sharing program, has been killed off by the e-scooter boom. The bikes have to be retrieved from and parked in specific docks, making them less convenient than the popular scooters. (Also less convenient: UBikes, unlike e-scooters, don’t have motors.)  

Moving in

PVCC, like other community colleges, is a commuter school—but that could change. As reported in The Daily Progress, plans to sell 17 acres the college owns off Avon Street Extended have been put on hold, as the Virginia Community College System State Board studies whether student housing could be a viable option for some of its community colleges.

Milking it

This town’s tech takeover continues: Two big companies recently signed leases in the Dairy Central office building/retail space currently under construction on Preston Avenue. CoStar, the world’s largest digital real estate company, and Dexcom, which makes diabetes monitoring systems, will together occupy 17,000 feet of office space at the intersection of Rose Hill and 10th and Page, two of Charlottesville’s historically black neighborhoods.

(More) statue drama

With the General Assembly potentially passing a law this year granting localities control over war memorials and monuments on their property, the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors is seeking public feedback on the future of the county’s Court Square, including its “Johnny Reb” statue. For the next six months, county staff will hold community conversations and “listening sessions” about the space, as well as conduct public tours, reports The Daily Progress. The Office of Equity and Inclusion’s equity working group will draft options for the future of the property, which the BOS will consider in June.

Categories
News

In brief: Robo designated driver, Thanksgiving casualties, Bigfoot erotica and more

Tony will soon be cruising the streets of Crozet. Courtesy Albemarle County

Tony the self-driving shuttle

Perrone Robotics cranked up the driverless vehicle heat last week with the awkwardly acronymed Tony—TO Navigate You—which will soon be autonomously tooling around Crozet.

In a partnership with Albemarle County and JAUNT—Jefferson Area UNited Transportation, another awkward acronym—Perrone will test drive the shuttle near its facility in Crozet before it begins an official route in March, and JAUNT will lend its transit expertise.

Albemarle is ponying up $238,000 for the vehicle, Perrone $271,000 and JAUNT $108,000 for insurance and a trained operator, who will be onboard as an “ambassador,” but be prepared to step in if the six-seater needs a real driver.

The fixed route in Crozet has not yet been determined. May we suggest a pub crawl route from Starr Hill Brewery to Crozet Pizza to Pro Re Nata?

Quote of the week

“Quite honestly, if people don’t want a successful governor and a good representative of his constituents to come to speak at the University of Virginia, I don’t give a damn.”—Robert Andrews, chair of UVA’s College Republicans, on hosting George Allen, whose past racial insensitivity—including the infamous 2006 “macaca” moment—drew concern from minority student leadership, the Cav Daily reports

In brief

Councilors want raise

Mayor Nikuyah Walker wants to ask the General Assembly to allow City Council to change its charter and determine its own salaries. Currently councilors make $18,000, and the mayor gets $20,000, which limits who can afford to serve. Council will hold a public hearing at its December 3 meeting.

Toscano not Pelosi-ing

Delegate David Toscano, the Virginia House minority leader, says he’ll resign the leadership position after the 2019 session because it takes too much time. Toscano, 68, has led the Dems since 2011, and says he’ll still seek reelection to the 57th District.

Uninviting Johnny Reb

After a petition to remove another local Confederate monument from Court Square—one that this time falls on county property and is dubbed Johnny Reb—the Albemarle Board of Supervisors has asked for legislation that would allow it to move the statue.

Uninviting Mike Signer

Members of the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission want City Councilor Mike Signer off its board after they say he missed their past four meetings. In an email to the Daily Progress, Signer said his 4-year-old twins and other family members have kept him busy, and that councilors frequently miss their engagements. Wrote Signer, “Mayor Walker, for instance, has missed several council meetings this year.”

More Bigfoot jokes

“Saturday Night Live” actor Mikey Day threw on a taupe jacket and colored his hair gray November 17 as he took on the persona of 5th District Representative Denver Riggleman, who’s gotten plenty of national attention for being an alleged “devotee to Bigfoot erotica.” Said Day as Riggleman, “As I’ve said 500 times before, that picture was a joke between buds, and I’m not into that stuff.”

Caregiver con

Former caretaker Tia Daniels will serve three years in jail for stealing over $12,000 worth of heirloom jewelry and money from 98-year-old Albemarle woman Evelyn Goodman. Daniels also duped the elderly woman’s daughter into giving her money for a Habitat for Humanity house by creating fake correspondence with the charity, according to Albemarle Commonwealth’s Attorney Robert Tracci.

Deadly Thanksgiving

The Charlottesville Fire Department is hoping to keep holiday cooks across the city from burning their houses down while preparing their turkey and pumpkin pies.

“Thanksgiving is the peak day for home cooking fires,” when nearly four times as many occur than on any other day, according to a press release sent by Battalion Chief Joe Phillips.

Fire crews across the nation respond to an estimated 172,100 cooking-related fires per year, for an average of 471 per day. These easily avoided incinerations have caused an average number of 530 deaths, 5,270 injuries, and $1 billion in property damage each year, according to Phillips.

City firefighters encouraging holiday cooks to keep flammable items like oven mitts and towels away from the stovetop, wear short sleeves or roll up their sleeves while in the kitchen, always have a properly fitting lid nearby to smother flames coming from a pot or pan, and, in the case of an oven fire, turn the heat off and keep the oven door closed so flames don’t spread.

And deep-fried turkeys can be deadly as well. The National Fire Protection Safety Association discourages the use of the hot-oil devices, which it says kills five people, injures 60, and destroys 900 homes a year.