‘It’s time for the dominant culture to listen’

There are several editorials by Sheila Gresinger, [former U.S. congressman] Ben Jones, and statements from [county resident] Bill Fletcher and [commonwealth’s attorney] Art Goff that have appeared in the news lately that I'll be addressing, because one issue actually does affect the other.

I won't reiterate what I've already written about Black Lives Matter, but regarding Gresinger's comments, let's not get it twisted, George Floyd's death was a “tipping point” if you will, for where we find ourselves today. The BLM Rally in Rappahannock wasn't “the issue that has torn the country, and now our county, apart.”

The country and the county have always had an issue that was tearing everything apart since its inception, and that is racism. Black people in this country have never, including today, been seen as “equal” to everyone else in the eyes of many of the dominant culture. Remember, the U.S. Constitution stated Blacks were considered “3/5ths” of a White person? That didn’t start with George Floyd.

Gresinger referenced the rally poster, with the raised clenched fist. It was designed by a young Black woman, Hope Dunn, who grew up in Rappahannock; the design was stunning in concept and simply beautiful. In the Black community, the raised clenched fist is a sign of unity as explained by one of the rally speakers.

Let's be clear, the dominant culture doesn't get to control the narrative and tell the oppressed how to protest, when to protest, or what it should look like. Colin Kaepernick tried a silent protest, remember? People laughed and ridiculed him too. The frustration of oppression is maddening. It’s time for the dominant culture to listen.

Gresinger stated there wasn't much hope that came out of the rally. I disagree. Five hundred citizens (and many more online supporters; they said so) showed up at Eldon Farms to protest peacefully. The negative rumors were just that, negative rumors. The people, in solidarity, proclaimed Black Lives Matter. There's hope in that.

Regarding Jones' editorials continuing to support the confederate monuments, etc., here's a personal story for illustration purposes. All of us, I mean all of us, have some thing(s) in our past that we're not particularly proud of. For instance, my great uncle founded a church in Rappahannock and was its first pastor. At some point, my uncle and the church parted ways. My uncle demanded that the church pay him a certain sum of money to get rid of him. The church agreed.

So, am I proud of my uncle? Yes and no. It's conflicting. I'm proud he had the vision and fortitude to found this church, however, I don't celebrate the terms of how he left, or think a statute should be erected to honor him. I'd be “romanticizing” facts. And, it doesn’t “erase” the historical fact that he founded the church, yet, I have to face the truth and the facts.

Jones, Fletcher and Goff want to ignore the facts about the confederacy and the monuments, and believe that the south fought for “states' rights” and a “noble cause.” This “romanticizes” historical facts. Confederates fought on the wrong side of history. The south lost. What would my Black life be if the south had actually won?

Confederates were traitors to their own country and fought to enslave other people who look like me. It's despicable, but true. In his editorial, Ira Chaleff hits the nail on the head when he describes Jones’ statements as “diametric opposition” to the confederate’s constitution.

Finally, a thank you to Jones for signing the legislation to place the MLK memorial on the Mall. Not that MLK is perfect, but he fought, peacefully, on the right side of history; that is equal rights for all. In his most famous of speeches, he called out, 'let freedom ring from Stone Mountain, Georgia,’ the mountainside stone carving of Lee, Jackson and Davis. In his lifetime, I don’t think MLK could conceive that monuments to confederates would be brought down as we've seen in recent weeks; I'm sure he's smiling about that fact now.