BRIEFLY OPINIONATED
Biased assumptions leave Black people exasperated
Please, white America: Just stop it. Stop trying to put Black people in their “place.” Stop calling the police when African Americans have the temerity to refuse to show their ID – as if you are a law enforcement official. Black Virginians already have to deal with being stopped by actual police more than white […]
Can a suit tied to an 1870 law finally end Va.’s feudal felon rights restoration regimen?
The American Civil Liberties Union sued in federal court this week to void a provision in Virginia law that strips those convicted of felonies of their voting rights for life unless the governor intercedes to restore them. It’s the most recent attempt to end Virginia’s archaic, inequitable and monarchical system by which those who were […]
Youngkin tweet undermining the rule of law over Trump indictment betrayed his own winning formula
Is Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin so obsessed with pandering to his party’s Trumpist core — one he is careful not to romance too openly — that he feels the need to undermine the rule of law in defense of the first ex-president ever to be charged with federal felonies? A tweet from Youngkin’s gubernatorial account […]
Black men’s lower life expectancy a factor in starting Social Security
Black people know, intuitively, that we lag white Americans in a host of categories including health, wealth and living standards. So it was no surprise that, as The Washington Post reported, African American communities suffered an excess 1.6 million deaths compared with white populations over the past two decades. What shocked me, though, were these […]
GMU’s president is right to reject students’ call to cancel Youngkin’s commencement speech
I don’t know Gregory Washington, the president of George Mason University. I am not an alumnus of his school. To the best of my recall, I have never been on GMU’s campus in Fairfax. But I applaud Mr. Washington. He did what many leaders in academia are unwilling to do these days: He stood up […]
Irvo Otieno is gone; how many more Black people must die before real change comes?
Within the cavernous sanctuary of First Baptist Church of South Richmond on Wednesday, hundreds of mourners viewed a vignette of Irvo Otieno’s brief life. Photos and videos showed him sporting a wide grin alongside classmates and football buddies. His rich baritone voice rapped lyrics to a song he’d written about his love for his family. […]
Legislation forcing adults to keep guns out of kids’ hands is no threat to responsible gun owners
Raised, as I was, in deeply rural America, I grew up around guns. I treasured them for the same reason I loved fishing poles: they meant time spent hunting or fishing with my dad, granddad or uncle. Guns didn’t scare me because I respected them. I was taught early that they are not toys and […]
Credit company’s laxness jacked up my info; I got a lousy 5 bucks
Equifax’s financial mea culpa arrived in my mailbox the other day. I eagerly tore open the envelope the credit reporting firm sent me. Would the check be a cool $125, as the feds originally touted in helping reach the class-action settlement? Or, given the humongous number of claimants, something much, much less? The company’s […]
Miyares’ integrity unit is sop to election deniers
The state Attorney General’s Office doth protest too much. Victoria LaCivita, spokeswoman for Attorney General Jason Miyares, says the Virginia NAACP owes the office’s lawyers and other employees “an apology” for reputedly “groundless attacks” about starting a 20-person election integrity unit to root out voting irregularities. She and Miyares shouldn’t hold their breaths. The NAACP […]
Prior cowardice doesn’t mean courageousness now
Several Republican officials around the country, including at least two in Virginia, are now saying publicly the party should cut ties with or disavow Donald Trump, the former president and de facto boss of the GOP. Hooray for this “come to Jesus” moment. Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears and Del. Tim Anderson of Virginia Beach assailed […]
Give up your NFL team, Mr. Snyder
Washington’s NFL franchise – beset by investigations against the owner, complaints of a toxic culture in the front office and constant mediocrity on the field – wrote a bounced check for a 50-50 raffle it sponsored to support its charitable foundation. That’s a perfect metaphor for the Washington Commanders (former name a slur) under the […]
Blacks, others shouldn’t have to obliterate their presence to receive fair home value
Another case of likely racial discrimination in housing appraisals has cropped up, this time in Baltimore. The New York Times recently reported a Black husband and wife first received an appraisal of $472,000. After they “whitewashed” their home – removing family photos and having a White colleague stand in for them as the “owner” – […]