There might have been a great debate in the Virginia House of Delegates at a recent session. The debaters were fired up, ready to go. The topic was a barn burner. Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s racially divisive election campaign had left a bad taste in many a mouth, and this was the time and place to clear the palate.
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Del. Don Scott, a Democrat, began by mentioning “critical race theory,” almost as a taunt to Republicans. Youngkin had claimed that CRT could make some White children feel like “racists” and “oppressors,” and make Black children feel like “victims.”
“I understand you have found a winning issue, critical race theory, once again using the old southern strategy to use race as a wedge issue,” Scott said. “I would ask you to be very careful about continuing to use this kind of language in an attempt to rally your base.”
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Someone groaned.
Del. Nick Freitas, a Republican, rose to rebuke, saying he’d heard enough of that kind of race talk.
“Almost every day, someone on the other side of the aisle gets up and either subtly or comes right out and suggests that if you don’t agree with them on policy, well, then … you’re a racist,” Freitas said. “And there have been a lot of times we’ve sat here politely and just took it. Mr. Speaker, not this time.”
Youngkin says he's 'having a ball,' defends actions as living up to campaign promises
That should have been the start of a let’s-get-it on-for-however-long-it-takes debate. When it comes to dealing with the unfinished business of race, few places cry out for a redoubled effort more than the Virginia General Assembly. From the earliest years of its founding — in Jamestown, 1619 — and for more than two centuries after that, this legislature served as legal architect for institutionalized slavery in America.
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But the delegates were speaking extemporaneously, having been granted points of personal privilege to speak freely for only a few minutes each. They didn’t have time to note the historical context. Not even the gains made since those post-Reconstruction era losses, such as having Black and White delegates working together again.
The debate, though brief, did offer a reminder that there are ways to make a point other than texting and tweets.
On Feb. 1, Youngkin tweeted an invitation to “celebrate” Black History Month.
Sen. Louise Lucas, a Democrat who is president pro tempore of the Virginia Senate, and Black, tweeted back, “You want to do Black History Month after you set up a hotline to report any teachers who taught Black History? Hell no.”
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They could have debated that, too.
The views of the two delegates were important because they reflected such distinctly different political districts.
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Scott is a Black lawyer and former Navy lieutenant. He represents the Portsmouth area, located just across the water from Old Point Comfort in Hampton in the Tidewater region. The Point is where the first enslaved Africans arrived in August 1619.
For his constituents, 1619 is not just a number but a historical fact with an address, verifiable by sight. The date is the start of a 403-year timeline on which hangs the tragedies and triumphs of enslaved Africans and the millions of their African American descendants.
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“Mr. Speaker, I’m going to implore us to stop using Black people and critical race theory as political tools and start governing,” Scott said. “We are tired of it. It’s getting frustrating. We would like to see the body move forward without using Black folks as props in your quest to retain power.”
Freitas is a former Army sergeant. He represents Culpeper, which is located in the north central part of the state, just east of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Culpeper is the birthplace of Confederate general A.P. Hill and, perhaps even more consequential, the home of D. French Slaughter Jr., who held Freitas’s seat in the House of Delegates from 1958 to 1978.
An unrepentant racial segregationist and loyal lieutenant in the Harry F. Byrd machine, Slaughter helped lead the “massive resistance” campaign against school integration during the 1950s. Some schools were ordered closed rather than integrate — leaving many Black students without a formal education for as long as five years. Culpeper’s school system was one of the last in the state to integrate.
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“I don’t know a single person in this chamber that I would define as racist or sexist or bigoted,” Freitas said. “We have very different ideas about how to get to particular end states where all Virginians can be happy, healthy, prosperous and free.”
He made a point of showing how parents know that “critical race theory,” is being taught in schools, even though it is a college-level concept, and what happens when they report it.
“You had a lot of parents coming to their local elected officials asking questions about what was going on in their schools,” Freitas said. “And the initial response was, ‘Oh, it’s not there.’ [Meaning critical race theory]. And then when they saw evidence that it was based on what their kids were coming home and saying to them, and they went back and reissued the concern, then they were told, ‘Oh well, then you must be a racist.’”
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Freitas was cheered enthusiastically by the Republican majority.
Scott had been booed but held his own with a sharp retort, “I know the truth hurts, I don’t want to make you cry,” as the room was gaveled back to order.
Back at his office, Scott had a visitor. It was Youngkin. They met behind closed doors for 30 or 40 minutes. But neither commented afterward on the substance of their talk.
Sorry, secret talks don’t count.
The debate question remained unresolved, and just as urgent: Will lawmakers work to end racial divisiveness — or continue to exploit it for political gain?