I’ve been a resident of Albemarle County for more than 25 years and have occasionally been able to piece together little bits of Virginia’s history. It was maybe 10-15 years ago I learned of public school closings in the era of many of the landmark court cases you note here. I read of the Bell case in Jonah Goldberg’s “Liberal Fascism” and sought out the marker along Preston Ave commemorating that injustice. Having grown up in the 60s in Illinois, I was unaware of most of this carry in until the busing riots in Boston in the early 70s became national news. Our boys are native Virginians, born and bred in the Old Dominion and now at university in states further west. I would would bet they were never told anything of this history. It is a story that needs to be told, and if you’ve been telling it all along, I apologize for having not noticed before. But thank you for helping me understand the history in our adopted state, er I mean commonwealth.
Thanks for your response. I’d never heard the cat in the oven story, but I do have the same sense of being an outsider here. But as an Illinoisan, I’m a natural adversary, at least to older generations. Over the years I got used to regularly hearing that I was a Yankee, starting after moving to Texas in the late 70s. I gave in to the moniker and now when asked said that I reply that I came from the side that won. I think it’s funny, but I’ve discovered it isn’t a universal view. That said, I live in the south by choice. Thanks again.
I’ve been a resident of Albemarle County for more than 25 years and have occasionally been able to piece together little bits of Virginia’s history. It was maybe 10-15 years ago I learned of public school closings in the era of many of the landmark court cases you note here. I read of the Bell case in Jonah Goldberg’s “Liberal Fascism” and sought out the marker along Preston Ave commemorating that injustice. Having grown up in the 60s in Illinois, I was unaware of most of this carry in until the busing riots in Boston in the early 70s became national news. Our boys are native Virginians, born and bred in the Old Dominion and now at university in states further west. I would would bet they were never told anything of this history. It is a story that needs to be told, and if you’ve been telling it all along, I apologize for having not noticed before. But thank you for helping me understand the history in our adopted state, er I mean commonwealth.
Thanks for your response. I’d never heard the cat in the oven story, but I do have the same sense of being an outsider here. But as an Illinoisan, I’m a natural adversary, at least to older generations. Over the years I got used to regularly hearing that I was a Yankee, starting after moving to Texas in the late 70s. I gave in to the moniker and now when asked said that I reply that I came from the side that won. I think it’s funny, but I’ve discovered it isn’t a universal view. That said, I live in the south by choice. Thanks again.