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.
Glad it helped you to understand. Illinois is not the only reason you didn't hear about this. My mother, born in Southside Virginia in 1922, LOVED history, and from age 80 to age 91 was an historical tour guide on the battlefields of Petersburg, VA. In the late 1990s, I showed her a film on Virginia's eugenic sterilization program. She was horrified and asked, "Why didn't they teach us about this in school?" I said, "You know why they didn't," and, after a pause, she slowly nodded.
As for your boys, my grandfather came to Virginia from Europe around 1900. He was a pillar of the community (and unfortunately died 18 years before I was born.) But as a kid, born and bred in Southside Virginia, just like Mom, I still always felt like a newcomer, just off the boat.
There's an OLD joke told about True Vermonters. A New Yorker who resettled in Vermont long ago was complaining to his farmer/neighbor about his sense of being an outsider. "I've been here 28 years, and I'm still considered a New Yorker. That bothers the hell out of me. At least my kids were born here and will be considered Vermonters." ... ... His Vermont farmer/neighbor stared forward for a moment, chewed on his cheek, shook his head a little, and then answered. "Mmmm. Just cause the cat goes into the oven to have her kittens don't make 'em come out muffins."
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.
My wife, a lifelong New Yorker till we moved back to Virginia to raise our kid, was a librarian, working with Real Southerners near my hometown. One day, she commented that our son was getting an endless dose of Civil War history in middle school, as had for several years prior to that. She commented to some co-workers that the war was important, that we had thoroughly enjoyed the Ken Burns series, but that our schools go overboard with that particular piece of history. One of her co-workers asked, "Well how much Civil War history did you get in New York?" Wife said, "About a week. We won."
On the other hand, a colleague of mine whose kids were in school in Northern New Jersey told me, "I honestly think that, as a result of their school's emphasis in history, that they know more about Garibaldi's unification of Italy than they do about the Civil War."
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.
Glad it helped you to understand. Illinois is not the only reason you didn't hear about this. My mother, born in Southside Virginia in 1922, LOVED history, and from age 80 to age 91 was an historical tour guide on the battlefields of Petersburg, VA. In the late 1990s, I showed her a film on Virginia's eugenic sterilization program. She was horrified and asked, "Why didn't they teach us about this in school?" I said, "You know why they didn't," and, after a pause, she slowly nodded.
As for your boys, my grandfather came to Virginia from Europe around 1900. He was a pillar of the community (and unfortunately died 18 years before I was born.) But as a kid, born and bred in Southside Virginia, just like Mom, I still always felt like a newcomer, just off the boat.
There's an OLD joke told about True Vermonters. A New Yorker who resettled in Vermont long ago was complaining to his farmer/neighbor about his sense of being an outsider. "I've been here 28 years, and I'm still considered a New Yorker. That bothers the hell out of me. At least my kids were born here and will be considered Vermonters." ... ... His Vermont farmer/neighbor stared forward for a moment, chewed on his cheek, shook his head a little, and then answered. "Mmmm. Just cause the cat goes into the oven to have her kittens don't make 'em come out muffins."
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.
My wife, a lifelong New Yorker till we moved back to Virginia to raise our kid, was a librarian, working with Real Southerners near my hometown. One day, she commented that our son was getting an endless dose of Civil War history in middle school, as had for several years prior to that. She commented to some co-workers that the war was important, that we had thoroughly enjoyed the Ken Burns series, but that our schools go overboard with that particular piece of history. One of her co-workers asked, "Well how much Civil War history did you get in New York?" Wife said, "About a week. We won."
On the other hand, a colleague of mine whose kids were in school in Northern New Jersey told me, "I honestly think that, as a result of their school's emphasis in history, that they know more about Garibaldi's unification of Italy than they do about the Civil War."