Richmond Free Press © 2021 Paradigm Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.
VOL. 30 NO. 23
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA
www.richmondfreepress.com
Stay or go? By Jeremy M. Lazarus
The fate of the giant statue of slavery-defending Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee that has loomed over Monument Avenue for more than 130 years now rests with the seven justices of the Virginia Supreme Court. The court has scheduled arguments for next Tuesday, June 8, on lawsuits questioning the authority of the state to remove the
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How Richmonders celebrated Memorial Day B2
JUNE 3-5, 2021
The Virginia Supreme Court will hear arguments next Tuesday on whether Gov. Ralph S. Northam has the authority to remove the Monument Avenue statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee
symbol of white supremacy from property owned by the state. The cases involve two sets of litigants seeking to block Gov. Ralph S. Northam from getting rid of the monument. The plaintiffs challenging the governor already have lost in Richmond Circuit Court. However, until the hearing is held, the state’s highest court has refused to dissolve an injunction imposed by the lower court barring Gov. Northam from removing the Lee statue.
In 1889, the General Assembly authorized the governor to accept ownership of the land and the statue on behalf of the state; the statue was installed in 1890 at Allen and Monument avenues. The justices, who agreed during the winter to take up the cases involving the statue’s future, apparently held off oral arguments to avoid having an impact on the Democratic primary Please turn to A4
Below, from left, Hughes Van Ellis, 100; Lessie Benningfield Randle, 106; and Viola Fletcher, 107, the oldest living survivor of the Tulsa Race Massacre and older sister of Mr. Van Ellis, attend the Black Wall Street Legacy Festival on May 28 in Tulsa, Okla. Left, this photo shows the ruins of Dunbar Elementary School and the Masonic Hall in the aftermath of the June 1, 1921, race massacre in Tulsa.
Department of Special Collections, McFarlin Library, University of Tulsa via AP
‘I have lived through the massacre every day’ Free Press staff, wire report
TULSA, Okla. She was just 7 years old when the white mob stormed through her neighborhood, killing every man they could find, raping defenseless women and burning to the ground virtually every building in a 35-block area. Now 107, Viola Fletcher is the oldest of the three living survivors of the deliberate racehatred fueled destruction 100 years ago of the Greenwood community, the Black section of Tulsa, Okla. Richmond’s Black community, located 1,200 miles east, was spared the kind of terror that hit Greenwood, a two-day massacre May 31 and June 1, 1921, that left hundreds dead and which is now regarded as the largest and most horrific of the largely forgotten white mob
Polls open Tuesday, June 8, for Democratic primary Free Press staff report
Voters are in the midst of choosing the Democratic standard bearers who will run for state and local offices in the fall election, with the nomination contests to be settled by a primary election Tuesday, June 8. At stake: The selection of Democratic nominees for governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general, as well as for local offices and party nominees for the House of Delegates. Primaries also are being held in four districts in the state to choose Republican nominees for House of Delegate seats. In Richmond, voters will help decide Democratic candidates for the statewide races,
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Polly Irungu/Reuters
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Monthly food distribution program launches in Henrico By George Copeland Jr.
Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press
A real splash Donovan Pelletier, 2, plays in the kiddie pool at the city’s Randolph Pool on Grayland Avenue in the West End. The toddler was enjoying Memorial Day with his mother, siblings and friends. Please see more Memorial Weekend photos, B2.
A new monthly curbside food distribution effort began last Saturday at Quioccasin Middle School in Henrico County, drawing long lines of people in their vehicles despite the intense rainfall. Protected from the showers under the large canopy of the school’s bus zone, volunteers with the Richmond Chapter of the Islamic Circle of North America Relief and Henrico County Public Schools worked to load tote bags filled with fresh vegetables, chicken, canned goods, bread, doughnuts, hand sanitizer and soap, masks, toilet paper and other staples into the waiting vehicles of more than 100 area families in need. It was a demanding start to the new endeavor, but one that showed the commitment of all parties involved. “We’re prepared for all sorts of weather—rain, snow, sleet, shine. We’re here,” said Hamna Saleem, state outreach coordinator for ICNA Relief, a nonprofit organization providing a network of shelters, food pantries, health clinics and refugee and disaster relief services across the United States. “For us, really being there and present for the community matters.” The seeds of the new initiative began with ICNA Relief, which has been running a food pantry in Henrico for more than a year. ICNA organizers reached out to the Henrico school system’s Office of Equity, Please turn to A4
Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press
Tote bags filled with food and staples line the hall of Quioccasin Middle School, where volunteers with ICNA Relief and Henrico County Public Schools helped distribute them Saturday to more than 100 families in need who picked up the bags curbside.
Report details racism, sexual assault at VMI Associated Press
The Virginia Military Institute has tolerated and failed to address institutional racism and sexism and must be held accountable for making changes, according to a state-sanctioned report released Tuesday. The 145-page report, put together by an independent law firm at the request of the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, states that “racial slurs and jokes are not uncommon” and “contribute to an atmosphere of hostility toward minorities.”
Some graduates welcomed the findings as long overdue at a nearly 200-yearold institution that carries the prestige of educating Gen. George Patton but is also indelibly tied to the nation’s history of racism and sexism. Maj. Gen. Wins Others said the report mischaracterized “isolated” incidents that can happen at any school. Among other findings, the report found
that a racial disparity exists among cadets who have been dismissed by the school’s student-run honor court. Cadets of color represent 23 percent of the corps but make up 41 percent of those dismissed since 2011. The report also said that sexual assault is prevalent yet inadequately addressed at the nation’s oldest state-supported military college. A survey found that 14 percent of female cadets reported being sexually assaulted, while 63 percent said that a fellow cadet had told them that he or she Please turn to A4
Free COVID-19 testing Free community testing for COVID-19 continues. The Richmond and Henrico County health districts are offering testing at the following location: • Thursday, June 3, 2 to 4 p.m., Eastern Henrico Health Department, 1400 N. Laburnum Ave., Eastern Henrico. Drive-thru testing. Appointments are not necessary, but can be made by calling the Richmond and Henrico COVID-19 Hotline at (804) 205-3501 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, or by registering online at https://bit.ly/RHHDCOVID. Testing will be offered while test supplies last. The Virginia Department of Health also has a list of COVID19 testing locations around the state at www.vdh.virginia.gov/ coronavirus/covid-19-testing/covid-19-testing-sites/.
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