Richmond Free Press October 11-13, 2018 Edition

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NE D EA D L I r to te to regis

VOT E Y M o n DA 5 O c t. 1

Monday, Oct. 15, is the deadline to register to vote in the November midterm elections. To cast a ballot on Nov. 6, your name must be on the voter rolls by Oct. 15. To register, or clear up any questions before election, go to www.elections.virginia.gov or call your local voter registrar’s office.

Here are phone numbers for area voter registrar’s offices: Richmond — (804) 646-5950 Henrico — (804) 501-4347 Chesterfield — (804) 748-1471 Hanover — (804) 365-6080 Petersburg — (804) 733-8071

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© 2018 Paradigm Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.

VOL. 27 NO. 41

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA

www.richmondfreepress.com

New Henrico schools diversity chief ready to push change By Vanessa Remmers

Monica Manns keeps certain books within arm’s reach of her desk at the Henrico County Public Schools central office. She pulls them from her shelf one after another — “Culturally Responsive Teaching & The Brain,” “What If? Short Stories to Spark Diversity Dialogue” and “The Brilliance of Black Boys.” It’s necessary reading, she said, the kind that will change your life. The questions the books raise harken to the questions Ms. Manns asked herself years ago, long before she headed up HCPS’s Office of Equity and Diversity. Back then, part of her work involved student discipline in juvenile justice systems and schools in the Richmond region. Why, she remembers asking herself, were so many of those students African-American? “Then I started asking questions about the system. I didn’t start out in equity work. But I consider it a calling. Equity work found me,” she said. At 44, Ms. Manns is heading into her seventh month in the newly created position with Henrico schools, earning about $99,000 a year. She’s the sole person in the office, created last year in the wake of a heinous locker room cellphone video and racist caption posted on Snapchat showing white boys from Short Pump Middle School simulating sex acts on top of their African-American peers. The video made national headlines. But Ms. Manns is quick to point out what many parents expressed in the weeks following the controversial situation. The video, they said, wasn’t an isolated incident, but part of a years-long pattern of unequal treatment of minority students within Henrico’s increasingly diverse school system. A similar narrative emerged from parents during listening sessions Ms. Manns held Please turn to A4

OCTOBER 11-13, 2018

Lost cause Richmond City Council rejects resolution requesting General Assembly approval for authority over city’s Confederate monuments By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Ronald E. Carrington/Richmond Free Press

Monica Manns, director of the Office of Equity and Diversity for Henrico County Public Schools, plans to use information from recent public Listen and Learn sessions to draft a survey to be sent to all county households.

The racist Confederate past has maintained its stranglehold on Richmond’s future. In a 6-3 vote, Richmond City Council rejected the idea of asking the General Assembly for authority to decide the fate of the symbols of white supremacy and racial hatred on public property in the city, most notably on Monument Avenue, where the five most prominent statutes to the traitorous Confederate cause have stood for a century or more. The council vote sent a jolting message that the former Confederate capital is not ready to join other metropolitan cities, such as Baltimore, Memphis and New Orleans, in getting rid of the in-your-face symbols of slavery that continue to haunt the present. For Councilman Michael J. Jones, 9th District, the vote was another stinging defeat just 10 months after council voted 6-2 to shoot down his more robust effort to put the nine-member governing body on record on removing the statues. Dr. Jones hoped to have an easier time winning votes for his milder resolution, which amounted to a plea to the legislature to allow Richmond to decide what to do with memorials and statues within its borders. A state law currently blocks the city from altering or removing them. “I’m baffled by the notion of us not being willing to address matters like this and shirk our responsibilities,” said Dr. Jones, a full-time minister. Please turn to A4

Justice Kavanaugh takes seat on U.S. Supreme Court Free Press wire report

Justice Brett Kavanaugh spent a collegial first day on the bench as an associate justice on the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday that contrasted sharply with the venom of his confirmation process, taking an active role in arguments alongside his eight new colleagues. Justice Kavanaugh, a veteran of such proceedings after 12 years on an influential U.S. appeals court in the District of Columbia, looked at ease as he asked several questions during two hours of lively oral arguments involving a federal sentencing law for repeat offenders.

It seemed like business as usual in the ornate courtroom, three days after Justice Kavanaugh was confirmed by the Republican-led U.S. Senate despite being accused of a teenage sexual assault by a now university professor. In late September, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford went public with allegations that Justice Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her in 1982 when they were high school students in Maryland. Two other women also accused Justice Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct dating to the 1980s. In dramatic testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Dr. Ford, who now lives and teaches in Northern California, recounted how Justice Kavanaugh, then 17 and drinking heavily, pushed her into a bedroom and pinned her to a bed, attempting to remove her clothing, grinding into her and covering her mouth. Dr. Ford told the Senate Judiciary Committee she was “100 percent” certain the person who assaulted her was Justice Kavanaugh. In his testimony, Justice Kavanaugh vehemently denied the allegations and accused Democrats of an “orchestrated political hit.” The hearing resulted in a five-day FBI investigation into the allegations that critics said never included interviews with Dr. Ford, Justice Kavanaugh and many others who said they had information. The FBI report, which was available to senators, was never made public. Please turn to A4

Susan Walsh/Associated Press

With President Trump watching, Justice Brett Kavanaugh is sworn in as a U.S. Supreme Court associate justice Monday during a televised ceremony in the East Room at the White House. Retired Justice Anthony Kennedy, who Justice Kavanaugh replaces on the nation’s high court, performed the ceremony. With the new justice are his wife, Ashley, and daughters Margaret, left, and Liza.

Blackwell gets historic designation By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press

She’s got the look Daziyah Hewlett shows off the fancy crown she and her mom, Johanna Whitaker, created last Saturday at the 30th Annual 2nd Street Festival in Jackson Ward. The free two-day event, highlighted by music, food, history and culture, also included a Kidz Zone with special activities run by the Children’s Museum of Richmond. Please see more photos on B2.

A large swatch of the Blackwell neighborhood in South Side just gained official designation as a historic place. Capping months of controversy and community outreach, the state Board of Historic Resources and its companion state Board of Review voted Wednesday to create the new Blackwell Historic District for inclusion on Virginia and federal registers. The decision came at a special meeting of the boards at New Life Deliverance Tabernacle, 900 Decatur St. Ironically, the historic

church property in Blackwell is not included in the new district. Boundaries for the new Blackwell Historic District are roughly Decatur Street, Jefferson Davis Highway, Dinwiddie Avenue and East 13th Street. None of the owners of the 584 homes and commercial spaces included in the new district filed objections. The designation was spearheaded by a Church Hill couple, Michael and Laura Hild, who have purchased dozens of commercial and residential properties in and around Blackwell. According to state officials, the new designation is a label and does

not prohibit private owners from making changes to their property. It also opens opportunities for owners like the Hilds to seek federal historic tax credits to help them cover the costs of renovation. Clyde P. Smith, vice chair of the state Board of Historic Resources, noted that the historic designation could contribute to the pressures increasing property values in Blackwell. Since 2017, values have risen an average of 33 percent in the neighborhood, sharply raising the cost of city property taxes for elderly Blackwell residents on fixed incomes.

Mr. Smith said he had spoken with Mayor Levar M. Stoney and urged him to support a tax deferral program that would allow property owners, particularly those with below average incomes, to avoid paying such increases until they sell the property. City Council member Kim B. Gray, 2nd District, has proposed such a program in the wake of a surge in property values across Richmond, but doesn’t have sufficient support from the Stoney administration or to secure a vote from members of City Council. Please turn to A4


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