virginia
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‘We Are Not Welcome’: In What Should Come as a Surprise to No One, Virginia School Board Refuses to Ban Confederate Flag From Its Dress Code
Virginia’s longstanding love affair with the Confederate flag knows no bounds. And in what should come as a surprise to absolutely no one, a school board in Rocky Mount has ruled that yes, the rebel flag will still be welcomed with open arms in the district’s updated dress code. WRCB has the scoop: The Franklin…
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New Virginia School Policy Excuses Students From School to Protest
Beginning Jan. 27, students in seventh through 12th grades in Fairfax County Public Schools in Northern Virginia will be excused one absence every school year to participate in “civic engagement activities,” says school system spokeswoman Lucy Caldwell. Activities like sit-ins, marches, and lobbying state legislators are included, the Washington Post reports. “I think we’re setting…
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Legendary Football Coach Herman Boone, Who Was Immortalized in Remember the Titans, Dies at 84
Herman Boone, the inspiration behind the classic film Remember the Titans, died Wednesday at his home in Alexandria, Va. He was 84. ESPN reports that the legendary coach led T.C. Williams High School to an undefeated season and state championship in 1971. More importantly, he played a key role in combating the racism that permeated…
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Virginia Department of Corrections Apologizes After Subjecting 8-Year-Old to Unauthorized Strip Search
The Virginia Department of Corrections has publicly apologized after it’s been revealed that an 8-year-old visiting her father at a state prison was subjected to a strip search. The Washington Post reports that on Nov. 24, Diamond Peerman drove her boyfriend’s daughter to visit him at the Buckingham Correctional Center in Dillwyn, Va. Upon their…
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The Results Are In: Daniel Cameron Becomes First Black Attorney General in Kentucky
So election night has come and gone, and while we still have to wait a year—or less, if we’re lucky—to rid ourselves of President Untailored Suit, Tuesday night was still rather eventful. In Kentucky, Daniel Cameron became the first African American to be elected attorney general in the state. Of additional note, he also became…
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Virginia Strikes Down Jim Crow-Era Law Requiring Couples to Disclose Their Race on Marriage Applications
For nearly 100 years, the Commonwealth of Virginia has required all couples seeking a marriage license to disclose their race. On Friday, a federal judge found that requirement unconstitutional, writing that the rule “burdens their fundamental right to marry.” As the Richmond Times-Dispatch writes, Judge Rossie D. Alston ruled on a lawsuit brought forward by…
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Supremes to Review Whether Lee Boyd Malvo, Serving Life as Accomplice to the DC Sniper, Deserves a New Sentence
The nation’s highest court on Wednesday is set to review the life sentences handed down in the early aughts to a then-teenage Lee Boyd Malvo, convicted of multiple murders as an active accomplice of John Allen Muhammad, the serial killer known as the D.C. Sniper—a review that has even won the support of some whom…
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Virginia Man Sues Local Paper, Reporter for Accurately Reporting His Family’s Slaveholding History
Here’s the thing about descending from a “First Family of Virginia”—there’s going to be an abundance of receipts about your family’s slaveholding past. One Charlottesville man, apparently, couldn’t abide the publication of those receipts and is suing a local newspaper and professor for disclosing his family’s slaveholding past—and having the sheer gall to insinuate that…
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A Black Mother Gives Birth to Baby in a Bathtub After Being Turned Away From Hospital
Leo and LeeAnn Bienaime were like many first-time parents: apprehensive, unsure, and deferential to the advice of their doctors. But late last month, when the couple went to the hospital after LeeAnn reported feeling “intense” contractions, doctors told her to go home and come back later. The Bienaimes followed the hospital staff’s instructions. Hours after…