School’s out for Dr. Newsome A5
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VOL. 28 NO. 10
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA
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www.richmondfreepress.com
MARCH 7-9, 2019
Mr. CIAA is OK
Where in the world is Mr. CIAA? That was the big question on the minds of CIAA fans last weekend when Abraham “Ham” Mitchell, known as Mr. CIAA, was conspicuously absent from the annual basketball tournament. For more than four decades,
Related stories on A8, B2 Mr. CIAA has been a fan favorite as he struts his colorful, one-ofa-kind suits through the tournament arena, often changing his dazzling outfits during halftime from the colors of one team to that of the opposing team. Cameras flash as people photograph him in his stylish attire, often stopping him to talk and take pictures with him. But he was absent from this year’s
Mayor Stoney proposes tax hikes on real estate, cigarettes and utility rates to generate more money for city needs By Jeremy M. Lazarus
More money, more money, more money. That’s what Mayor Levar M. Stoney wants from taxpayers as he introduced his 2019-20 budget to Richmond City Council on Wednesday. He proposed to pump millions of dollars into public schools, street paving and a wage increase for city workers to “build a more inclusive, more competitive and more equitable city.” To pay for those “investments,” he waded into waters most politicians shun — tax increases. Rather than calling for cuts in City Hall operations, he urged City Council to raise about $21 million in new revenue with a 9-cent increase in the city’s real estate tax, the first increase in decades and a reversal of the longstanding city policy of, when possible, reducing the tax on property — the city’s biggest source of revenue. If approved, the tax hike would require the owner of a property valued at $100,000 to pay an additional $90 a year in property tax. Mayor Stoney, who broke his 2016 campaign pledge to not
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Herring breaks silence on blackface; GOP offers reward for evidence
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The Republican Party of Virginia is offering a $1,000 reward for photographic evidence of Virginia Attorney General Mark R. Herring in blackface. GOP officials announced the offer Tuesday in a news release while also issuing large “wanted” posters with Mr. Herring’s name across the front. The political stunt comes during a week in which Mr. Herring spoke publicly for the first time in nearly a month since he admitted to wearing blackface to attend a party as a 19-year-old freshman at the University of Virginia. Speaking Monday on The Kojo Nnamdi Show on WAMU radio in Washington, the 57-year-old Mr. Herring apologized repeatedly for dressing up like rapper Kurtis Blow with a wig and blackface in 1980. “It was a one-time occurrence, and it is something that has haunted me for
Kamras releases details of approved schools cuts By Ronald E. Carrington
Richmond Public Schools Superintendent Jason Kamras made public on Monday details of the 74 positions to be eliminated in a $300 million budget plan that was adopted Feb. 25 by the Richmond School Board. Mr. Kamras had come under criticism from the board and schools advocates for a lack Mr. Kamras of transparency in not releasing details to the public before the budget plan was approved by the board. Mr. Kamras announced in January that he planned to cut 49 jobs from the Richmond Public Schools’ central administration in an effort to trim $13 million from the budget. He said at the time and maintained recently that privacy rules prevented him from disclosing more details about the jobs to be slashed. The surprise in the details released Monday showed that 74 Please turn to A4
On a roll Shamika Robinson and her 18-month-old daughter, Londyn Bryant, head toward the delicious smells of food coming from a bevy of food trucks Sunday on Hull Street in South Side. The food truck rodeo kicked off the 2019 Richmond Black Restaurant Experience. Children’s games also were part of the festivities. Please see more photos, B3.
decades, and I’m so very sorry for the hurt that I’ve caused,” Mr. Herring said. His admission in early February to wearing blackface came just days after he’d condemned Gov. Ralph S. Northam for similar behavior. In the radio interview, Mr. Herring defended his decision calling for the governor’s resignation, saying he only did so when it became clear that Gov. Northam had lost the public’s trust. “For me, it was really about the public trust. And I want to be clear about this — I would hold myself to the same standard,” Mr. Herring said. He also was questioned during the interview whether his admission to wearing blackface was prompted by media inquiries of a photo from that time. Mr. Herring told the radio host he came forward to “maintain my credibility.” He also said he is uncertain whether Please turn to A4
Cotton boll becomes pressure point during tour with Mrs. Northam By Jeremy M. Lazarus
Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press
Free Press staff, wire report
Virginia First Lady Pam Northam met privately Saturday with a mother and daughter to discuss their concerns that went viral about Mrs. Northam’s efforts to offer Executive Mansion visitors insight into the hardships enslaved people had endured. The meeting was unannounced, and neither Mrs. Northam nor Leah Walker and her daughter, Alexandra, an eighthgrader who served as a Senate page during the General Assembly session, issued any statements regarding the discussion about the way the first lady handed out samples of raw cotton during a Feb. 21 tour for pages of the mansion and the restored exterior kitchen of the house in Capitol Square. Still, the meeting may have ended the flap that drew international interest and fresh attention to Gov. Ralph S. Northam’s troubles over his use of blackface in 1984. The Virginia NAACP, among others, used the uproar to renew the call for the governor to resign. The Rev. Kevin Chandler, state NAACP president, stated that the “recent statements and actions of First Lady Pam Northam further demonstrate the troubling insensitivity and tone deaf response to Virginia’s past involvement in and acceptance of slavery and its malignant effects.” The uproar began when Mrs. Northam held the traditional tour of the Governor’s Mansion for about a 100 teens who served as pages in during the 2019 General Assembly session that was about to adjourn. The youths broke into several smaller
groups for the tour. Among other things, Mrs. Northam, a former elementary and high school teacher and advocate for early childhood education, stopped in the cottage on the grounds outside the mansion that once was the kitchen used by enslaved African-American cooks
from the first lady. However, Alexandra wrote a letter to Mrs. Northam afterwards, describing the show-and-tell as “beyond inappropriate, especially considering recent events” involving the governor. The 14-year-old primarily was con-
Gov. and First Lady Northam
and workers to serve past governors. The enslaved also slept there. As described in multiple reports, Mrs. Northam handed a cotton boll to the visitors and asked them to imagine what it would be like to work all day picking cotton. Alexandra, who was one of three African-Americans in her smaller tour group, found Mrs. Northam’s words and actions upsetting and did not take the cotton boll
Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press
cerned that Mrs. Northam appeared to focus on her and the other two AfricanAmericans when she handed out the cotton boll. While Alexandra declined to take it from Mrs. Northam, she said one of her friends did and “it made her very uncomfortable.” “I will give you the benefit of the doubt Please turn to A4