VCC Magazine Spring 2019

After Integration By Wilma Jones Kilgo

Moving Forward Again By The Rev. Mr. Kevin L. Chandler In efforts to overcome racism, there

must be an evaluation of both black issues and white issues. There can no longer be a perpetrator and a victim, and we must become one and allow justice (restorative justice) to take the place of discrimination. In 2008, the United States said it was ready for change in how we treated one another, but that was not a concerted push. There were positive steps made forward towards more friendly relations among the citizens; only to have all of the progress upended in

I didn’t know any white children until I was in the second grade. That was the year Arlington County Public Schools closed Langston Elementary School, rather than make it an integrated neighborhood school. Like all the former Langston students, I became part of the exodus to five previously all-white neighborhood elementary schools.  I was bused toWalter-Reed Elementary

2016, by a leader who perpetuates racism and white supremacy, to rally the adversaries of the nation’s true character, prosperity and its unity. As President of the Virginia State Conference of Branches, of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), I strive, at all turns, to help bring about racial reconciliation by addressing discrimination head on. The six “Game Changers can best summarize the NAACP’s initiatives for the 21st century”: economic sustainability, education, health, public safety and criminal justice, voting rights and political representation, and expanding youth and young adult engagement. There must be an acceptance of differences and a willingness to work beyond those differences. There cannot be reconciliationwithout equality. To overcome racism, we must diminish the disparities that pull us apart. Racism has existed for so long because of the continued tolerance of divisive behaviors and this must come to an end. Educating citizens on the effects of systemic and institutional racism is key to overcoming the inequalities that exist today. Educate how blackface was a demoralizing, disparaging act of the past and should never again be tolerated in society. There must be sacrifices made in order for any true aim to bring us all together. The mission of the NAACP is to secure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights in order to eliminate race- based discrimination and ensure the health and well-being of all persons. The Reverend Mr. Kevin L. Chandler is president of Virginia State Conference NAACP. “ First, we must acknowledge that racism and discrimination is still prevalent and acknowledge the hurt, pain, and stagnation of progress that it has caused. Next, the issues of discrimination and racism must be proactively addressed through programs and legislation that will counteract years of redlining, voter suppression, segregation, and underfunding of schools to name a few issues. Lastly, there is a requirement to ask for forgiveness. We are a society who believes in second chances and redemption. Ultimately, it is the people of Virginia who should dictate what real reconciliation looks like going forward. ” Delegate Jennifer Carroll Foy V

school where I joined Mrs. Harmony’s second grade class. I had some friends there, but because the School Board wanted African American students to comprise no more than 35 percent of the student population, only 20 percent of the former Langston students attended any one school. Many of my neighborhood friends from one or two blocks away went to other schools. I didn’t have any white friends that first year at Walter Reed. I knew white people and we sat near each other in class and played together at gym class. But they were wary of us and we them. Besides at recess and lunch we saw our friends from the neighborhood. We felt like we already had friends. Although we were “friendly” with the other students, there weren’t any racial connections—white people I would call friends, established for me until about two years later. I developed a great friendship with a girl in my class named Laura, by the fourth grade that was true and genuine. We spent many hours playing at her home, as she lived near the school. She was an only child. I was the youngest of seven. She was white and Jewish. I was African American and Baptist. We came from very different backgrounds, but her parents were very forward thinking for the time, so our friendship was supported by both sets of parents. After a year or so, I spent the night at her house a few times, which was uncommon. No, it was basically unheard of, at that period for the white and African American kids I knew. I learned a lot about her, and I am pretty sure she learned a lot about me and growing up “Black in Arlington” at that time. Privilege and discrimination were the roads that we had been cast in because of the color of skin. We saw that when we were together because some people didn’t want to see these two little girls become friends. We had a lot of fun over those three years of elementary school getting to know one another, playing together and influencing the other’s perspective because of the diversity of our respective experiences. Of course, we didn’t realize all of that back then. I’m happy to say, although we lost touch with each other by high school, thanks to Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook, Laura and I reconnected a few years ago. And our friendship continues. Our children have met one another. We discovered that both of us told our kids the stories of our first childhood friend of another race. It was nice to know that the impact of our friendship was important in both our lives. Wilma Jones Kilgo is a director in IT sales. She lives in Arlington’s historic High View Park – Halls Hill neighborhood, where she serves as president of the civic association.

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V irginia C apitol C onnections , S pring 2019

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