Bacon's Rebellion

  • Guilty As Sin

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    James A. Bacon

    Scott Lingamfelter

    by Scott Lingamfelter

    The recent and tragic death of George Floyd, a black man, by a white police officer in Minnesota is the latest in a series of controversies concerning race and law enforcement in America. Floyd has now become a poignant symbol of what people say is “systemic racism” in America. So, is racism truly systemic? Is it a matter of fixing a system as one would repair a leaky faucet or a fire hydrant knocked from its foundation by an uncontrolled vehicle? Or is it deeper than that?

    When I was young, I was raised in the Capital of the “Old South,” Richmond, Virginia, where my white church-going parents who brought me into this world taught me right from wrong. They taught me racism was wrong. But the racial contrast was stark in my Richmond neighborhood.

    My father, a dermatologist, had his office on Monument Avenue where Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s statue towered above a grassy circle adjacent to the Lee Medical Building. And not far from the long shadow it cast over gentrified homes nearby, there stood another neighborhood. That one housed impoverished black people who lived in a world of separate water fountains, seats in the back of the bus, and no stools for them in the local restaurants that we enjoyed. Their world was not my world. Mine was one of freedom and opportunity. Theirs was dominated by “Jim Crow” laws that treated blacks as second-class citizens. (more…)

  • Virginia Pols Call for Passage of George Floyd Act

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    James A. Bacon

    by Hans Bader

    After the murder conviction of the policeman who killed George Floyd, Virginia’s progressive politicians are calling for passage of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which would allow police departments to be sued when police stops aren’t racially and sexually balanced.

    Congressman Bobby Scott (VA-03) said, “This verdict is a start, but it does not absolve Congress and the federal government of our responsibility to reform policing across the country, and it is a reminder of the need for the Senate to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.”

    Virginia’s senior Senator, Mark Warner, called on his Senate colleagues to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act: “George Floyd’s life mattered. Justice has been served…we owe it to Mr. Floyd, his family, and far too many others like him to take meaningful action to reform our policing system. We can start by passing the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.”

    Joe Biden also backs this bill. But it has a downside: it could lead to more racial and sexual profiling, such as gender-based stops of female motorists, or racial or gender quotas for police stops. (more…)

  • The Floggings Will Continue Until Morale Improves

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    James A. Bacon

    Leah Walker, director of equity and community for the Virginia Department of Education

    Two days ago, a bureaucratic entity known as the “Special Committee to Review the Standards of Accreditation” held a teleconference to discuss, among other issues, the disproportionality of punishments meted out to students of different races in Virginia public schools.  In that discussion, Leah Walker, director of equity and community for the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE), made a remarkable admission: the sea change in disciplinary policies across the state, designed to reduce disparity between blacks and whites, is not working. In fact, she implies, the disparity might be getting worse.

    Walker doesn’t put it that way, of course. As VDOE’s equity czar, she’s not about to admit that the policies she’s been advocating are failing. Here’s what she said (my emphasis).

    If we don’t begin to hold our school personnel accountable for the biases and other factors that can contribute to that type of discipline dispensation, we’re not going to actually see any change in the system. So, we’ve been measuring and reporting school discipline disproportionality for many, many, many years. In fact, in the past several years the department has placed an increased emphasis on the reporting and created greater transparency just in the fact that we now display the data in a proportional way: the percentage of student population versus the percentage of student suspensions. …

    We would like to say that that resulted in some positive change amongst outcomes that we’re seeing for students. But in fact it hasn’t. What we’re seeing is that discipline disproportionality has continued to rise in the state despite all of our efforts at increased transparency and using the bully pulpit and all of the other levers that are available to us as [unintelligible] and education leaders.

    (more…)

  • Yeah, the Parole Board Scandal Really Is a Scandal

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    James A. Bacon

    The good guy: Virginia Inspector General Michael C. Wesfall

    by James A. Bacon

    Bacon’s Rebellion has not given the biggest scandal of the Northam administration (since Blackface) the attention it deserves. In fact, we have given the matter little attention at all. Sorry, folks, we don’t have the resources to do it all. And there’s no need when the mainstream media is doing a perfectly good job. But at some point, we have to acknowledge that the scandal is ongoing.

    I’m talking about the parole board scandal, in which Adrianne Bennett, chairwoman of the Virginia Parole Board, allegedly violated state law and the board’s own victim-notification procedures for releasing murderers from prison. After receiving complaints on the state’s waste-fraud-and-abuse hotline, the State Inspector General conducted an investigation and documented the allegations. Senior members of the Northam administration got wind of the report and heavily redacted it for release to the public. Republicans got wind and raised a stink. Team Northam berated IG Michael Westfall and his staff, one of the staff resigned in protest, and Governor Ralph Northam called for an investigation of the investigators.

    The heavy: Northam Chief of Staff Clark Mercer

    For once, the mainstream media has been doing its job and covering the scandal, which shows how the Northam administration does business. (If you think this is the only time Team Northam has thrown its weight around, you’re deluding yourself.)

    One outlet I give credit to is the Virginia Mercury. I have taken the independent online publication to task for some of its environmental and social-justice reporting, but it has been in the forefront of covering the parole-board scandal.  (more…)

  • Where Are the Parents?

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    James A. Bacon

    by Kerry Dougherty

    America has a problem. And I’m not talking about the police or racism or a political schism as wide as the ocean.

    I’m talking about parents. Rather, the lack of parents.

    In recent weeks the nation has been shocked by a series of horrific stories about kids being killed — by the cops and by each other — and we blame everyone but the people responsible for these children:

    Their parents.

    Take the case of Adam Toledo, for instance. He’s the 13-year-old who was shot and killed last week by a Chicago policeman who was pursuing him and a 21-year-old man through a dark alley at about 2:30 a.m. The two were suspected of shooting at cars.

    Protesters claim Adam dropped his gun just as the officer shot him. They’re demanding Derek Chauvin-like consequences for the policeman.

    But here’s the question we ought to be asking: Why was a 7th grader on the streets of Chicago at 2:30 a.m. with a handgun? (more…)

  • Norfolk Police Officer Fired for Helping Citizen Accused of a Crime

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    sherlockj

    Norfolk Police Badge (City of Norfolk)

    by James C. Sherlock

    I watched closely the Derrick Chauvin trial. It appeared that the judge conducted a fair trial, both the state and the defense were properly represented. Mr. Chauvin was found guilty by a jury of his peers.

    As far as I personally and, more importantly, the legal system of the United States are concerned, he is guilty. There were racial aspects to that case, but they were not presented in court  The prosecution chose to let the evidence speak for itself and did not allege racism, a subjective allegation that goes to state of mind. I applaud the prosecutor for that.

    That is our system and I very much respect and support it  Chauvin will appeal. I respect that too.

    The same day, however, we learned that a police officer in Norfolk was fired for supporting that same legal process with a $25 donation to the defense fund of an accused. He was fired because of the racial aspects of what has been alleged, not against the officer, but against the defendant.

    We should all hope that firing doesn’t stand. It puts every employee of the City of Norfolk on notice that they risk their jobs if they speak, even privately, of anything — anything at all — to which the the left objects. (more…)

  • Bacon Bits: Jerry Reed Tribute Edition

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    James A. Bacon

    When you’re hot you’re hot. How hot is the data center industry in Northern Virginia? It’s so hot that vacant land in parts of Prince William County is nearing $1 million per acre. “They are just building like crazy,” said Tim Leclerc, Prince William County’s assistant finance director, as reported by the Prince William Times. “We’ve seen land purchases on a per acre basis up in the Loudoun County area that are approaching $2 million. We’ve seen them approaching $1 million here.” The surge in real estate assessments in parts of the country where the data-center use is allowed by right is “being driven principally by developers and speculators who are scooping up land as fast as they can because they know data centers are willing to pay just about any amount for it,” he said.

    When you’re not you’re not. Virginia’s eight public mental hospitals for adults are operating at 96% capacity, prompting them to delay admissions and straining the ability of law enforcement officers to maintain custody in psychiatric crisis, reports the Richmond Times-Dispatch. The COVID-19 epidemic has triggered an exodus of employees from state hospitals, which are “overwhelmed” and operating at only 60% to 75% full staffing. The staff shortage has spillover effects. Sheriffs deputies have to stay with patients for hours or days at a time before beds become available.

    You can explain it all down at city hall. The State Board of Elections voted Tuesday to ask the Richmond Commonwealth Attorney to look into accusations that City of Richmond electoral officials violated state law in the November 2020 election. Republican election watchers said Democrats improperly opened sealed envelopes on election night and completed the vote count at a board member’s home a few days later. Denying wrongdoing, Democratic Party officials have counter-charged that Republicans were unhappy with a decision to replace former Richmond Registrar Kirk Showalter, who had run-ins with Democrat officials during her 25-year tenure. Claiming a lack of resources to investigate the conflicting claims, the electoral board asked Commonwealth’s Attorney Colette McEachin to get to the bottom of the dispute, reports the Virginia Mercury.

    Jerry Reed composed the funniest lyrics of the past half century (maybe ever). When You’re Hot You’re Hot was a classic.

  • Norfolk Sacks Police Officer for $25 Contribution to Rittenhouse Defense Fund

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    James A. Bacon

    by Kerry Dougherty

    Lemme get this straight: A high-ranking Norfolk police officer with 19 years of service was fired yesterday because he anonymously contributed 25 bucks to the defense fund of then-17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse, who is accused of killing two people during riots in Kenosha, WI, last summer.

    It appears Lt. William K. Kelly III sent the donation through his work email and was doxxed by a group called Distributed Denial of Secrets that operates on the dark web and fancies itself the heir to Wikileaks.

    The anonymous $25 donation was accompanied by this message: God bless. Thank you for your courage. Keep your head up. You’ve done nothing wrong. Every rank and file police officer supports you. Don’t be discouraged by actions of the political class of law enforcement leadership.

    That email might be a violation of police department policy, but a fireable offense? (more…)

  • Legislative Bamboozle and Blind Faith

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    James A. Bacon

    Globe on fire

    by Bill O’Keefe

    The Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA) establishes a mandatory renewable portfolio standard (RPS) program that requires Dominion Energy to deliver electricity from 100% renewable sources by 2045. Let this sink in. Legislation passed and signed into law in 2020 imposes a mandated outcome for 25 years hence even though the legislators who voted for VCEA had no idea how it was to be achieved. They either believed that the private sector would invent the technology, independent of cost, or that the threat of extinction from climate change was so serious that a way would be found to head it off. More than likely, they didn’t give the “how” question or the question of cost much thought. Theirs was a crusade.

    Hair on fire

    It is probably true that if cost and cost-effectiveness are ignored Dominion Energy can find a way to satisfy the legislative mandate. Its plan to build the nation’s largest wind farm shows that it knows how to think big and will get its customers to pay the price in terms of higher rates to buy the needed technology. If Dominion can find a way to avoid shuttering it nuclear and natural gas power generation it will at least have a fall back strategy. Pleasing legislators obviously has a higher priority than cost-effect and reliable electric power.

    Before it is too late, legislators and Dominion customers might benefit from a dose of reality. Germany which has been a leader in the move from fossil energy to wind and solar may well be the canary in the mine. (more…)

  • Racist Nurses Need Indoctrination, Too, UVa Agrees

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    James A. Bacon

    Milania Harris and Zara Alisa

    by Walter Smith

    After the widely publicized killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police last year, University of Virginia nursing students Milania Harris and Zara Alisa founded Advocates for Medical Equality. Their mission was to confront bias, bigotry and racism in healthcare. They won a Martin Luther King, Jr., UVA Health System Award for their efforts, and even a got a big splash in UVA Today.

    I admire anyone who carves out time from studies and other student pursuits for the goal of making the world a better place. But I do find it ironic that these two ladies won an award named after a man who wanted people to be judged by the content of their character, not the color of their skin — in this case by creating a program based on measuring outcomes by color of skin.

    Moreover, I am not a little dismayed that the administration lauds, and its house organ UVA Today regularly gives a platform to, students, faculty and alumni who excoriate the United States, Virginia, and the university itself for racism while never — and I mean never — profiling members of the university community who might think differently. (more…)

  • Biggest U.S. Orthopedic Facility Projects Exclude Virginia

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    sherlockj

    by James C. Sherlock

    Beckers just published a list of the 14 largest orthopedic projects in America in 2021. None of them are located in Virginia. Virginia’s COPN law and its administration make such projects highly unlikely here.

    Every Virginia hospital that did not propose such a project would oppose it. And in the monopolized metro areas, why spend the money? They have a captive audience.

    For reference, not one hospital in Virginia is rated among the 50 in orthopedics by U.S. News and World Report using its methodology. Only three of the 14 orthopedics projects listed by Beckers are in states that regulate such projects, two in New York and one in Alabama. (more…)

  • Is U.S. 460 Really a “Race Trap” for Blacks?

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    James A. Bacon

    Fatal traffic accident on U.S. 460 in Isle of Wight County, March 2018. Photo Credit: WAVY TV.

    by James A. Bacon

    On April 17 The Virginian-Pilot published an article with the following headline: “Not a speed trap, a race trap: Black Virginians say they’ve been racially profiled in and around Windsor for decades.”

    The highly publicized traffic-stop encounter in which two white policemen pepper-sprayed Caron Nazario, a black army lieutenant, on U.S. 460, was not an anomaly, according to the Virginian-Pilot. Quoting the experiences of eight black former Virginia State University students and faculty, the newspaper provided anecdotal evidence that blacks have been targeted for ticketing by the three Ws, the towns of Windsor, Wakefield and Waverly.

    “We as African Americans have traditionally acquiesced to the racial power dynamics that are displayed throughout policing on 460,” said Zoe Spencer, an assistant professor of sociology and criminology at VSU. “And while I believe Lt. Nazario’s situation was absolutely egregious, I would hypothesize that he is in no way the only one that experienced that kind of treatment.”

    Clearly, there is a perception among many blacks that they are targeted for traffic offenses along U.S. 460. But is that perception based on reality? Are black motorists in Windsor and other small towns along U.S. 460 really stopped, ticketed and even dragged out of their cars because of their race? (more…)

  • 2020 Teacher Salaries

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    James A. Bacon

    by John Butcher

    It’s Spring and the data in the lower half of the 2020 Superintendent’s Annual Report have sprouted.

    Table 19 reports on salaries in some detail. As well, it provides an overview report of division average salaries of “All Instructional Positions” (classroom teachers, guidance counselors, librarians, technology instructors, principals, and assistant principals). Here is a summary of those summary data:

    (more…)

  • Centers of Learning… Or Indoctrination?

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    James A. Bacon

    Three out of five (60%) college students belonging to fraternities and sororities across the country do not feel comfortable publicly disagreeing with a professor, according to a survey by RealClearEducation and Slingshot Strategies. Only two out of five (38%) said they felt comfortable doing so.

    Two-third of students said they are hesitant to speak up online, half feel the need to self-censor, and a plurality said their college’s administration would be more likely to punish a speaker for making a statement than defend their right to express their views if a controversy over offensive speech were to occur on campus.

    Nearly half (45%) felt pressure for their Greek organizations to be kicked off campus, although a slightly large percentage disagreed.

    The survey broke out results for 11 Virginia universities whose students responded to the national survey, and gave letter grades to three for institutions where more than 10 students responded. Because the sample sizes for individual institutions are so small, they may not be representative of the full student population and should be used with great caution. Nevertheless, here they are: (more…)

  • Culture Wars and the Law

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    sherlockj

    by James C. Sherlock

    We have reported here significant evidence of the criminal harassment of two conservative students, one a student council member at the University of Virginia and the other a soccer player at Virginia Tech, for their political views.

    Both have been treated as administrative matters at the two universities. That is a reflection of the political views of the administrations of those universities rather than the seriousness of the allegations and supporting evidence.

    People should be able to attend school without harassment. Period. Fortunately, it is against the law. The culture wars, when they stray into federal and state crimes, need to result in criminal prosecutions. (more…)

Now Available

Book cover of 'Dust Mites: A Second American Revolution' by James A. Bacon, featuring astronauts planting a flag with a blue and white emblem on a lunar landscape, with Earth visible in the background.
For sale on Amazon.com

The year: 2075. The American colonies on the Moon are getting restless under Washington’s tyrannical rule….

This second edition of “Dust Mites” has a snazzy new cover, includes helpful lunar maps, and is 5,000 words tighter than the original. The sequel, “Trogs,” is scheduled for publication this summer.

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Bacon’s Rebellion is Virginia’s leading politically non-aligned portal for news, opinions and analysis about state, regional and local public policy. Read more about us here.

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