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mahatmakanejeeves

(61,751 posts)
2. Northam orders independent investigation of VMI's culture following reports of systemic racism
Tue Oct 20, 2020, 07:31 AM
Oct 2020
David Fahrenthold Retweeted

After reading
@ianshapira's jaw-dropping reporting, the governor and other Virginia officials promised an independent review of what they called “the clear and appalling culture of ongoing structural racism at the Virginia Military Institute.”



Northam orders independent investigation of VMI's culture following reports of systemic racism

By Claire Mitzel 981-3334 11 hrs ago

Gov. Ralph Northam on Monday ordered an independent investigation of the Virginia Military Institute after Black cadets and alumni spoke out against racism they endured while attending the public military college. ... A third party will review VMI’s “culture, policies, practices, and equity in disciplinary procedures” and share preliminary results by the end of the calendar year, Northam wrote to the college’s board of visitors.

In the letter, Northam and 10 other co-signatories expressed their “deep concerns about the clear and appalling culture of ongoing structural racism” at the military college. The letter was sent a day after the Washington Post published a story detailing continuous racism that Black cadets have experienced while attending the nation’s oldest state-supported military college. The Roanoke Times first reported over the summer about ongoing racism at the college and alumni’s push for change.

“Black cadets at VMI have long faced repeated instances of racism on campus, including horrifying new revelations of threats about lynching, vicious attacks on social media, and even a professor who spoke fondly of her family’s history in the Ku Klux Klan — to say nothing of inconsistent application of the Institute’s Honor Code,” the letter said, referencing the Post story. “In addition, VMI cadets continue to be educated in a physical environment that honors the Confederacy and celebrates an inaccurate and dangerous ‘Lost Cause’ version of Virginia’s history. It is long past time to consign these relics to the dustbin of history.”



While the board of visitors has “the ultimate authority for immediately addressing these concerns ... it is clear that internal action alone is no longer sufficient for VMI to join in the commitment to diversity and equity that the rest of Virginia’s government is embracing,” the letter stated.

{snip}

This Roanoke Times article links to several previous articles about the problem at VMI.

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