Racism

Statewide Criminal Justice Reform Campaign

  • succeeded in getting the Governor to streamline the process by which former felons have their voting rights restored after serving their sentences where the Governor has been able to re-enfranchise a record number of former felons in the last three years
  • continue to educate Virginians on and facilitate the restoration process where we find an opportunity
  • initiated a campaign to eliminate racial profiling
  • taped public access TV forums in Charlottesville and Lynchburg on racial profiling
  • gave an interview to Lynchburg News & Advance regarding the goals of the racial profiling campaign
  • met with the Virginia Sheriff's Association and the State Association of Chiefs of Police to gain support on the issue
  • met with the Chief Deputy Attorney General and Lieutenant Governor and his staff
  • held a press conference where students testified to their experiences of repeated stops by local law enforcement

Dismantling Racism Workshops

  • continue to hold one- and three-day Dismantling Racism workshops
  • held a workshop on how Dismantling Racism workshops assist in building a strong citizens' organization for a conference of the National Coalition of Education Activists, Reclaiming Our Children's Future: Uniting Families, Schools and Communities
  • facilitated a three-day Dismantling Racism workshop for national staff and leaders of the Sierra Club
  • led a workshop on How to Dismantle the "isms" in a Living Wage Campaign for the Southern Living Wage Conference
  • adapted our Dismantling Racism workshops to address specific issues of racism among youth
  • extended our anti-racism work to a second level of training in a Dismantling Racism II workshop
  • published Tools for Dismantling Racism, a compilation of practical tools, session plans and background articles, including transcripts from roundtable discussions and short profiles of those involved in VOP's Dismantling Racism workshops

Local Chapter and Other Campaigns

  • helped to change the jury selection system in Lee County from one in which five white men hand-picked the jury pool to a random system which ensures that people of color have an equal chance of selection; since the change, three African-Americans have served as jury commissioners
  • won removal of racist artwork from the Lynchburg Circuit Court building and a covering for another piece of racist artwork on the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court building
  • supported members of the Appalachian Peace Education Committee in their successful push for a zero-tolerance racial discrimination policy in Washington County Schools
  • worked to get a safety barrier put on a bridge in Lynchburg that has been a high risk location for suicide attempts
  • succeeded in having a new bridge over the James River named in recognition of the Monacan Nation, the indigenous people of central and western Virginia
  • helped with the development of the African American Teaching Fellows to support the certification and hiring of African-American teachers

What We Do