Christopher Newport University declined to comment to ProPublica about the creation of the task force or the potential state commission, but President William Kelly indicated in an internal document shared with faculty and staff of the university that the growth of the university “has come at a human cost, and we must continue to learn about and understand our complicated history.” The university, as ProPublica reports, plans to implement information about the university’s founding and its evolution into its orientation sessions, per Kelly’s previous remarks.
Delores McQuinn, Virginia state Democratic Delegate, told Essence that the universities need to address what they have done to the Black communities in Virginia. “Universities should take it upon themselves to revisit and address these inequities and injustice that occurred at monumental levels.”
McQuinn concluded, “Many universities have profited for years based on the injustice that prevented Black families from progressing financially.”
As ProPublica reports, Rev. Robin D. Mines, a Richmond minister, testified at a hearing in February that Virginia, and America more broadly, owes it to the Black communities it uprooted to make things right. “My country has gone from uprooting Black communities violently to legally doing it,” Mines said. “It is far past due time to do something about this and bringing hope to our communities.”
Though there is a budding movement regarding reparations for families impacted by the expansion of universities across the country, there has been little actual action taken, especially on a federal level. There are only a handful of states where there has been movement, and most of these have involved some form of reparations through scholarship programs.
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Source: Black Enterprise
