Latest news with #UnitedDaughtersoftheConfederacy
Yahoo
11-08-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump's White Nationalist Vision for the Future of History
To be a historian in the time of Trump 2.0 is to teach and write history at a time when the federal government is being mobilized to promote a white nationalist version of American history. Plenty of previous politicians offered tacit sympathies for white nationalist ideas with coded terms like 'states' rights' and 'law and order,' but we have to journey back over one hundred years, to the presidency of Woodrow Wilson, to find an executive branch so supportive of white nationalist ideologies in the study of American history. A white nationalist vision of American history is one that centers the role of white Americans above all others and, in fact, typically treats the history of the nation and the race as one and the same. For white nationalists, the United States is a nation created and founded by white people, and American history necessarily spurns the contributions of all other groups. The sins of slavery, segregation, and violence are excused as minor blemishes made along a path toward greatness. It was the accomplishments of America's great white men, we are led to believe, that brought us the prosperity for which we should all be so thankful. To question them—even if they enslaved, raped, and killed for power, expansion, or wealth—would be to question America itself. Various versions of this story exist. For decades, the most pervasive version of this mythology lived in the American South. From practically the day after the Civil War, white Southerners crafted a white nationalist morality tale—in popular culture, veterans' organizations, and the Lost Cause ideology—of lazy Black slaves with generous white masters who in the 1860s did their best to fight off a war of 'Northern Aggression' that threatened white Southern freedom. For most of the twentieth century, this story was advanced by groups like the United Daughters of the Confederacy, or UDC—activists who dedicated much of their lives to celebrating white Confederate heritage. They published textbooks, erected monuments, and led public ceremonies honoring the legacy of the Southern white men who tried to destroy the United States. Meanwhile, Black historians such as W.E.B. Du Bois and John Hope Franklin were literally segregated from the archives, banned from studying in Southern libraries because they were Black. When Franklin went to an archive to conduct research, he recalled, 'My arrival created a panic and an emergency among the administrators…. The archivist frankly informed me that I was the first Negro who had sought to use the facilities there.' Black people were not supposed to be in the archives, let alone be in charge of telling America's history. Since American public universities fully desegregated in the 1960s, historians of different backgrounds have thoroughly dispelled the Southern Lost Cause and other white nationalist mythologies. These historians see more nuance in Founding Fathers who called for freedom even as they enslaved humans. As Franklin explained of his groundbreaking book, From Slavery to Freedom: A History of African Americans, 'My challenge was to weave into the fabric of American history enough of the presence of blacks so that the story of the United States could be told adequately and fairly.' Subsequent decades of cutting-edge research have rescued millions of nonwhite actors from the margins—Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos, and more—showing that they also played major roles in the formation of the United States. In other words, America wasn't just built by white people. The struggles of millions, not only the brilliance of a select white few, are what made possible American affluence and good news is that today, in spite of Trump's efforts, historians are telling more complete stories, ones that don't rely on half-baked truths, veiled hypocrisies, or a racially segregated professoriat. And the public is hungry for works that offer a more complete retelling of the American experience. Buoyed by the Black Lives Matter movement, African American history in particular has surged in popularity. From bestselling Black history books like The Warmth of Other Suns to The New York Times' 1619 Project to the explosively popular genre of Black historical fiction and film, African American history is now enmeshed in popular culture as never before. Books like James and films like Sinners center the Black experience, drawing millions of readers and viewers yearning for Black stories from the past. The murder of George Floyd in 2020 created a tidal wave of white sympathy for the African American experience. Amid such demand, the federal government and so many of America's institutions, from the Smithsonian to the National Football League, responded with efforts to better teach and study the history of race in America. Juneteenth finally became a federal holiday in 2021. Trump 2.0 seeks a reversal of all of these strides toward a pluralistic history. The new Trump administration is staking claims to racial morality by stressing the excesses of and seeking to destroy diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI, programs that multiplied in the wake of George Floyd. The administration cannot make Americans uninterested in the history of race, nor can it turn back a cultural marketplace that offers serious profits for great stories about race in America. But it can use the tools of the state to influence, even poison, how history will be taught in America's public forums and schools. On Juneteenth, the federal holiday established after George Floyd to commemorate Emancipation, Trump decided against issuing a formal holiday greeting, choosing instead to argue that America had too many holidays that took away from economic productivity. Of all the federal holidays to dismiss, of course it was the one expressly dedicated to a Black cause. Trump's new administration is openly scrubbing historical government websites of Black and Brown people, removing references to American heroes like Medgar Evers, the Navajo Code Talkers, and the trailblazing female veterans, while also promising to restore the names of Confederates to military bases. Fort Bragg, originally named after a white supremacist Confederate general before being renamed Fort Liberty in 2023, has once again been renamed Fort Bragg (although it's now cynically named for a different Bragg, a World War II soldier). On Juneteenth, the federal holiday established after George Floyd to commemorate Emancipation, Trump decided against issuing a formal holiday greeting, choosing instead to argue that America had too many holidays that took away from economic productivity. Of all the federal holidays to dismiss, of course it was the one expressly dedicated to a Black cause. A Trump executive order in March called for citizens' support in 'advancing the policy of this order,' in other words, reporting federal historical sites that spend too much time focusing on the perspectives of nonwhites. The UDC would be proud. In fact, one historian of Civil War memory noted that Trump's Black History Month Proclamation 'reads as if it was released from the headquarters of the United Daughters of the Confederacy.'These approaches to history resurrect some of the very same failed historical arguments made by white nationalist groups of the past. And so part of being a historian during Trump 2.0 is to witness a renewal of debunked mythologies and outdated ideas made fresh by a state apparatus deeply invested in protecting the historical reputation of whiteness. And yet, Trump 2.0's flawed and racist approach to history will probably offer little in the way of substantive change for serious historical study. The Trump allies promoting censorship are only interested in prevention, not innovative creation, ceding the field to those of us who really do care about honest history. And unfortunately for Trump and his supporters, the censors can't reach everywhere. Knowledge today comes from many quarters. Millions of students may be blocked from learning American history in public school classrooms, but the Trump administration cannot completely block them from accessing American history from other venues. Today's censors will never again enjoy the same stranglehold that white nationalists once had on the production of the past. Even if an eighth grader in South Carolina is blocked from studying Frederick Douglass in their classroom, state laws cannot prevent them from accessing additional information online, in film, or in podcasts. Oddly enough, Trump 2.0 has also created opportunities for better understanding the history of race in America. It can be difficult for modern students to fully appreciate the intensity with which people fought over race in previous eras of American history. Across the country, even in the North, everyday white citizens were willing to go so far as to bomb school buses to stop the desegregation of elementary schools. Students struggle to understand the motivations of people like the women screaming at Black teenagers at Little Rock Central High School in 1957 or the activists who shouted, 'Don't wait for your daughter to be raped by these Congolese. Don't wait until the burrheads are forced into your schools. Do something about it now,' in order to intimidate six-year-old Ruby Bridges when she entered the first grade in 1960 New Orleans. I have been teaching those ugly episodes for years, but the reactions of my students this spring were different than ever before. Students now recognize their present in the past. There was a time when the sight of adults screaming at school board meetings might have appeared very foreign. Now, that's just part of America's political culture. The incivility of the present helps us to understand the ugliness of the past. Perhaps the greatest consequence of Trump's second term will be the retardation of America's ability to have a true national reckoning on race. The United States has not deeply explored its own racial history with an eye toward a constructive public process of reconciliation. Historians argue that such a reckoning, if done well, would hold the promise to help us break free from the cancerous orbit of race that has poisoned life in America since its founding. The ancient hope of that reconciliation is precisely what Trumpism and its enablers intend to prevent. After a brief moment when some historians began discussing the possibility of a 'Third Reconstruction,' Trump 2.0 brings the full force of the federal government against that promise, erasing Black and Brown histories from public display and recentering white voices above all others so as to align with the white nationalist fairy tale that they tell themselves is America. Solve the daily Crossword
San Francisco Chronicle
03-07-2025
- Politics
- San Francisco Chronicle
Confederacy group sues Georgia park for planning an exhibit on slavery and segregation
STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. (AP) — The Georgia chapter of a Confederacy group filed a lawsuit this week against a state park with the largest Confederate monument in the country, arguing officials broke state law by planning an exhibit on ties to slavery, segregation and white supremacy. Stone Mountain's massive carving depicts Confederate President Jefferson Davis, Gen. Robert E. Lee and Thomas 'Stonewall' Jackson on horseback. Critics who have long pushed for changes say the monument enshrines the 'Lost Cause' mythology that romanticizes the Confederate cause as a state's rights struggle, but state law protects the carving from any changes. After police brutality spurred nationwide reckonings on racial inequality and the removal of dozens of Confederate monuments in 2020, the Stone Mountain Memorial Association, which oversees Stone Mountain Park, voted in 2021 to relocate Confederate flags and build a 'truth-telling' exhibit to reflect the site's role in the rebirth of the Klu Klux Klan, along with the carving's segregationist roots. The Georgia Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans also alleges in the lawsuit filed Tuesday that the board's decision to relocate Confederate flags from a walking trail violates Georgia law. 'When they come after the history and attempt to change everything to the present political structure, that's against the law,' said Martin O'Toole, the chapter's spokesperson. Stone Mountain Park markets itself as a family theme park and is a popular hiking spot east of Atlanta. Completed in 1972, the monument on the mountain's northern space is 190 feet (58 meters) across and 90 feet (27 meters) tall. The United Daughters of the Confederacy hired sculptor Gutzon Borglum, who later carved Mount Rushmore, to craft the carving in 1915. That same year, the film 'Birth of a Nation' celebrated the Reconstruction-era Ku Klux Klan, which marked its comeback with a cross burning on top of Stone Mountain on Thanksgiving night in 1915. One of the 10 parts of the planned exhibit would expound on the Ku Klux's Klan reemergence and the movie's influence on the mountain's monument. The Stone Mountain Memorial Association hired Birmingham-based Warner Museums, which specializes in civil rights installations, to design the exhibit in 2022. "The interpretive themes developed for Stone Mountain will explore how the collective memory created by Southerners in response to the real and imagined threats to the very foundation of Southern society, the institution of slavery, by westward expansion, a destructive war, and eventual military defeat, was fertile ground for the development of the Lost Cause movement amidst the social and economic disruptions that followed," the exhibit proposal says. Other parts of the exhibit would address how the United Daughters of the Confederacy and the Sons of Confederate Veterans perpetuated the 'Lost Cause' ideology through support for monuments, education programs and racial segregation laws across the South. It would also tell stories of a small Black community that lived near the mountain after the war. Georgia's General Assembly allocated $11 million in 2023 to pay for the exhibit and renovate the park's Memorial Hall. The exhibit is not open yet. A spokesperson for the park did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The park's board in 2021 also voted to change its logo from an image of the Confederate carveout to a lake inside the park. The exhibit would 'radically revise' the park's setup, 'completely changing the emphasis of the Park and its purpose as defined by the law of the State of Georgia,' the lawsuit says. ___
Winnipeg Free Press
03-07-2025
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
Confederacy group sues Georgia park for planning an exhibit on slavery and segregation
STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. (AP) — The Georgia chapter of a Confederacy group filed a lawsuit this week against a state park with the largest Confederate monument in the country, arguing officials broke state law by planning an exhibit on ties to slavery, segregation and white supremacy. Stone Mountain's massive carving depicts Confederate President Jefferson Davis, Gen. Robert E. Lee and Thomas 'Stonewall' Jackson on horseback. Critics who have long pushed for changes say the monument enshrines the 'Lost Cause' mythology that romanticizes the Confederate cause as a state's rights struggle, but state law protects the carving from any changes. After police brutality spurred nationwide reckonings on racial inequality and the removal of dozens of Confederate monuments in 2020, the Stone Mountain Memorial Association, which oversees Stone Mountain Park, voted in 2021 to relocate Confederate flags and build a 'truth-telling' exhibit to reflect the site's role in the rebirth of the Klu Klux Klan, along with the carving's segregationist roots. The Georgia Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans also alleges in the lawsuit filed Tuesday that the board's decision to relocate Confederate flags from a walking trail violates Georgia law. 'When they come after the history and attempt to change everything to the present political structure, that's against the law,' said Martin O'Toole, the chapter's spokesperson. Stone Mountain Park markets itself as a family theme park and is a popular hiking spot east of Atlanta. Completed in 1972, the monument on the mountain's northern space is 190 feet (58 meters) across and 90 feet (27 meters) tall. The United Daughters of the Confederacy hired sculptor Gutzon Borglum, who later carved Mount Rushmore, to craft the carving in 1915. That same year, the film 'Birth of a Nation' celebrated the Reconstruction-era Ku Klux Klan, which marked its comeback with a cross burning on top of Stone Mountain on Thanksgiving night in 1915. One of the 10 parts of the planned exhibit would expound on the Ku Klux's Klan reemergence and the movie's influence on the mountain's monument. The Stone Mountain Memorial Association hired Birmingham-based Warner Museums, which specializes in civil rights installations, to design the exhibit in 2022. 'The interpretive themes developed for Stone Mountain will explore how the collective memory created by Southerners in response to the real and imagined threats to the very foundation of Southern society, the institution of slavery, by westward expansion, a destructive war, and eventual military defeat, was fertile ground for the development of the Lost Cause movement amidst the social and economic disruptions that followed,' the exhibit proposal says. Other parts of the exhibit would address how the United Daughters of the Confederacy and the Sons of Confederate Veterans perpetuated the 'Lost Cause' ideology through support for monuments, education programs and racial segregation laws across the South. It would also tell stories of a small Black community that lived near the mountain after the war. Georgia's General Assembly allocated $11 million in 2023 to pay for the exhibit and renovate the park's Memorial Hall. The exhibit is not open yet. A spokesperson for the park did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The park's board in 2021 also voted to change its logo from an image of the Confederate carveout to a lake inside the park. Sons of the Confederate Veterans members have defended the carvings as honoring Confederate soldiers. The exhibit would 'radically revise' the park's setup, 'completely changing the emphasis of the Park and its purpose as defined by the law of the State of Georgia,' the lawsuit says. ___ Kramon is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Kramon on X: @charlottekramon.
31-05-2025
- General
Virginia capital likely has 742 unmarked graves, some of Confederate soldiers, study finds
RICHMOND, Va. -- An acre of land owned by the city of Richmond contains potentially hundreds of unmarked graves, some of which could belong to Confederate soldiers who died in the Civil War, according to a study released Friday. The city commissioned the land survey after drawing scrutiny for spending $16,000 to upgrade an area around a grave marker on the property that pays tribute to Confederate soldiers, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported. The stone marker was placed there in 1939 by the United Daughters of the Confederacy. It honors more than 100 Confederate soldiers from South Carolina who died in a wartime hospital across the street. The Richmond Free Press, a newspaper with a large Black readership, first reported on the upgrades, which had included fencing, landscaping and a new bench. The newspaper raised questions about city expenditures on the project in the wake of removing various other Confederate monuments in recent years. Richmond was the capital of the Confederacy. The city noted the scrutiny in the study, which sought to verify that the land had been used as a cemetery for Confederate soldiers. Using ground penetrating radar and other research methods, the study found that there are more than 472 probable graves and 270 possible graves there, if not more. The land was originally in the former Richmond suburb of Manchester, which was later encompassed by the city. Manchester bought the land in 1857, possibly for a cemetery, four years before the Civil War started in 1861. The study included a review of old municipal, hospital and burial records. Newspaper articles from the late 19th century and early 20th century reference people who died in the Civil War being buried there. Maps also show a cemetery existing in that spot in 1876, after the Civil War. The study found 'a circumstantial case that the property was used for wartime burials," while the research also 'indicates that soldiers from states other than South Carolina may have also been buried here.' The city bought the property in 1930. It now serves as a natural gas booster and storage facility. In its statement Friday, the city said it has consulted with historians and other officials to develop an access plan for the site. It would allow visitation to descendants of those believed to have been interred there and to others interested in genealogical research.
Yahoo
27-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Virginia moves to strip tax breaks for Confederate groups
The headquarters of the United Daughters of the Confederacy on Arthur Ashe Boulevard in Richmond. The organization owns more than a dozen Confederate statues in Virginia. (Scott Elmquist/ Style Weekly) Virginia took another decisive step in its ongoing reckoning with its Confederate past as the House of Delegates in a bipartisan move approved legislation to strip tax-exempt status from organizations tied to the Confederacy. House Bill 1699, which passed by a 53-42 vote on Friday, targets groups like the Virginia Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC), ending their property and recordation tax privileges. For Del. Alex Askew, D-Virginia Beach, the bill's sponsor, the measure is about fairness and priorities in a state still grappling with how to honor its history without glorifying a legacy rooted in oppression. 'A tax exemption is a privilege and not a right,' Askew said during a news conference at the state Capitol in Richmond last week, emphasizing that the legislation isn't about erasing history but addressing fiscal responsibility and equity. The bill specifically targets several groups, including the UDC, the Confederate Memorial Literary Society, and the Stonewall Jackson Memorial, Inc. If passed by the Senate and signed into law, these organizations would be required to pay taxes on their properties, aligning with Democrats' broader efforts to reassess Virginia's support of Confederate symbols and institutions. 'According to the administration and the Department of Taxation, my bill would have a positive effect on state and local revenues,' Askew said. 'And I'll say it again: This legislation does not challenge Confederate organizations' right to exist. It is not about free speech, it's not about taking down any monuments. But it's about fairness and financial and fiscal priorities of Virginia.' Askew's bill represents a renewed effort after an identical proposal was vetoed last year by Gov. Glenn Youngkin. The earlier measure, sponsored by Sen. Angelia Williams Graves, D-Norfolk, had successfully passed both chambers of the General Assembly in 2024 before being blocked by the governor. Youngkin justified the move by arguing the legislation unfairly singled out specific groups and set a dangerous precedent. In his veto statement, he called the current property tax exemption system inconsistent and outdated, noting that some organizations with exemptions, like the UDC and the Ocean View Democratic and Social Club, have affiliations or names that are politically or socially contentious. 'Narrowly targeting specific organizations to gain or lose such tax exemptions sets an inappropriate precedent,' Youngkin said. He argued for broader reform that would give local governments greater autonomy to determine tax exemptions based on their specific tax base and needs. The governor also criticized the shift in the legislative process that now allows a simple majority to revoke exemptions, saying it undermines fairness in the tax system. Askew, however, said during the news conference that groups like the UDC should be treated differently because they perpetuate the 'lost cause' narrative, which he argued romanticizes the Confederacy and obscures the true cause of the Civil War. 'Let's be very clear about what we're dealing with. Organizations like the United Daughters of the Confederacy have promoted the lost cause,' Askew said. 'Why is the commonwealth supporting groups that rewrite history to obscure the true cause of the Civil War? A war fought to uphold the institution of slavery, America's original sin?' The debate over Confederate memory has divided Virginia politics for decades, and this year is no different. While Democrats champion legislation to curtail state support for Confederate-linked groups, Republicans have introduced bills to bolster protections for Confederate monuments. HB 1884, introduced this year by Del. Wren Williams, R-Patrick, aims to restrict local governments' ability to remove or alter war memorials, including those commemorating Confederate figures. Williams framed his proposal as a response to what he described as selective erasure of history. In an interview last week, he said his concern extended beyond the removal of statues to efforts to 're-contextualize everything' and exclude certain parts of the past. 'There seems to be a revenge-type of mentality,' Williams said. 'The word 'vindictive' comes to mind because this is still history, but we're picking which history we want to remember.' He argued that preserving all aspects of history, even the difficult ones, is essential, adding, 'I think that we need to remember all history, and so this ties into that.' While Williams views the preservation of monuments and historical context as a necessary acknowledgment of all aspects of history, Askew sees such efforts as perpetuating a false narrative that continues to glorify a cause rooted in oppression. 'It breaks my heart that in this year, 2025, we're still having the same debate,' Askew said at the news conference. 'House Republicans introduced a bill to protect Confederate monuments when in fact there are commemorations of Confederate history everywhere we look. You encounter it right here in our capitol, you see it visiting the historical sites across the commonwealth, including buildings that were once used in universities as Confederate hospitals.' Founded in 1894 to assist Civil War veterans and their families, the UDC, a national service organization with 12,000 members, including 1,700 in Virginia, is headquartered in Richmond. The group operates from a historic building visited by about 500 people annually and employs four staff members living in the Richmond area. Though the UDC describes itself as a historical and educational organization, it has faced widespread criticism for its role in constructing Confederate monuments throughout the South and promoting a revisionist narrative of the Civil War, which it refers to as 'The War Between the States.' According to its 2022 tax filings, the UDC reported $10.4 million in net assets and an annual income of $157,988, with the Virginia branch alone holding $2.1 million in assets and generating $147,897 in income. After Askew's bill cleared the House Finance Committee on Monday in a 12-10 party-line vote, passing without discussion or opposition, UDC President Julie Hardaway, who resides in South Carolina, reached out to The Mercury by email the next day, claiming that she had attempted to voice her opposition to the bill virtually but was 'denied that opportunity.' Committee Chair Vivian Watts, D-Fairfax, refuted the claim, stating, 'It was on the public docket, posted more than 24 hours in advance, and when the bill came up, I asked for comment, paused, looked around, no one was there to testify. And I did not receive any information that anyone had registered for virtual comment.' In a statement on the UDC's website, Hardaway condemned Askew's proposal as discriminatory and unconstitutional. She argued the bill unfairly targets Confederate organizations, stripping their tax-exempt status while other groups remain protected under Article X, Section 6 of the Virginia Constitution, which grants exemptions for property used for historical and cultural purposes. 'This is viewpoint discrimination,' Hardaway said, pointing out that the UDC's tax-exempt status, granted in 1950 for property deeded to it by the state, aligns with these constitutional protections. She warned that passing the bill could set a precedent for other historical organizations to lose their exemptions and open the door to legal challenges. 'For these reasons, the UDC strongly opposes Virginia House Bill 1699 and believes that Confederate organizations have been targeted with a bill aimed at organizations the party in power deems unworthy,' Hardaway said. But Sen. Lamont Bagby, D-Henrico, chairman of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus, signaled that Democrats are preparing a slate of new legislative efforts aimed at addressing the legacy of Confederate-affiliated organizations like the UDC. 'We have a number of pieces of legislation, as well as packages that we are planning to roll out in the coming days and weeks as we are here to make sure that the voices of Virginians are heard, particularly Black Virginians,' Bagby said, adding that the proposals will focus on issues of equity and history. He emphasized the importance of learning from the past rather than erasing it. 'When we turn the page, we don't want to tear those pages and forget about it. We want to move on, but we also want to be able to reflect and understand the past,' he said. House Speaker Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, suggested that the organizations targeted by Askew's proposal are just the tip of the iceberg in a much broader effort. Scott noted during last week's news conference that while groups like the UDC are prominent and well-known, lawmakers are committed to identifying others that may be operating under less visible names or structures. 'There are so many of these organizations in Virginia. This is the former capital of the Confederacy,' Scott said. 'We have more monuments and roads named after the Confederacy than any other state in the union.' He likened the effort to 'catching racquetballs,' acknowledging the challenge of identifying every group tied to the Confederate legacy. Scott encouraged Virginians to assist in uncovering lesser-known organizations that may be hiding under different names or tax-exempt entities. 'We've got the ones we can catch, but if you got some that you wanna add to the list, feel free to send them to [Askew]. We will find them,' he said. He also accused some groups of deliberately obscuring their ties to Confederate history. 'They have done a very good job of camouflaging the whole idea around the War Between the States,' Scott said. 'If you have someone that they've hidden away under some different names or some different way, let us know, because we want all of them.' Askew remains steadfast in his push to strip tax exemptions from Confederate-affiliated organizations, even as he acknowledges the steep challenges ahead. He said he was surprised when Youngkin vetoed Williams Graves' similar proposal last year and expressed little hope that the governor would support his version this time around. 'I don't expect the governor to change his mind or pass this bill this year,' Askew said. 'But I do promise you that when his term ends, we'll bring this bill back. We'll work with the next administration to assure our history is told truthfully, not rewritten to serve the interests of those who seek to glorify the Confederates.' Askew emphasized the importance of holding lawmakers accountable on this issue, framing it as a moral test for Virginia's leadership. He called on those running for statewide office to take a clear stance on whether they support or oppose such measures. 'Virginia deserves to know where their leaders stand. Those running for statewide office here this year must make their resistance clear. No ambiguity, no dodging these questions,' he said. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
