It’s disappointing to witness current statements from those responsible for knowing the facts of our state’s history in denying education to all of its citizens.
Glenn Youngkin was never expected to be politically attuned to all of the variables and inconsistencies associated with racial discrimination. A classic example of this is his expressed displeasure with the use of the word “equity” and his determination to remove this language from the vernacular.
Recently, he railed against the report of the U.S. Department of Education and Agriculture which explicitly illustrated the inequality of funding for the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and Virginia State University. I’m reminded of an old proverb; “Not to know is bad; not to wish to know is worse.”
The federal government’s report represented examining statistics and data compiled through years of comparison with professional analysis. His administration’s knee-jerk response, as captured in the Richmond Times-Dispatch, was dismissive and insulting to the people of Virginia. It was a clear rebuke of the report’s data-based outcomes.
Youngkin has further failed to tell Virginians why tens of millions of dollars (estimated to be as much as $100 million) was spent by Virginia Commonwealth University for a failed real estate project. The people demand to know who received the taxpayer dollars.
He has yet to address his and the VCU Health and Board of Visitors’ lack of supervision and oversight, as they are CONSTITUTIONALLY bound to the people so to do.
In reading of his put down of funding for HBCUs, I’m reminded of another maxim, “A little knowledge is a dangerous thing; drink deep, or taste not of that Pierian spring.”
Stay tuned.