Hampton Roads legislators weigh in as commission studies uprooting of Black communities

A legislative commission studying the uprooting of Black communities by public universities met for the first time Tuesday in Richmond, with members outlining their goals and expectations.

“I am very interested in this topic simply because Norfolk historically has been the very core and center of redlining and displacement,” said Del. Bonita Anthony, a Norfolk Democrat. “My expectation is for us to gather as much information as we can and to look at overarching policies that the General Assembly can put in place to make sure we don’t repeat history.”

The commission consists of state legislators and civilian members. It was formed following a project examining the issue through a partnership between ProPublica and the Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism. The investigation focused on Christopher Newport University, which was established in Newport News in the 1960s on land taken from a Black community through the use of eminent domain.

Cassandra Newby-Alexander, a commission member and history professor at Norfolk State University, said she hoped the legislative panel would focus on reparative justice.

“The next step has to be to heal,” she said. “Healing doesn’t just come from acknowledgement. It comes from actual steps to repair because right now we are structurally still in a racist society.”

Hampton Roads has the highest percentage of segregated housing in the nation, Newby-Alexander explained.

“We still see disparities in funding, even though our area is the second largest producing area in the commonwealth of Virginia,” she said.

Sen. Danny Diggs noted that CNU and Newport News are already working to study the school’s past.

“They are making great progress and I certainly look forward to learning about our history and how we got to where we are at today,” said Diggs, R-Yorktown.

The city and CNU created their own joint task force earlier this year to research the decisions that led to placing the university in the Shoe Lane neighborhood. Its mission statement says it seeks to acknowledge the past, preserve the Shoe Lane neighborhood’s heritage and pave the way for equitable strategies moving forward.

The commission also heard from Brandi Kellam, a reporter who led the initial investigation. Kellam said there are only five homes from the Shoe Lane neighborhood remaining today.

“This is not just a local Newport News issue, not just a city council issue, not just a college issue,” she said. “This is a collective, systemic dismantling of a community by several parties in power across the state of Virginia.”

Kellam highlighted several other examples. She said Lambert’s Point in Norfolk was leveled in the 1960s-70s to make room for a new branch of the College of William and Mary, which later turned into Old Dominion University. Lambert’s Point was previously a middle class Black community. The move displaced more than 150 families.

The University of Virginia, meanwhile, wiped out a Black community and business district called Vinegar Hill when the school needed more room for its growing student population in the 1960s.

Kellam said residents valued their neighborhoods and tried to push back.

“Urban renewal is portrayed as a tool to revitalize dilapidated communities; blight was a very popular term used in the 1950s and 60s,” she said. “But as you can see based on (our reporting), these were actually thriving Black communities.”

On Friday, CNU spokesperson Jim Hanchett said in an email that the university is communicating with the commission and monitoring its work.

“Christopher Newport University looks forward to working with the Commission on this important initiative,” he wrote.

Katie King, katie.king@virginiamedia.com