Virginia Panel Investigating Black Community Displacement By Public Universities Criticized

The Newport News task force is reviewing decisions approved by the city that led to the displacement of a Black middle-class community.

A Virginia task force has faced criticism for its investigation of Black communal displacement by public universities and colleges in the state.

According to the Virginia Mercury, the Newport News task force continues to review decisions approved by the city and Christopher Newport University (CNU) that led to the displacement of a Black middle-class community. However, they have allegedly lacked transparency about the progress of their work and research.

The group has pushed back against accusations, with one member stating that it takes time to acquire the necessary background information on the matter. The group members appointed by the city’s mayor mainly stem from the city council and university officials.

“It seems as if we’re quiet, but we’re working deeply to get knowledgeable about the information,” stated Joni Ivey, the entity’s sole citizen representative.

The task force was launched following the findings of an investigative series initiated by the Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism at WHRO and ProPublica. They discovered that an all-white Newport News council in the 1960s seized 60 acres originally meant to expand a Black community. Instead, the land went to build CNU.

However, according to the Newport News community, one citizen is not enough representation. Furthermore, no residents of the historic Black communities became members. Pastoring the City, an interfaith group in the area, also brought up this issue in an editorial letter.

“We were unhappy that no resident of Johnson Terrace or other representative of the Shoe Lane neighborhood were named to the task force,” the group wrote.

They also urged for the task force to submit a timeline for their activities, as well as appoint members directly from the impacted neighborhoods. They also wanted CNU to affirm that their expected 2030 expansion will not impact other homes.

Despite this pushback, the task force remains adamant that local families will be integral to their final recommendations and report. However, their lack of direct participation leads many to question the authenticity of this notion.

The group asserted that they will collaborate with residents and the overarching CNU community. However, they left questions of how they would do so unanswered. Moreover, residents remain apprehensive to fully trust the task force’s intentions or recommendations.

“There’s a lot of mistrust there because of how they’ve handled things in the past,” explained Dwayne Johnson, whose family lives in one of the last remaining households of the destroyed neighborhood. “Are we going to be trusting of them? They have to really show us something to even earn a little bit of it.”