NAACP was founded in 1909 by a multiracial coalition of blacks, Jews and other whites, I am reminded by Julius “JD” Spain Senior, president of the Arlington branch, who last year exploded in visibility.
This is one of the reasons why Spain wants to “get rid of the perception that everything revolves around people”, as the advocacy group takes on “structural racism” at the local level at a time of national tensions with the police and a relentless pandemic that is especially harsh for people of color.
The Arlington NAACP assessed the impact of George Floyd’s assassination last May in Minneapolis – on police policy and also on the unfortunate language used in November as a mnemonic by an HB Woodlawn professor (still on administrative leave pending an investigation, I confirmed) . She is working in schools in partnership with Challenging Racism and Black Parents of Arlington, and in partnership with religious groups at cultural anti-racism events.
And the branch in November managed to persuade the county to reconsider the use of the Arlington House plantation logo in official business.
Spain, a 26-year-old Navy veteran and now an Intel consultant who works remotely from his home in the Penrose neighborhood, is pleased to report that the number of paid members has increased from 200 when he was elected in 2018 to 707 this year. month.
While current events have inspired many supporters, Spain can also point to the “unique skill set” it brings to the “mission objectives” of a career that included combat in Iraq, diplomacy in Europe and legislative affairs on Capitol Hill. The South Carolina native is an “institutionalist” who believes in a disciplined political process. This inclines him to move away from the “perception” that the NAACP is an adjunct to the Democratic Party.
Although a Southerner comfortable with the diversity of Arlington, Spain – whose wife is Mexican – still sees things “through the lens of discrimination”. He fears that gentrification debates could leave many members of minority groups behind for a “place at the table”.
The NAACP was particularly vocal in criticizing the Arlington Police Department for the December episode in which a Black real estate photographer at a client’s home outside Fort Myer-Henderson Hall was reported as “suspicious” by neighbors. The professional was questioned and asked by police officers in five vehicles outside a gate full of security cameras.
Marlon Crutchfield “had a racial profile,” Spain said, adding that he is not satisfied with the department’s subsequent denial of any undue manipulation, and the branch filed a request for internal documents in the state of Virginia about the incident. “What about escalation reduction tactics?” he asks. “The police must be attentive to the pulse of the country.”
Still, on the whole, the NAACP maintains “the utmost confidence and security in the police,” said Spain, hoping that they can be “reinvented” rather than withdrawn from funds.
I asked Spain if the notion that the Arlington House logo is offensive because of past slavery leads to an impulse to rename the county itself.
“We have a dark past,” he said. But the NAACP branch, whose members recently heard a presentation by the National Park Service on the recently modernized (but closed during the pandemic) slavery exhibition at Arlington House, is submitting the County Manager’s long-term community engagement process. , Mark Schwartz, to consider a series of local nominations. “There is no perfect answer” about what will be done, Spain said. And yes, renaming the county itself would be “hard work”.
Some “first” ones in Arlington, selected from my history books.
The first private telephone line was installed in what is now the headquarters of the Knights of Columbus, installed in 1894 by the inventor and educator George Saegmuller.
The county’s first cement driveway was placed outside the pharmacy opened in 1905 at N. Glebe and Wilson Blvd., by coroner Williamson Welburn.
The first residential residential plumbing and electricity were taken advantage of by developer Frank Lyon, who in 1907 built them in Lyonhurst (now the Catholic Order Missionhurst CICM), in the forest near Old Dominion Dr. on N. 25th St.