RVA Politics Profile picture
Jul 20, 2020 14 tweets 6 min read Read on X
Last week, a #BLM protest march stopped in front of council member Kim Gray's house. Did this action cross a line?
#RVAProtests #RVA #RVAPolitics #Thread
1/
richmond.com/news/local/ric…
Key problem: there’s no rulebook for movement action. There ARE what scholars call “repertoires of contention” – models presented by previous movement actions that current actors draw upon (only sometimes in organized way)
2/

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Repertoir…
Repertories/models include protest march (your Aunt Karen’s “right way” to protest). But menu also includes sit-ins to the barricade to the Molotov cocktail. Where to deploy and where to draw the line are not universally agreed upon
3/
Tactics/Strategy are hard. I see at least 3 open questions facing those who claim to speak for the movement here in Richmond, or at least want to drive movement action 4/
FIRST: how much to reach out to authorities, including police?

Remember when we had a "march with police"? An EVENT, NOT A PROTEST? Was this collaboration with the enemy, or attempt to create meaningful dialogue?
5/
commonwealthtimes.org/2020/06/13/vir…
Remember also: authorities have 2 responses to movement: repression and co-optation. They will try to engage movement leaders in "normal" politics to defuse the movement, sometimes just to delay meaningful change
6/
So, for example, what to make of Stoney's Task Force on Public Safety? Good folks involved, but I think Landon Shroder in @RVAmag has it right: a way to run out the clock in an election year. Skepticism is appropriate here
7/

rvamag.com/politics/opini…
SECOND, How much to rely on/work with white allies? Lots of mistrust among city's Black community, and hard to blame (whites don't have good track record). Some worry whites will hijack the movement for their own purposes, or won't be there when it counts
8/
THIRD, how best to put pressure on public officials? And so we get to staging at Gray's house. On one level, makes sense: target powerful politico & mayoral contender who has been perceived as overly critical of the movement
9/
BUT: she's one of few Black women in power, at home w/ children, with history of segregationist threats on her family; armed protestors + laser lights could be perceived as intimidation/threat. (All pointed out by critics online) Does this cross the line?
10/
You could argue the action was successful in reinforcing Gray's conservatism on movement action; she went on talk radio next day to liken movement to "terrorism." City's progressives may not like disconnect
11/
newsradiowrva.radio.com/blogs/richmond…
But also may have reinforced widespread view of movement as lawless/violent. Problem for all movements. Even those who cheered when the monuments came down wanted cranes, not chains. Many, many people do not understand contentious politics and want return to "normal"
12/
Choices over tactics and strategy are never easy, and are often how and where movements fracture. Movements require disruption to work, but too much disruption can turn too many against you. But you never really know until it happens. Bottom line: No easy answers.
13/

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More from @rjmarr

Sep 3, 2021
As I prep my political theory class for this fall, I'm struck that one thing the TX abortion law should hammer home, and that some of us sometimes forget: conservatism is openly hostile towards individual freedom
#Thread
1/
As ideology, conservatism embraces ancient ideas of difference. Plato's Republic imagines world where people are sorted according to innate characteristics; Aristotle thought democracy was worst form of government. To Greeks, some people just better suited to rule than others
2/
In 1790, Brit Edmund Burke essentially launched conservatism by criticizing the French revolution. Liberty is fine, Burke argued, but what if it's the liberty of a "madman" or "murderer"? Freedom needs constraints, and isn't for everyone
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Read 12 tweets
May 6, 2021
As #VAGOP convention approaches, candidates talking about banning "critical race theory" from our schools. We know that racist appeals work on many white voters (hi Donald!) but this one is especially insidious. Here's why
#Thread
1/
First, #CriticalRaceTheory is term for some pretty high-level scholarship and theoretical work, like real pomo philosophy shit. Crenshaw, Delgado, Bell. Mostly influential in legal theory. Time mag explainer (h/t to @bluevirginia) is just fine:
2/
time.com/5891138/critic…
Key here: CRT is WAY less influential than critics claim, even in theory circles. Often mocked by traditional establishment voices. Just check this '98 Cornell law review article that claims to take CRT seriously, but actually drips w mockery/disdain
3/
scholarship.law.cornell.edu/cgi/viewconten…
Read 10 tweets
Apr 16, 2021
Maybe you've seen this, but this week my students and I went on an eye-opening trip through the @americanpano Mapping Inequality project from @UR_DSL

#Redlining in #RVA: a quick #Thread
1/
Background: the federal govt's Home Owners' Loan Corporation was a New Deal org aimed at helping people keep their homes post-Depression. Financially, it did pretty well - even turning a small profit
2/
trumanlibrary.gov/library/public…
But to "help" mortgage lenders, they generated maps of urban areas, color-coded by how "secure" neighborhoods would be for home loans. Here's the RVA map - guess what they based "security" on?
3/
Read 9 tweets
Sep 26, 2020
Happy weekend VA! Earlier this week I tweeted out #VoteNoOn1, the redistricting commission amendment. I'm still a No, but feel a Prof's need to clarify after hearing from some folks on both sides
#Thread
1/
Earlier I said we all want Non-partisan, but even A1 supporters say that's basically impossible. What we actually want is INDEPENDENCE. Current SB 5015 tries to specify criteria for citizen members beyond "party picks" so it would help if passed
2/
But doesn't get over the fact that legislators are on the commission, and that one or two of them could use their veto power for mischief. In an uneven partisan environment (where GOP routinely kicks Dems' ass on process/power) I don't see a way around that
3/
Read 9 tweets
Sep 22, 2020
Good morning VA! As early voting ramps up around the state, now’s a good time to remind you to Vote NO on Amendment 1, which supposedly ensures fair redistricting. I’m not convinced. Here's why:
#VoteNOon1
#Thread
1/
Background: you probably know that “redistricting” - drawing district lines for state legislature and Congress - is super important is for setting the political course of the next decade. So do politicians, which is why they try to control it
2/
A coalition pushed for fair, non-partisan process by 2019 deadline. (Constitutional amendment in VA needs GA to pass a resolution twice, then approved on voter ballot Q.) They didn't get it! Instead, they put in place a compromise
3/
Read 15 tweets
Sep 15, 2020
Anyone check out the #RVAProtests "112 Days" show on @CBS6 last night? You can watch it on MSN (linked below), but I did so you don't have to. Two big thoughts:
#Thread 1/

msn.com/en-us/news/us/…
First, the doc not great on repping protestors. Some efforts to give voice to protest, but probably not central figures. I get it - it's hard to parse, there's no "President of the Movement," and lots of folks probably didn't want to talk
2/
But still - why so much freakin' Mark Holmberg? Why let him complain that protestors marched at Lee Circle but not Gilpin Court- and then ignore multiple anti-eviction actions?
3/
richmond.com/news/local/wat…
Read 9 tweets

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