This is Richmond.
— The🐰FOO (@PolitiBunny) January 11, 2025
They had a police chief take a knee in front of thugs burning and looting the city.
They had a mayor who tore down historic statues to stop racism.
Downtown Richmond is a ghost town and has turned into a shit hole but hey, it’s equitable! https://t.co/tWkofOt2xI
It's a strange city, there was a highway exit for Boulevard, just Boulevard; that was the name of the street and it intersected Monument Avenue, there was a statue of Stonewall Jackson in the middle of the intersection, put there in 1919; in 1996 Governor Wilder unveiled a statue of Arthur Ashe , the only non Confederate hero on Monument Avenue, at the intersection with Roseneath Road; in 2019 the boulevard was renamed for Arthur Ashe; during the mostly peaceful protests of the George Floyd incident of 2020, storefront glass was broken and several statues on Monument Avenue were vandalized, leading Mayor Levar Stoney to have all the Confederate statues removed and the intersections to be repaved, leaving only the Arthur Ashe monument on Monument Avenue at Roseneath Road; to me it seems obvious that the Arthur Ashe statue would be on Monument Avenue at Arthur Ashe Boulevard and that rather than just removing Stonewall Jackson that the intersection would have been reconfigured to receive Arthur Ashe.
ReplyDeletetom: your comment seems to reveal an intimate familiarity with Richmond. Did you (or do you) live there?
Delete2 of my kids live there, and I did a little research for the names/dates.
Deletewhen they moved there I would get off the highway at Boulevard... just Boulevard, which I thought was wierd... after some time I saw signs for the Arthur Ashe athletic center and Arthur Ashe Boulevard, and I thought that the Confederate Capital was very petty for not changing the highway sign until what might have been after the mostly peaceful George Floyd protests, so I looked up the dates and it became clear that the name change and the sign change were close enough for normal DOT action and not intentional slow walking, I'm glad that I checked and didn't just assume a racist narrative.
DeleteEventually, they'll have to change the name of the city in their quest to remove all connections to the CSA and slavery.
ReplyDeleteWho is the most famous dead drag queen from Richmond?
I'm willing to lay money that the most famous dead drag queen from Richmond was probably named Dixie something-or-other, so that may not work.
DeleteWhen I got out of graduate school, I eventually landed a job with Central Fidelity Bank in Richmond. Our first house was in a neighborhood in Northside - it had been built in 1938, and the builder was still living, three houses down from us. A two-story brick colonial, with a slate roof and a nice-sized yard. The highest quality construction of any house I've ever owned. After a few years, we moved to the outskirts, in Henrico County. I liked Richmond. The main library had fantastic books sales twice a year. There was a theater - somewhere in the old west end - that showed wonderful foreign films. Some great car shows in the area. Minor league baseball (the Richmond Braves', when we lived there) . Lots and lots of history. And, at the time, afternoon rush hour only lasted about 30 minutes.
ReplyDeleteI spent a weekend in Richmond back in early 1985. I was in the middle of a 3 month training course in Rockville Md and the company sprang for the accomodation in leiu of a trip home that the locals got.
ReplyDeleteMe and another ferriner went down to watch the Winston 500 our first Nascar race. We had a great time and I think that was when I fell in love with your country. Richmond seemed like a very nice city and the vibe was obviously very different to Washington where I had spent most of my free time at that stage.
My best memory was singing the Star Spangled Banner as loud as I could and then cheering when the
first lap thundered past. And the beer, the beer was good as well.
Mick, that's just about the most 100% red-blooded American thing you could've done. We ought to be able to give you American citizenship, no problem.
DeleteRight back at you mate.
DeleteSO many places have added themselves to my "Never" list...
ReplyDeleteAt least it vastly simplifies travel planning!
DeleteWhen Mr. H was studying at the Crystal City
ReplyDeletemilitary language school (1970s) we traveled through Richmond on our visits home to Ohio. The only reason it sticks in my mind is in that winter, there was a major snow storm on our trip home
I really hate the lack of edit option. Anyway, passing through, or rather around Richmond, we saw multiple car wrecks, and I don’t even know why I thought this was relevant.
ReplyDeleteCrystal City to Ohio through Richmond? Richmond is 100 miles south of Crystal City, totally the wrong direction, Ohio is west, north west, those gas station maps were a bear to navigate with.
ReplyDelete