‘Hey Hey, Ho Ho.’ Tom Garrett Holds Congressional Town Hall at UVA

Congressman Tom Garrett VA5 UVA Batten School Town HallTuesday morning’s email included a news release from the office of Representative Thomas Garrett who represents the sprawling Fifth Congressional District of Virginia.

I say “sprawling” because the district is larger than the states of New Jersey and Vermont and extends from the North Carolina border in the south to the edges of the DC suburbs in the north. It includes the last capital of the Confederacy in Danville, Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello in Albemarle County, and parts of Fauquier County, the home of Chief Justice John Marshall. History it has, in abundance.

History was the point of Congressman Garrett’s news release, which announced that he had introduced legislation to honor Barbara Johns, the then-teenager from Farmville who led a walk-out of her segregated “school” to protest substandard conditions. That protest played a part in the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education that “separate but equal” is inherently unequal and violates the constitutional rights of students and others who must endure disfavorable treatment by their government.

In introducing the bill, H.R. 245, Congressman Garrett said:

Barbara Johns embodies everything that we value as both Virginians and Americans. Real courage by a 16 year old girl who sought to change a clear injustice is something we should admire and remember. Designation of this day will preserve her legacy and serve as a reminder that we should always strive to stand for what’s right, even in the face of adversity.

As a state senator from Virginia’s 22nd district, Garrett had previously introduced similar legislation to honor Barbara Johns, which was eventually passed by the General Assembly through the help of his successor, Senator Mark Peake (R-Lynchburg).

That resolution, SJ340, declares that “the General Assembly designate April 23, in 2018, and in each succeeding year, as Barbara Johns Day in Virginia.” Garrett’s resolution extends that commemoration nationwide and “requests that the President issue a proclamation calling upon the people of the United States to observe ‘Barbara Johns Day’ with appropriate ceremonies and activities” to contemplate the civil rights movement and the role that students like Ms. Johns played in it.

Today’s press release resonates, in particular, because last Friday in Charlottesville, Representative Garrett participated in a town hall meeting hosted by the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia. Not five minutes passed before a group of protesters rose up with a large banner and began chanting, “Hey hey, ho ho, white supremacy’s got to go.”

Watch here:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFf9b-hIOCc&w=480&h=270]

The disruption did not last long and the next nearly two hours of Q&A and give-and-take between Garrett and his constituents passed without any more raucous behavior and hardly any rancor. What’s interesting was Garrett’s response to the protesters, which you can also hear in the video above:

We were talking about this in the green room, as we heard some chants outside that you’ve all heard, “Hey hey, ho ho, white supremacy’s got to go.” My chief of staff said, “We agree.” So I think it’s appropriate to extend a round of applause to President Sullivan for making this happen, so I invite you to do this. [Applause] And then I quote, with honor, the founder of this institution: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: That we are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.” Folks, there’s no place for white supremacy in the forum of Thomas Jefferson’s university or the nation of the United States of America. Let’s have a bipartisan round of applause [to affirm that (inaudible, then applause)].

Congressman Thomas Garrett Virginia Bearing DriftThere were many other topics discussed during the town hall: health care, immigration, energy, climate change, presidential tax returns, rescheduling marijuana, gas pipelines and eminent domain, the federal budget and its impact on the University of Virginia. Originally scheduled to last 90 minutes, Garrett agreed to extend it another half hour and promised to seek a larger venue the next time he holds a town hall meeting in Charlottesville. (According to another news release from his office, dated April 3, “Garrett’s next radio town hall is scheduled for April 13 from 7-9 pm with Joe Thomas on WCHV 107.5 and in person on May 9 in Moneta, Virginia.”)

You can see the complete video of Congressman Garrett’s town hall in Charlottesville in four easily digestible parts: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4. After the town hall, the congressman sat down with me privately to discuss foreign policy. Because he sits on the Africa subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, that interview was published Monday on Sub-Saharan Monitor.

Сейчас уже никто не берёт классический кредит, приходя в отделение банка. Это уже в далёком прошлом. Одним из главных достижений прогресса является возможность получать кредиты онлайн, что очень удобно и практично, а также выгодно кредиторам, так как теперь они могут ссудить деньги даже тем, у кого рядом нет филиала их организации, но есть интернет. http://credit-n.ru/zaymyi.html - это один из сайтов, где заёмщики могут заполнить заявку на получение кредита или микрозайма онлайн. Посетите его и оцените удобство взаимодействия с банками и мфо через сеть.