A black farmer in Virginia posted a scathing rebuke of his Progressive neighbors whom he says are more racist than avowed white nationalist Richard Spencer.
Chris Newman is the owner and operator of Sylvanaqua Farms in Charlottesville, the hometown of Thomas Jefferson. In nearby Lee Park, the city is planning to remove a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. Protesters from both sides of the debate have met at the location. Some hold Confederate flags, some hold “Love Trumps Hate” signs. Spencer has led some of the protests in favor of keeping the statue.
From Newman’s perspective, however, it’s not Spencer or the flags that bother him so much. It’s the hypocrisy of the so-called tolerant Left.
“I know some folks are really feeling themselves about this whole Love Trumps Hate counter-rally to Richard Spencer's punch-worthy shenanigans in Lee Park,” Newman’s Facebook post stated. “I’d like to appreciate it, but frankly I just don’t.”
There’s a lot about Charlottesville that Newman likes, he said, "[I]ts natural beauty, its small size, the friendliness of its people, and its food. But folks, here's something else: Charlottesville is by far the most aggressively segregated place I've ever lived in or visited.”
Newman explains that racial profiling by police “and the citizens who summon them” has gotten way out of hand. Bad enough, he claims, that in 2014 - 2015, he stopped renting farmland where he was easily seen from the road and stopped making deliveries into wealthier neighborhoods. Newman noticed when he was in those neighborhoods, the police always “happened by” and questioned him.
“I’m not a paranoid kinda guy, but this happened way too often to be a coincidence,” Newman added.
Then he dropped the bomb on the real racists in town:
It isn't Richard Spencer calling the cops on me for farming while Black. It's nervous White women in yoga pants with “I’m with Her” and “Coexist” stickers on their German SUVs.
“Do you really think that problem comes from people like Richard Spencer?” he asked.
But there's another aspect to the segregation Newman sees. C’Ville Weekly’s Instagram feed, he said, features black people only when its related to “sports, singing, criminal justice, or single parenthood.”
“White people, meanwhile, are represented as political activists, chefs, cogs in the gig economy, musicians, dancers, people who get married, visual artists, songwriters, architects, landscapers, thespians, artistic directors, wedge-heel-wearing rugby players, dog lovers, farmers, firefighters, and people who play with their kids in cul de sacs.”
“Richard Spencer is not the editor of C'Ville Weekly,” Newman reminded.
Truth is, as a Black dude, I'm far less bothered by the flag wavers in this picture than this town's progressives assuming its race problem has nothing to do with them. The former is a visual inconvenience. The latter could leave my daughters without a father.
So please, put down the candles and instead ask yourself: why is my city like this? Why is life like this for Black people in my wonderful city? The answer is a lot closer to home than Richard Spencer or Lee Park.
The full post is below:
