A20 EZ RE THE WASHINGTON POST.WEDNESDAY, JULY 31 , 2019
Trump unleashed a torrent of in-
cendiary attacks against Rep. Eli-
jah E. Cummings (D-Md.) and his
majority-black district that in-
cludes Baltimore, which he called
“rat and rodent infested” where
“no human being would want to
live.”
At Jamestown, a line of protest-
ers formed across the street from
the event space by 8:30 a.m., with
anti-Trump chants and signs call-
ing for impeachment.
Trump has long been unpopu-
lar in Virginia, the only Southern
state not to vote for him in 2016.
With all 140 seats in the state
legislature on the ballot this fall,
Virginia Democrats say taking a
stand against Trump will inspire
voters to show up in November
and help them make gains in the
General Assembly. Republicans
are nursing wafer-thin majorities
— 20-19 in the Senate and 51-48 in
the House, with a vacancy in each
chamber.‘Confront contradictions’
Inside the tent, Republicans
who control the General Assem-
bly emphasized the need to “con-
front contradictions” in Virginia’s
history, acknowledging that “the
legacy of Jamestown 1619 is com-
plex,” as Cox put it in formal
remarks.
Some of the contradictions
were captured by Cox himself:
He’s a Republican who was proud
to have Trump attend, but he’s
also a retired high school civics
teacher who said he was thrilled
to introduce remarks from histo-
rian Jon Meacham.
Meacham has said that Trump
joins Andrew Johnson as the
country’s most racist presidents.
The historian told the lawmakers
that “we don’t tend to build monu-
ments to people who build walls.
We build monuments to people
who open doors.” The line drew
applause from the same crowd
that would later cheer the presi-
dent.
Speaking in a reconstructed
version of Jamestown’s original
timber church, Meacham con-
demned “the maelstrom of Twit-
ter and tribalism.”
“We should not sentimentalize
the American experience,” he
said. “The nation has been moral-
ly flawed from the beginning. We
must be honest about that. And
our honesty should lead us to do
all that we can to be about the
work of justice.”
“Faith in representative insti-
tutions is ebbing,” he said. “Re-
flexive partisanship is the order of
the day.... Our politics are more
the clenched fist and the harsh
remark, more than the open hand
and the welcoming word.”
Bells rang as dignitaries en-
tered the church for the brief
ceremony, and then a 17th-centu-
ry honor guard with drum and
flag led the group from the church
to the tent where the president
would speak.
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[email protected]“Today, sons and daughters of en-
slaved Africans stand united, not
bound by shackles but bound by
common cause — to ensure that
the hopes and dreams and desires
of our ancestors come to fruition.”
Democrats stressed they were
not objecting to policy differences
with Trump but to what they
called a pattern of racist behavior.
“I’m just appalled that he’s cho-
sen race as the fundamental basis
for his campaign for reelection,”
said Del. Mark D. Sickles (D-
Fairfax), who praised how some
Republicans had pushed back
against anti-Muslim prejudice,
including former president
George W. Bush after the 9/
attacks and the late senator John
McCain (Ariz.) during his 2008
presidential campaign. “This is
not a dog whistle; it’s a foghorn.
This is plain, out-and-out racism.”
Tuesday’s events came afterthe General Assembly during Re-
construction, before poll taxes
and other Jim Crow-era restric-
tions disenfranchised black vot-
ers.
“We wanted to reflect this
morning, this week, this year on
the good, the bad and certainly
not forget the ugly,” said Del. Lam-
ont Bagby (D-Henrico), chairman
of the Virginia Legislative Black
Caucus. Noting the black legisla-
tors who served from 1869 to
1890, he said, “That is the passion
that has drawn us to this space
instead of Jamestown today.”
The group then walked three
blocks to the site of a slave jail
known as “Devil’s Half Acre” and
were joined by a few more legisla-
tors, Richmond Mayor Levar
Stoney (D), Rep. A. Donald
McEachin (D-Va.) and Herring.
“We are at the right place at the
right time,” Stoney told the crowd.Several Republicans praised
Trump for sticking to his message
and resisting the impulse to wing
it. The president seemed to read
closely from a teleprompter. At
one point, reciting a list of Vir-
ginia patriots from the Revolu-
tion, he paused at George Wythe.
“W-i-t-h,” Trump read, apparently
from a phonetic text. “A great
name,” he said.Alternative events
In Richmond, the Democrats
who boycotted the Jamestown
commemoration hastily arranged
alternative events Tuesday, in-
cluding a wreath-laying at the
state Capitol and a visit to the site
of a notorious slave jail.
Gathering shortly after 9 a.m.
inside the Capitol, 14 black and
white lawmakers laid the wreath
below marble plaques listing the
black lawmakers who served inwell as Democratic Reps. Elaine
Luria and Jennifer Wexton.
While many Democrats made a
point of not clapping, the crowd
was otherwise effusive, applaud-
ing and cheering loudly. About
halfway through, Samirah, wear-
ing a dark suit and holding a
white sign with black lettering,
stepped out into the center aisle.
“Virginia is our home! You can’t
send me back!” Samirah shouted.
Trump fell silent, and then the
crowd began to shout and boo.
Police escorted Samirah out.
“Here in Virginia, we’re going
to make it clear that democracy is
for all, not just the privileged,”
Samirah said later, citing Trump’s
recent comments that four con-
gresswomen of color — three of
them born in the United States —
should “go back” where they came
from, as well as the treatment of
immigrants at the Mexican bor-
der.
His sign read “Deport hate” and
“Go back to your corrupted
home.”
The Republican Party of Vir-
ginia denounced Samirah, reviv-
ing allegations that he is anti-
Semitic, which first surfaced
when he ran for office in a special
election this year and which he
has called a “smear.” Jack Wilson,
the party chairman, sent a fund-
raising email later in the day that
said: “Democrats hate America.
Instead of viewing the USA as a
land of the free and the home of
the brave, Democrats see a geno-
cidal country which can never do
enough to apologize to the world
for our existence.”
A small number of Democrats
walked out after Samirah’s pro-
test. The state’s Legislative Black
Caucus and other Democratic
lawmakers boycotted the James-
town events, and the caucus ac-
cused those who chose to attend
and remain silent of being com-
plicit in Trump’s racism.
While Northam and Attorney
General Mark R. Herring (D) left
hours before Trump arrived, Lt.
Gov. Justin Fairfax (D) stayed.
The second African American
to hold statewide office and a
descendant of a slave, Fairfax said
he stayed because the event was
bigger than any one person. He
did not clap for Trump but shook
the president’s hand at the start
and finish of the speech, and
Trump thanked him by name dur-
ing his remarks.
“The words I heard the presi-
dent say in that speech were in
many ways the right words but are
often directly contradicted by his
actions,” Fairfax said later.
Though surprised by Samirah’s
act of defiance, Fairfax did not
condemn it. “I certainly under-
stand the sentiment,” he said,
adding that the administration’s
treatment of asylum seekers is
“inhumane” and that Trump’s
rhetoric toward people of color
has been divisive.
“We’re here in Jamestown cel-
ebrating the birth of representa-
tive democracy. It’s all about peo-
ple’s views being heard,” he said.test that got him escorted out by
police and caused the heavily Re-
publican crowd to erupt in chants
of “USA!” and “Trump! Trump!
Trump!”
All on a day that Virginia lead-
ers had spent years preparing for
as a celebration of the state’s sto-
ried past.
“I don’t want to talk about that,”
House of Delegates Speaker Kirk
Cox (R-Colonial Heights) said
when asked about Samirah’s out-
burst. “I think it was a good day.
We’re really trying to focus on the
commemoration.”
Trump’s presence overshad-
owed elaborate efforts to ac-
knowledge the complexity of
Jamestown’s heritage. At every
step, speakers and organizers
were careful to emphasize that
1619 also marked the arrival of the
first Africans and the start of slav-
ery, as well as the first major
presence of women in the colony.
Neither group were represented
in that first legislative body.
“We have to remember who it
included and who it did not,”
Northam said at an early-morn-
ing ceremony at the site of the
original fort on Jamestown Is-
land. “That’s the paradox of Vir-
ginia and America and our repre-
sentative democracy.”
Northam, who fellow Demo-
crats urged to resign this year
when a racist photo from his 1984
medical school yearbook page
came to light, did not mention
Trump. But he spoke pointedly
about immigration and inclusive-
ness, two topics central to Trump’s
nationalistic rhetoric.
“No matter who you are, no
matter who you love, no matter
where you came from, you are
welcome in Virginia,” he said, and
then deviated from his script:
“There is nothing — nothing —
more American than that.”
‘Shared’ destiny
When Trump arrived later at a
giant air-conditioned tent at
Jamestown Settlement, a liv-
ing-history museum about a mile
from the island, he became the
first sitting president to address a
joint session of Virginia’s General
Assembly in its 400-year history.
He spoke of “our shared great,
great, great American destiny.
America always gets the job done;
America always wins. That is why,
after 400 years of glorious Ameri-
can democracy, we have returned
here to this place to declare to all
the world that the United States of
America and the great Common-
wealth of Virginia are just getting
started. Our future is bigger, bold-
er, better and brighter than ever
before.”
The audience of about 700 in-
cluded three former Republican
governors — George Allen, Robert
McDonnell and Jim Gilmore — as
well as a group of mostly Republi-
can state lawmakers and Rep. Rob
Wittman (R-Va.), who introduced
Trump. Former governor Gerald
L. Baliles (D) also joined them, as
JAMESTOWN FROM A
Trump’s presence turns Va. commemoration into protest
PHOTOS BY MATT MCCLAIN/THE WASHINGTON POSTTOP, MIDDLE: Police and reenactors are seen at Jamestown Settlement amid events
marking the 400th anniversary of Virginia’s General Assembly. ABOVE: People gather to
hear President Trump address the commemoration. The creation of a government by British
colonial settlers was “the greatest accomplishment in the history of the world,” Trump said.