Editorial: Federal recognition for tribes in Virginia is long overdue

Friday, March 24, 2017  

Citing a history of racist policies, newspaper in Virginia calls on Congress to extend federal recognition to six tribes in the state. Lawmakers have introduced H.R.984 and S.691 to correct what The Richmond Times-Dispatch calls an "injustice" to the first Virginians:

Virginia’s tribes deserve better.

But then, they have deserved better for a very long time. One does not have to dissect the history of the Colonial era to reach that conclusion, either — just go back less than a century, to the Racial Integrity Act of 1924. The law required that official records of births stipulate that a child was either white or black (a different word was used at the time).

This had the effect of erasing the state’s Indians from official existence — and never mind the treaties the tribes had signed many decades before.

Read More on the Story:
Editorial: It's way past time the federal government recognized Virginia's Indian tribes (The Richmond Times-Dispatch 3/24)

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