I don’t know about you, but I am excited that winter 2025 is history! As I write this column I am admiring a patch of yellow tulips outside my window and white flowers sprouting on a neighbors’ Bradford pear tree. The tell-tale signs that spring is here!
Even as seasons change, times change. In fact, a wise man once said the only constant in life is change.
Williamsburg-James City County School Board’s decision to form a committee to start the process of renaming James Blair Middle School reflects a community coming to terms with change. The measure was initiated by the Campaign for Honorable and Inclusive School Names when its research revealed that James Blair, the founding president of William & Mary, was more than an enslaver. He advocated for slavery for W&M, churches and individuals.
What prompts positive change? Growth. As we grow, we uncover new truths. Falsehoods are dispelled. We walk in the light of newly attained knowledge by disregarding old beliefs. For instance, during the Middle Ages, people believed that Earth was flat. People feared that ships could fall off the edge of Earth. However, this concept was scientifically disproven and people came to embrace the truth that Earth is a sphere orbiting the sun.
How we respond to change is the key. We can resist change or embrace it. Regardless of our response, change is inevitable.
Resistance to social change is often based on fear. It was manifested through Southern white supremacists who opposed the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. King was working toward progress. He wanted America to live up to its creed that “all men are created equal and endowed from their Creator with unalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
Admittedly we have a ways to go to fulfill King’s dream of equality and racial justice, but we must acknowledge the hard won progress that resulted in the 1964 Civil Rights Act and 1965 Voting Rights Acts. These twin pillars of national federal legislation aimed to level playing fields and to help transform our nation by outlawing racial and gender discrimination, and ending segregation and voter disenfranchisement.
When we see efforts underway to undermine landmark Civil Rights laws, we must move forward to keep King’s dream alive. When progress is met with backlash, we can not become frustrated.
Change requires taking action. James City County resident Mary Lassiter understood this in 2023 when she began working with Joe Caterine and the Campaign for Honorable and Inclusive School Names to advocate for renaming James Blair Middle School in Williamsburg and Magruder Elementary School in York County.
On March 31, a community town hall called “Voices for Change: Executive Orders and Community Impact” is planned at the James City County Recreation Center on Longhill Road. Organized by a coalition of organizations and led by the York-James City County-Williamsburg NAACP chapter, it aims to address recent executive orders that affect education, federal workforce, veterans, health care, diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility.
Continuing King’s work for justice, especially for historically marginalized groups, helps our community heal from racial wounds. Racial justice is the prerequisite to both healing and reconciliation.
There are always forces that will resist change, but change still comes — even as spring replaces winter.
When we come together to build more just and equitable communities, we all win!
Laura D. Hill is the executive director of the Virginia Racial Healing Institute, which manages Coming to the Table-Historic Triangle. Learn more about her work at varacialhealinginstitute.org.
