Letter from the Editor
This issue of 1619: Journal of African American Studies features the research and analysis of Virginia’s education policies that supported the systems of structured inequality that continue to impact the lives and futures of African American and low-income students in the Commonwealth. As the controversy over the teaching of critical race theory roils in the politics of many school districts throughout the nation, this article demonstrates the use of historical facts to demonstrate the long-term impact and reality of legal constructs on inequality. While political opportunities have arisen to debate the value of academic theory, historical fact reveals an undeniable pattern of intent to exclude and limit the opportunities of African Americans seeking to partake in and continue to contribute to the fruits of our nation and society. The article is authored by Dr. Shayla Nunnally, Director of Africana Studies Program at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in conjunction with her former University of Connecticut student, Michael Christie.
Dr. Brooksie Harrington, Professor of English at Fayetteville State University, is the author of an important article on African American sacred music. Dr. Harrington is often referred to as a “Renaissance Man,” and “a gift to the entire Gospel music world,” in the eyes of world-renowned gospel artist, Pastor Shirley Caesar. His article reveals the nexus between the Sacred and Romantic aesthetics in the nature of the African American Gospel genre. This dimension of analysis adds to our understanding of the profound and mystical textures of the genre that go beyond the traditional views of Gospel's interconnections with other forms of music. The interpretation of Gospel from the lens of these two musical aesthetic traditions is an insightful addition to our knowledge of the African American experience.
Dr. Judson L. Jeffries and his co-authors continue to query the implications of police violence towards African American individuals and communities in the nation. The authors begin with the clear paradigmatic view that law enforcement is an arm of the state and possesses a monopoly on the ‘means of violence,’ in a body ‘politik’ in which they are funded by taxpayer dollars. However, despite being taxpayers who contribute to the salaries and funding support for police officers and law enforcement institutions, African Americans are socialized to be, or become through experience, extraordinarily submissive and fearful of police, especially white police officers. The historically contentious relationship between white police, and for the most part African Americans, has origins in the system of enslavement. Yet, despite movement toward inclusion and racial advancement, the continuation of racial animus by law enforcement remains the most profound measure of the nation’s “failed promise of Liberty,” for African Americans.
“Who is that Woman" is our featured poem by Dr. Benjamin Foster, Jr., who gives homage to the African American woman.
Finally, as this issue is published during the week of July 4, 2021, homage is given to our great ancestor, Fredrick Douglas, who queried, “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” A question that continues to be relevant, though this year, 2021, Juneteenth became an officially recognized federal holiday.
The next edition will be the much-anticipated feature on the 2020 election.
Walton Brown-Foster, PhD
Editor-in-Chief
July 4, 2021
