VOICES: A LETTER OF HOPE TO MY CITY BY NICOLE MASON

Dear Richmond, RVA, & the Greater 804,

This is an open letter of hope to my city!

Four months ago, none of us would have predicted that our whole world would be upside down and that Richmond would be at the center of protests. But here we are, at a place that history books will call a “pivotal moment.” Will we pivot back to what we know? Will we become uncomfortable and embrace the tough conversations, realities, and decisions that are sure to come?

Here are some hopes I hold onto:

We Will Finally See Things As They Truly Are: Recent events simply pulled the covers back on matters we were already struggling with. Richmond has struggled with racial tensions, questionable leadership motives, segregated communities, competing priorities, disregard for others, and myopic planning for years.

Folks who say, “I don’t see color” and “we’re in a post-racial society” have now had to take off their rose-colored glasses. Folks who hate based on color or class can no longer live unsuspectingly in the shadows. Now is our day of reckoning for the sins we’ve overlooked for years. While there has always been good in our city, what hid underneath was unhealed wounds of pride, arrogance, indifference, prejudice, corruption, and lies. So the good struggled to be lasting because its foundation was a festering wound.

Richmonders live separate but equal lives in so many areas that it’s just normal. From the schools our children attend, to high-level business networking groups, and even where we attend church. But now we are being called out. Do we make this metropolitan city simply look diverse or will we actually become a just city that puts its movement where its “mouth is?”

We Will Stop Being Distracted by Cosmetic Change: Let’s agree as a city that statues are a separate issue from our current police brutality issues. Somehow, we’ve once again gotten distracted by what’s truly unjust. Interestingly enough, as a woman of color who was born and raised in the capital of the Confederacy, I have absolutely no desire to see statues removed.

I know how this typically plays out in Richmond. We get into an uproar on an issue that looks blatantly offensive, but we rarely touch the core issues that have allowed the remnants of the confederacy to still influence folks today.  Until we address the tenants of what the confederate army fought to defend, which remain visible in our community, I say we keep the statues.

The confederate army fought and died to keep people of color as property, and later second class citizens. However, we still see that sentiment in the way we fund Richmond Public Schools, the way we isolate children of color in housing communities with no way out, the way we circulate dollars amongst the elite while offering leftovers to others. We live in a city where one’s life expectancy is directly correlated to your zip code. Thanks to VCU’s Life Expectancy Mapping research, we know that Gilpin Court and the Museum district residents don’t have the same fighting chance at reaching the ripe old age of 77. Likewise, we live in a state that has ranked high for having the strongest “School to Prison” pipeline for our youth. So don’t take the statue down until you address the true injustice in our city, which negatively impacts many people of color.

People of Color Will No Longer Have To Carry The Burden of Injustice Alone: A few weeks ago, I drove through Bon Air and saw a very large set of painted letters in a yard, which indicated they too wanted justice for all.

I’ll be honest, I didn’t have hope that the movement for true change would be lasting or impactful until I saw this. The justice conversation somehow traversed the James River, crossed over Chippenham parkway, drove down several streets, and made its way to Bon Air. No offense to Bon Air, but I highlight this to say: Black people alone can not carry the burden of repairing a city that has been built on the backs of slavery and injustice.

I’ve seen what happens when white people get upset. Things change within a miraculous timeline when white folks get angry about things as small as insufficient sidewalks, potholes, and even the number of bike lanes.

For true change, communities of color need that same power in demanding change, becoming enraged, and challenging Richmond’s status quo. I am hopeful that – finally – the conversation will move from “I am so sorry to hear what’s happening in your (black) community to “what are we (Richmonders/Humans/Fellow Citizens) going to do about what’s happening in our (Richmonders/Humans/Fellow Citizens) community”?

I am hopeful that compassion fatigue, advocacy fatigue, racial conversation fatigue won’t set in. I am hopeful to sit down with my future kids and tell them how we used this pivotal moment to make lasting change!

Nicole Mason is a Social Enterprise Business Owner & Licensed Professional Counselor. Nicole is the Principal Founder of Glean LLC- Richmond’s premier social enterprise and commercial cleaner.