McAuliffe slams Youngkin over ad he calls “racist dog whistle”

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One of America’s great novels that chronicles the horrors of slavery erupted like a flashpoint in the closing days of Virginia’s gubernatorial race, with Democrat Terry McAuliffe and his allies accusing Republican Glenn Youngkin to campaign “racist”.

Toni Morrison’s “Beloved” is a staple of high school English programs, but a parent who advocated banning it from Virginia schools appeared in a new Youngkin ad posted Monday.

Laura Murphy, identified as a Fairfax County mother, recalls McAuliffe’s opposition to legislation she advocated that would have allowed parents to prevent their children from studying sexually explicit literature – an effort known to then under the name of “Beloved Bill”.

The book that Murphy opposed is never mentioned by name in the one-minute spot, but was “Beloved,” a Pulitzer-Prize winner for fiction in 1988 by Morrison, the famous black writer who went on to follow. won a Nobel Prize for Literature.

“There is only one thing that is disgusting and disgusting here, and that is Glenn Youngkin’s latest racist whistle,” Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney said on Tuesday during a call that the Democratic Party of Virginia organized for reporters. “Black Virginians know it when they see it and know it when they hear it.”

Youngkin’s campaign dismissed accusations of racism by drawing attention to Black Virginia lawmakers who voted for the legislation, included in similar bills of 2016 and 2017. The bills passed with support bipartisan before McAuliffe, during his first term as governor, vetoed them gratuitously. reasons for speech, anxious to censor the teaching of classics deemed offensive.

“Are these Democrats racist? Youngkin spokesman Matt Wolking asked in an email.

McAuliffe is looking to take over the job he held from 2014 to 2018, and polls show a level playing field between him and Youngkin, a former CEO of private equity giant Carlyle Group who has made education a central issue. of his campaign. Virginia law prohibits governors from serving consecutive terms.

Youngkin grabbed a remark from McAuliffe during their last debate, where, while defending his vetoes on the bill, the former governor said he didn’t think “parents should tell schools what they want.” should teach ”.

In the Youngkin announcement released this week, Murphy recalls working with lawmakers in Virginia to address concerns about the book.

“As a parent, it’s hard to catch everything,” she says. “So when my son showed me his reading assignment, my heart sank. It was one of the most self-explanatory materials you can imagine. I have met with legislators. They couldn’t believe what I was showing them. Their faces turned bright red with embarrassment.

McAuliffe, adds Murphy, “doesn’t think parents should have a say. He said that. He excluded us.

“Beloved” centers on a black woman haunted by the young girl she killed to spare a life of slavery. The book, later adapted into an Oprah Winfrey film, has been a staple of the high school curriculum ever since, although scenes of rape and bestiality have sparked complaints from activists and parents like Murphy.

Since the announcement began on Monday, McAuliffe and his allies have presented Youngkin’s strategy as an effort to ban books by black writers, although the realities involving the legislation are more nuanced. Democrats also see an opportunity to tie Youngkin’s attack to their main argument: that the Republican candidate is a more recent version of former President Donald Trump, who used racist rhetoric in his campaigns.

“In the final week of this race, Glenn Youngkin doubled down on the same divisional culture wars that have fueled his campaign from the very beginning,” McAuliffe said in a statement Monday night. “Youngkin’s closing message on the book ban and the silence of esteemed black authors is a racist whistle designed to garner support from the most extreme elements of his party – primarily his main supporter and surrogate, Donald Trump.”

Youngkin did not campaign with Trump, but Democrats – including former President Barack Obama last weekend at a rally with McAuliffe – criticized him for not doing more to distance himself from Trump’s rhetoric . The Republican called for auditing the voting machines, an argument that plays into Trump’s lie that the 2020 election was stolen from him.

“People who want to ban books on slavery and racism is what Glenn Youngkin said he would stand up for if elected. That’s who Glenn Youngkin wants to elect him,” Louise said. Lucas, pro tempore Democratic President of the Virginia Senate, in Tuesday’s appeal with the state party. “While this kind of rhetoric coming from Glenn Youngkin is shameful, it is nothing new.”

Lucas, responding to a question from a reporter, also berated Democratic lawmakers who backed the “beloved” bill.

“I hope they have learned the lesson over time that these are really attempts to try to silence the voices of black authors and bring us back to a time when the works and progress of black people will not be recognized.” , she said. “And for those of us who know our history, we’re just not going to just sit back and let this happen.”

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