The Daily Escape:
Drone view of Cape Kiwanda SP near Pacific City, OR – August 2022 photo by headstandphotography
This story is another example of what’s wrong in our nation. It describes the increasing politicization inside our federal bureaucracy. The US Postal Service (USPS) has closed a post office located in the Montpelier VA Railroad Depot because of an exhibit the USPS called “unacceptable”.
The exhibit was about racial segregation.
The post office opened there in 1912; the exhibit has been there since 2010. According to the Roanoke Times, USPS spokesman Philip Bogenberger emailed on Aug. 9, saying:
“While we attempted to address the issue with the property owner, that effort was unsuccessful, and it was decided that the proper course of action was to suspend the facility and provide service to our customers from nearby postal retail units,”
The property owner is the Montpelier Foundation. The display is on a panel on one exterior wall of the depot and on panels inside the 1912 station. The post office has its own entrance, separate from the rooms in which the display is shown. Among other things, the exhibit depicts the depot’s waiting room during Virginia’s racially segregated era.
Here’s a photo of the now closed Post Office:
And here’s a (blurry) photo of the offensive exhibit:
The train station was built in 1910 by the industrialist William duPont. He had moved there in 1900 to live with his family in Madison’s’ historic mansion. Because the US was racially segregated, duPont built the station with separate waiting rooms for Blacks and Whites. The post office opened in the building in 1912 and it has been a post office ever since.
In 2010, the Montpelier Foundation created the exhibit. It tells of African American life in Virginia’s Orange County and the nation during segregation, as well as the train station’s history with the duPonts.
Adding to the current controversy, Elizabeth Chew, Montpelier’s interim president and CEO, said that despite what the USPS spokesperson said:
“The US Postal Service did not contact the current CEO or chief of staff, nor did it contact the previous CEO or chief of staff.”
In order to close a post office, the USPS is required to make a determination in writing, and then make it available to the customers served by that post office. It may not close it until at least 60 days afterward.
The overall question of why close this particular post office after more than 100 years, and without proper procedures, has gotten Rep. Abigail Spanberger, (D-VA) involved. She wrote Gerald Roane, the USPS’s Virginia district manager, inquiring about the abrupt discontinuation of service for Orange County residents:
“…I am concerned by this abrupt discontinuation of mail service that has prevented those we serve from receiving the important items they rely on…I am also extremely frustrated by the lack of transparency, forewarning regarding the closure, and information following the closure that my constituents and local officials have received.”
Spanberger is right to ask: “who decided this, and why”? This was an historical exhibit, not a political statement. It’s important to be reminded of that repressive time so that it is never repeated. It seems that this is cancel culture of a bureaucratic kind that doesn’t want our little ones to feel guilt or shame for the racist and segregationist actions of their parents, grandparents, and ancestors.
In our federal bureaucracy, new policies are first vetted by subject matter experts, usually lower level staffers with deep knowledge of the area. Ideas that pass muster are then elevated to managers who are familiar with the proposed policy’s broader implications. Finally, proposals go to that thin layer of political appointees who are there to assure that any policy meets the goals of the administration.
Ultimately, agency heads or cabinet secretaries make the final call. So in this case, who are the ones trying to hide racism and segregation from the rest of us? Were they waiting for today’s atmosphere of outrage and victimhood to right a grievous wrong of exposing this chapter of local history?
How deeply in our federal bureaucracy have these Republican termites buried themselves?
Somehow I wonder if this is tied to the Postmaster who is a Trump appointee. I volunteer in Park Service site and I can affirm that we focus on making known the injustices of the past – to the extent that they relate to the history we tell. So I always point out that our historic houses had slaves, so did most inns and taverns. The numbers were not as large as in the South but slaves were still there. We also highlight the different role of women. So curious to see how this pans out. Given the way NPS handles this, I am actually shocked. (Genuinely)