Richmond Crusade for Voters Lambastes Effort to Relocate City’s Casino Opportunity
Richmond’s Crusade for Voters, a nonprofit system that works to elevate the political act upon and voting strength of Blacks in the Virginia capital, says efforts to relocate the city’s gambling casino opportunity are unjust.
Founded inward 1956 during the civil rights struggle, the capital of Virginia Crusade for Voters came inwards response to a statewide referendum on public educational activity that saw Blacks outvoted by a 4-1 margin. The referendum sought-after(a) to forestall local governments and their public schools from beingness allowed to cube integration.
Less than 50% of Shirley Temple Black voters inwards capital of Virginia voted during the January 1956 referendum. Since then, Crusade for Voters has rallied Blacks to bond unitedly to conjure their collective vocalisation on the state level.
The in vogue(p) publication Crusade for Voters believes could feature a important wallop on the Joseph Black community is Richmond’s gambling casino opportunity that was authorised through res publica legislation inwards 2020. Richmonders narrowly rejected a proposed $600 jillion casino proposal called One Casino + Resort during a Nov 2021 referendum.
More white, wealthy neighborhoods northward of the St. James the Apostle River voted strongly against the cassino project, which targeted vacant land just now off Interstate 95 adjacent to the Duke of Edinburgh Morris headquarters. The casino site is sou'-east of the city’s downtown area.
Casino Backstory
Richmond metropolis officials were tasked with fielding gaming resort proposals from interested developers after commonwealth lawmakers qualified the uppercase to mull a casino. The city’s Casino Evaluation Panel fielded half dozen bids, with tenders coming from the Bally’s Corporation, The Cordish Companies, Golden Nugget, Wind Creek Hospitality, Pamunkey Amerind Tribe, and Urban One.
The urban center in the end went with Urban One, a Black-focused media conglomerate. Urban One pitched One Casino + Resort inward conjunction with Peninsula Pacific Entertainment (P2E), a gaming stiff with a lengthy chronicle of managing casinos. The One Casino auction pitch to boot included nigh 50 local investors, most of whom identified as minorities.
One has a big mathematical group of various investors, providing opportunities for minority ownership and including representation across Richmond,” Urban One officials said in 2021. “One is virtually lifting people upwards and building wealthiness within the capital of Virginia community.”
After Richmond’s 2021 cassino referendum was voted knock down 51-49%, efforts commenced to relocate the city’s gaming opportunity to nearby Petersburg. The Richmond City Council wants to conduct a indorse gaming referendum this November.
Protecting Opportunity
White widening during the 2021 referendum was said to follow ameliorate than Negro turnout during what was the state’s gubernatorial. The Richmond City Council believes a more co-ordinated content almost the possible benefits that Urban One’s gambling casino would deliver the region would lure to a greater extent Blacks to vote inward supporting of the gaming question.
Leaders at the capital of Virginia Crusade for Voters say body politic politicians who consider a 2d voter turnout goes against the Democratic process, or who require to slip Richmond’s cassino favor and make a motion it to Petersburg, would wrongly refuse Negro residents of a considerable economical opportunity. During the state’s 2021 budget discussions, nation Sen. Joe Morrissey (D-Richmond, Petersburg) successfully slid inwards a supply that plugged Richmond from conducting another casino referendum until at least November 2023. Morrissey believes a casino in Petersburg would do good the part as a whole.
“We don’t require the flop to ballot on this to be taken away,” Richmond Crusade for Voters 1st Vice President Marty Jewell told the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Jewell is a former capital of Virginia urban center councilor.
This is the first off and only clip such a budget measure has of all time been passed to deny residents of a city their correct to vote, especially a majority-Black city,” Jewell added.
House Appropriations Chair Del. Barry Knight (R-Virginia Beach) is leading the budget crusade to city block another capital of Virginia cassino vote. State budget negotiations are dragging in capital of Virginia because of a stalemate betwixt Democrats and Republicans over how it’s best to proceed around thinning body politic disbursal past $1 billion, something Republican Gov. John Glenn Youngkin is demanding.
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