Staunton NewsMONDAY,

Leader -OCTOBER 17, 2022 | NEWSLEADER.COM

10/17/2022 PART: OF
Page A01THE USA TOD

Tourism surges Racist

propo
for Waynesboro raises
anger
Patrick Hite
Staunton News Leader
USA TODAY NETWORK

FORT DEFIANCE —
racist homecoming pro
ently made by one Au
student has spread on
and angered many in th
The sign read, “If I
would pick cotton ... bu
I’m picking you for hoco
Aysia Nelson is a sen
fiance. She told the New
the proposal was sent fr
fiance student to a stud
school. She shared the p
book Wednesday and
more than 100 comment
day morning.
The News Leader ha
dently confirmed that th
tured in the photo is a s
Defiance. We reached o
trators at both Fort Defi
gusta County Public Sch
ment Thursday morning

See RACIST, Page 2A

Direct visitor spending reached $66.9M in 2021 Biden u

Trump
Laura Peters
Staunton News Leader
USA TODAY NETWORK

WAYNESBORO — Direct visitor

spending from Waynesboro jumped
Mexican official
more than 40% over 2020, according to his country is n
a release. board with Bide
An economic impact analysis by the
Virginia Tourism Corporation said di- new border poli
rect visitor spending for the city reached
$66.9 million in 2021 — which is 41.6% When Joe Biden was r
over 2020 and 10.4% over 2019. The White House, he den
study said the local tourism industry President Donald Trum
supported 731 jobs, with the state and tion policies, but now
local tourism-related tax revenue to- Trump-era rule to contr
taled $5.3 million. Venezuelan migrants.
In the state as a whole, tourism gen- Title 42, first used
erated $25.2 billion in visitor spending emergency public healt
in 2021, the VTC said. That meant an allow the United State
87% recovery to pre-pandemic spend- grants from seeking asyl
ing in 2019. That spending supported der, based on the need t
185,000 jobs, $7.1 billion in salaries and the spread of COVID-19.
wages and $1.8 billion in state and local Under the new Bide
taxes, the releases said. tion policy, Venezuelan
The VTC said that the Shenandoah swim across America’s
Valley was one of three regions that sig- Top: Ridgeview Park in Waynesboro is one of the city’s top der will be expelled and
nificantly contributed to the overall re- attractions. It has access to the South River, three soccer lan who illegally enters M
covery in the commonwealth. Eighty of fields, five tennis courts and several ball fields. ama will be ineligible t
Virginia’s 133 localities have fully recov- KATELYN WALTEMYER/THE NEWS LEADER United States.
ered to 2019 levels of spending, the re- But as many as 24,00
lease said. Above: A view of downtown Waynesboro. Direct visitor will be accepted at U.S.
spending in 2021 rose 41.6% over 2020 and 10.4% over 2019.
See TOURISM, Page 2A MIKE TRIPP/THE NEWS LEADER NATION & WORLD, Page
October 17, 2022 9:08 am (GMT -4:00) Powered by TECNAVIA
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as CBD typically don’t produce intoxica- There’s Katy Perry’s De Soi, which is not drinking.” before stopping a medication and tak-
Staunton
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they Leader - 10/17/2022
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this.”: A02

Tourism communities across the state, Virginia

Continued from Page 1A
The two other regions include coastal
Virginia and the Blue Ridge Highlands.
“Tourism has seen an incredible
comeback thanks to the hardworking
leaders in the travel and tourism indus-
try across Virginia,” Rita McClenny,
president and CEO of VTC, said in a re-
lease. “As travelers continue to visit
is on pace to restore the tourism indus-
try into the vibrant and highly perform-
ing economic engine it always has been.
We look forward to an even stronger re-
covery in 2022.”
Restaurants, hotels, attractions and
more were negatively impacted by the
pandemic, creating job shortages. Now,
visitor spending in Waynesboro has fully
recovered and outpaced 2019 levels, the
release said, but employment in the hos-
pitality industry has not recovered, lag-
ging 9%. Economic recovery will be de-
pendent on tourism, the release said,
and Waynesboro will leverage its bud-
ding tourism industry to support eco-
nomic recovery and growth locally.
“Our beautiful setting, great location
and fantastic amenities made Waynes-
boro and the entire Shenandoah Valley a
haven for travelers from more urban
areas in the midst of the pandemic,”
Jennifer Kiser, tourism and marketing
manager for the City of Waynesboro,
said in a release. “The opening of new
dining establishments, shops and rec-
reational opportunities throughout the
pandemic shows resilience in our com-
munity and positive momentum in our
local tourism industry.”
Laura Peters is the trending topics re-
porter at The News Leader. Have a news
tip on local trends or businesses? Or a
good feature? You can reach reporter
Laura Peters (she/her) at lpeters@new-
sleader.com. Follow her @peterslaura.
Subscribe to The News Leader at new-
sleader.com.

Racist speak with any student or family with

Continued from Page 1A
“The division is aware of an offensive
photograph containing a ‘Homecoming
proposal’ by a student that was shared
on social media,” Miranda Ball, a
spokesperson for the school division,
emailed Thursday afternoon. “The lan-
guage used in the proposal is offensive
and contrary to the values reflected in
division policies and division expecta-
tions for all members of our school com-
munity. The school division does not
condone or support the message con-
veyed in the proposal and condemns the
harmful and demeaning message in the
proposal.”
Ball said that the issue has been ad-
dressed as a disciplinary matter by
school administration, but that action is
confidential.
“School counselors and administra-
tors are available at all of our schools to
concerns related to or regarding this sit-
uation,” Ball said.
She also said that the division has
become aware of the existence of an
“unofficial Facebook page purporting to
be a representation of Fort Defiance
High School.” She did not say how or
even if that page was associated with
this specific photo.
“Administration is actively investi-
gating the creation and content shared
on that page and will take all necessary
action to both close the page down and
hold any creators or posters to that page
responsible for any misrepresentations
made there,” Ball said. “Anyone with in-
formation about this unofficial page or
any of its posts should contact Fort De-
fiance High School administration im-
mediately.”
The photo in question shows a per-
son who appears to be a white male
wearing a gray hoodie sweatshirt with a
logo on it. In addition to the wording
above, the sign has a picture of a cotton
TODAY’S BONUS CODE
boll.
“As a student of color who has had to
do this constant battle, very literally
when I say every year, I’m feeling super
invalidated in my feelings when things
like this are brushed over or hushed
with a simple suspension,” Nelson said.
“I know that there’s only so much they
can do but accountability is the first and
easiest step.”
Brianna Cole commented on Nelson’s
post.
“I don’t know who thinks this is okay
but it’s really not,” she wrote. “I am dis-
gusted and disappointed in Fort. I went
here and I just can’t believe what the
world is coming to… DISGUSTING.”
Picking cotton is closely associated
with the African slave trade in the Unit-
ed States. Cotton was key to the south-
ern economy in the U.S. during the
1800s and was responsible for a rise in
the importing of enslaved people from
Africa. Ushistory.org wrote that,
“250,000 new slaves arrived in the Unit-
ed States from 1787 to 1808, a number
equal to the entire slave importation of
the colonial period.”
It was also brutal labor the enslaved
people were forced to perform. Accord-
ing to a Vox story, “the labor of each per-
urb went viral last spring. There was a
similar incident in Sarasota, Florida in
2018, and another in Big Lake, Minneso-
ta in 2021.
Chanda McGuffin is co-founder of
RISE, a Waynesboro-based civic group
formed to give voice and support to the
Black community.
“Whenever we see things like this, it
solidifies why RISE exists,” McGuffin
said. “Our Black scholars need to know
they are worthy of being in the same
spaces that their white peers are and
their ancestors were enslaved not
slaves.”
Among its many activities, RISE of-
fers after-school and summer programs
for interested students.
“These boys that are making up the
homecoming signs could benefit from a
RISE Workshop,” McGuffin said. “It’s
not your intent that matters but your
impact of the decision to make a sign
like this.”
Jaida Crawford posted the same pho-
to as Nelson did on Facebook, writing,
“Back again with Fort Defiance. It’s bad
enough they run around with an indige-
nous war bonnet on, but to stoop this
low as an individual. Culture appropria-
tion and Racism, what more are you go-

son was tracked daily, and those who ing to do next?”

did not meet their assigned picking Fort Defiance High School’s nick-
goals were beaten. The best workers name is “Indians.”
were beaten as well, the whip and other Nelson said about the incident at Fort
assaults coercing them into doing even Defiance that, unfortunately, it isn’t the

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more work in even less time.”
The wording of the homecoming
sign, or some variation of that wording,
has appeared on other homecoming
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this month a similar incident took place
at Accomack County High School on
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ing almost the exact same as the one at
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and more! homecoming. That post appeared on
social media but was soon deleted.
A similar incident happened earlier
this month in Manchester, New Hamp-
shire. A video of a prom proposal that
included this wording in a Chicago sub-
first time she’s encountered racism.
“I’m use to these sorts of things here,
slurs and racist remarks are common,”
she said. “This specific one was abso-
lutely disgusting and the fact that it was
on school grounds is even more unset-
tling to know I go here with people who
feel that way. I think more can be done.
It’s not fair to the people of color to not
feel welcome in a school some of us have
also grown up in.”
Patrick Hite is The News Leader’s
education reporter. Story ideas and tips
always welcome. Contact Patrick (he/
him/his) at phite@newsleader.com and
follow him on Twitter @Patrick_Hite.
Subscribe to us at newsleader.com.

CORRECTION
The spelling of Staunton City Council candidate Erik Curren’s name was incorrect in
three separate stories by The News Leader. Corrections have been made to the
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