Title: Del. McClellan honors Black History Month - YouTube

URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ey18tjwAE4

Collection: Virginia's Political Landscape Web Archive, 2013

Description: In remarks on the House floor, Del. McClellan shared stories about the lasting impact of legislation passed during the Jim Crow era. As more and more people are born after that time, they do not understand the full impact of the legacy of slavery and Jim Crow. Del. McClellan shared the impact of Racial Integrity Act which instituted the eugenics movement in Virginia and prohibited interracial marriage. It also went on to limit the options of race for birth records to "white" and "colored." This created issues for mixed-raced Virginians and the members of the Virginia tribes. If a parent did not select either option, the child was not given a birth certificate. This held true for many Virginians until as late as 1946. There are two examples of the long-lasting impact of the Racial Integrity Act, which was finally repealed in 1975. First, to get a government-issued photo id, you need to have a birth certificate. Yet many Virginians born as late as 1946 were never issued one. Second, Virginia's native tribes have had difficulty being recognized by the Federal government since they cannot prove a direct line of Indian heritage since under the Racial Integrity Act they were deemed "colored." Length: 7:35 minutes.

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Subject:   McClellan, Jennifer.,  Virginia. General Assembly. House of Delegates.,  Speeches.,  African American History Month.,  Interracial marriage - Law and legislation.,  Equality before the law. ,  Miscegenation.