Editor:

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) recent public meeting for Buckingham County was a double insult. First, it was held in Farmville, not Buckingham, and second, the location was the Moton Museum, which was founded to display the history of civil rights in education. The vice chair of Moton’s Board of Trustees is a Dominion employee and Dominion has donated at least $500,000 to Moton.

Shortly after the FERC meeting, Gov. Terry McAuliffe named a government office building in Richmond after Barbara Johns, a civil rights movement hero who was instrumental in birthing desegregation while she was attending Moton High School in the 1950s. During the building’s dedication, McAuliffe said, “I trust that this generation won’t quit, but stand strong and continue to demand social justice and human rights as she did.”

Pretty hollow words since the governor refuses to support an African-American community in Buckingham that is experiencing social injustice and human rights violations right now.

It was ironic (and sickening) that Pastor Paul Wilson — who was arrested in front of the Governor’s Mansion while protesting Dominion Transmission’s plan to build a constant 24/7 polluting compressor station in the midst of his parish — had to come to a civil rights museum, endowed by Dominion, to record his comments to FERC.

Virginians need to come to the aid of an African-American community under assault. Otherwise, having a museum like Moton is only a reminder of past injustices while ignoring current ones.

Vicki Wheaton

Faber