Virginia’s education department proposed dozens of revisions to an elective course on African American history, striking some references to white supremacy and systemic racism among other changes, documents show.
Virginia
Va. proposed changes to African American history course, documents show
The department has not publicly released the proposed changes, which were submitted last August. The review was revealed in public records obtained by watchdog group American Oversight and shared with The Washington Post.
The proposed revisions were part of a review of whether the African American history elective complied with Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s executive order banning “inherently divisive concepts” from the classroom.
“The elective course is a comprehensive exploration of African American history, with a specific focus on African American history in Virginia, and fully discusses all aspects of African American history in its entirety — both good and bad,” education department spokesman Todd Reid said in a statement.
The order, which Youngkin announced after he took office in 2022, has previously been used to remove a number of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. It also was the basis for his administration’s short-lived “tip line” for parents and students to report teachers accused of teaching “divisive” concepts.
But the order has been used sparingly since. Last year, Youngkin cited it to call for a review of an Advanced Placement course on African American studies shortly after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis made headlines when his administration rejected the course. The state later said the AP course did not violate the executive order.
But a similar review was also conducted of the African American elective course, the records obtained by American Oversight show. The group filed a Freedom of Information Act request seeking records of all policies that were ended, materials that were removed, and changes made to the state’s curriculum under the executive order. The African American history course revisions were the only new changes proposed since February 2022 in the documents.
The proposed revisions are an example of how political decisions have the potential to impact classroom content. The documents show that the review offered more than 40 suggestions to the curriculum outline and course content. Many proposed changes focused on language, like changing the term “racism” to “discriminatory practices.” Others were more substantial, like striking a definition of “Black joy” and removing lessons on implicit bias and equity.
“White supremacy and institutional racism does not exist according to this document,” said Derrick Lanois, an associate professor of history at Norfolk State University who helped to develop and implement the course when it was introduced in 2020. The Post shared the proposed revisions with Lanois and several other scholars.
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Proposed changes to the course content outline |
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• Interactions that took place between Blacks and Whites in early colonial America, before chattel slavery and the birth of White privilege |
• Interactions that took place between Blacks and Whites in early colonial America, before chattel slavery |
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• Race and racism |
• Race and racism |
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• Impact of White supremacy as social control of African Americans |
Replaced with: Impact of the Eugenics movement on the social structure of Virginia |
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• The War on the persistence of institutional racism |
Replaced with: The Persistent War on Racism |
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*Chart is based on a document of proposed revisions to the African American History elective course map. |
Reid, the education department spokesman, said the course was reviewed under the executive order by professional staff on the department’s history team. They reviewed its compliance not only with the Youngkin order but with new history standards approved in April 2023.
Other state guidance and documents were reviewed under Youngkin’s Executive Order 1 in February 2022. Reid said he did not know why the African American elective course was not reviewed at that time but said that at some point in 2023 VDOE leadership realized the course needed to be examined.
The African American history elective course was announced in 2020 under Gov. Ralph Northam (D). It was developed by VDOE in partnership with Virtual Virginia, WHRO Public Media, and committees of history and social science public school educators, university historians, and college professors. The course launched in a limited number of school districts during the 2020-21 school year, then later expanded.
According to Reid, 45 divisions now offer the high school course in 89 schools with about 1,700 students enrolled.
Reid told The Post earlier this month that the revisions would be implemented for the 2024-2025 school year. But later he said he discussed it further with VDOE leaders, who said the course review was still ongoing. He emphasized that none of the revisions have been adopted.
Reid called the African American course a “unicorn” as the only elective course developed by the state. As such, he said there is no standard process, timeline or next steps for the review.
The changes to the elective come after the state was embroiled in controversy for revisions to its history standards, and as there have been efforts and legislation across the country to limit what schools teach about topics such as race, racism and sexuality in the classroom.
While revising its history standards last year, a process that happens every seven years, the education department was criticized for “whitewashing” history after it rejected a version of the standards developed under Northam and proposed an alternative that critics said placed less emphasis on marginalized groups. The document also included errors such as a characterization of Indigenous people as “immigrants,” and omitted references to the Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth holidays.
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Examples of proposed changes to course learning objectives |
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• explore the early colonial laws of Virginia to draw conclusions and make inferences regarding the rise of racism in America using institutions, such as slavery, as the mechanism of enforcement. |
• explore the early colonial laws of Virginia to draw conclusions and make inferences regarding |
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• analyze and explain the impact of how coming home to White supremacist customs and laws affected World War II veterans |
• analyze and explain |
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• investigate and understand that the University of Virginia was an institution on the forefront of the Eugenics movement and that the Commonwealth used this pseudo-science to control African Americans. |
• investigate and |
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• develop questions about the modern-day impact redlining continues to have on African Americans. |
• develop questions about the modern-day impact redlining |
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*Chart is based on a document of proposed revisions to the African American History elective course map. |
Chioma Chukwu, interim executive director of American Oversight, said the records about the proposed changes to the elective course “show the same pattern of attempts to whitewash and erase America’s legacy of racism that we’ve seen in other states, like Florida. While those in power have supposedly sought to shield students from ‘divisive concepts,’ it is clear that such measures are about protecting partisan interests and not about protecting children,” Chukwu said in a statement.
Other historians and experts contacted by The Post who helped develop the elective course’s curriculum said they were not aware of the proposed changes but raised concerns about some of the suggestions “sanitizing” the language of the course.
Lanois said he was struck by how many references were changed to broader terms like “discriminatory practices.” He said the proposed revisions seemed to downplay the role that the United States and Virginia played in racism, rather focusing on individual acts of racism.
One revision suggested changing a learning objective in the course from “Investigate and understand that the University of Virginia was an institution on the forefront of the Eugenics movement and that the Commonwealth used this pseudo-science to control African Americans.” to “investigate and describe the Eugenics movement and that the Commonwealth used it.”
In another instance, the curriculum references a quote from King calling “White moderates” a “great stumbling block” in the fight for equality. A proposed revision suggests changing the language from “White moderates” to “those moderates.”
Stephanie Richmond, an associate professor of history at Norfolk State University who also helped develop and train teachers on the course, said it seemed like VDOE staff was trying to maintain the spirit of the course while complying with the executive order. But she said the broader challenges to curriculum happening around the country are especially concerning.
“I think it’s really a disturbing trend that infringes on the academic freedom of educators … to teach what they see as important,” Richmond said.
When asked about the criticisms, Reid emphasized that no changes have been adopted.
The course, Reid said, “is a whole picture, both good and bad, of the history here in Virginia and nationally. It does not shy away from anything.”
Gov. Abigail Spanberger speaks at a press conference announcing there is a deal to authorize cannabis sales and put the legislation in the upcoming budget, Tuesday, June 16, 2026, in Richmond, Va. (Mike Kropf/Richmond Times-Dispatch via Getty Images)
Richmond Times-Dispatch via Getty Images
For the last five years, Virginia cannabis has existed in a strange policy gap.
Adults could legally possess it. They could grow it at home. They could gift it. They could consume it. But if they wanted to walk into a licensed adult-use dispensary and buy a tested, labeled product from a regulated business, Virginia still had no legal retail market.
That contradiction has defined the Commonwealth’s cannabis story since 2021, when Virginia became the first state in the South to legalize adult-use possession. The original promise was bigger than decriminalization. It was supposed to be the beginning of a regulated commercial market—one that would move consumers away from the illicit market, create room for small businesses and farmers, and finally give the state an enforceable framework for products already being sold and consumed.
Instead, Virginia legalized the front end of adult use without opening the front door of the industry.
Since then, the state has been caught in political limbo. Retail implementation stalled after the 2021 elections. Republican control of the House slowed the process. Former Gov. Glenn Youngkin later vetoed adult-use retail bills. Operators, investors and would-be applicants watched session after session with the same question: when would Virginia finally stop treating cannabis like something adults could legally have, but not legally buy?
The answer appeared close in 2026. With Gov. Abigail Spanberger in office and Democrats controlling the General Assembly, cannabis advocates expected the retail framework to finally move. Lawmakers sent the governor a bill that would have launched adult-use sales in 2027. Spanberger returned it with amendments, including a later sales date, a lower possession limit than lawmakers proposed, a higher future tax rate and tougher enforcement provisions. The legislature rejected those changes.
Then came the veto.
For many in the industry, Spanberger’s May veto landed as political whiplash. After years of delay, the state had once again stopped short of launching a legal adult-use marketplace. Worse, the veto came from a governor many advocates and operators expected to be more receptive than her predecessor.
For Brett Puffenbarger, CEO of Old Dominion Cannabis, the moment carried personal weight. Puffenbarger has spent nearly a decade in the cannabis industry and saw Virginia’s 2021 legalization as a chance to bring that experience back home.
“I have been in cannabis for almost a decade, and when Virginia first legalized adult use, it looked like an opportunity to build on that career in my home state,” Puffenbarger said via email. “I had been in Florida for years, but I was born and raised in Virginia. We moved back five years ago because we believed the Commonwealth would eventually open a regulated market. Now Old Dominion Cannabis is preparing to compete for cultivation and manufacturing licenses.”
That kind of long-range planning is common in cannabis. It is also risky. Markets can take years to open. Rules can change overnight. A state can legalize possession and still leave businesses waiting for a real path to licensure.
Virginia became a case study in that uncertainty.
The veto seemed to push the market another year down the road. But within weeks, the same framework came back in a different vehicle: the state budget. Spanberger, Sen. Lashrecse Aird and Del. Paul Krizek announced a compromise that would create a regulated adult-use retail market through budget language, with sales beginning July 1, 2027.
That turnabout changed the mood almost immediately.
“When the veto came down, we thought, ‘Here we go again—another year gone,’” said Jody Roun, COO of Old Dominion Cannabis, via email. “To see the conversation turn around this quickly through the budget process was surprising and exciting. For operators who have been planning around a moving target, it finally feels like there is a path.”
The compromise is not the same bill lawmakers originally passed. It reflects concessions to the governor, especially on timing, taxes, possession limits and enforcement. But it also preserves several priorities from legislators and advocates, including a larger retail cap, statewide access and a framework designed to give small businesses, farmers and microbusinesses a chance to participate.
Here are 10 key pieces of the framework Virginia is now poised to put into law:
1. Adult-use retail sales would begin July 1, 2027. The Virginia Cannabis Control Authority would begin accepting license applications on February 1, 2027, giving regulators time to write rules, establish testing standards and build the oversight structure before stores open.
2. Adults 21 and older would have a legal retail channel. Virginia already legalized adult possession and limited home cultivation, but this framework would finally allow consumers to purchase regulated cannabis from licensed retailers.
3. The adult possession limit would increase from one ounce to two ounces. That is less than the 2.5-ounce limit lawmakers originally sought, but higher than the current possession limit.
4. The state would allow up to 350 retail cannabis establishment licenses. Regulators would not be required to issue them all at once, but the cap is designed to create enough access to compete with the illicit market.
5. Localities would not be able to opt out of the market. That matters because local bans in other states have often left consumers with limited legal access and preserved demand for unregulated sellers.
6. Delivery services are expected to be allowed as part of the regulated market. Combined with the retail cap and no local opt-outs, delivery could become an important tool for statewide access, especially in rural areas.
7. The tax structure would start relatively low. Adult-use cannabis would carry a 6% state excise tax at launch, increasing to 8% beginning July 1, 2029. Local governments could add another 1% to 3.5%, in addition to existing retail sales taxes.
8. The Cannabis Control Authority would gain expanded oversight over intoxicating hemp products. The compromise is designed to close Virginia’s 25:1 hemp loophole and move intoxicating hemp regulation away from the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and under the cannabis regulator.
9. The framework includes stronger child-safety and advertising rules. It would require child-resistant packaging, ban cartoon advertising and prohibit products shaped like animals, fruits, vehicles or humans.
10. The state would add stronger compliance and enforcement tools. Retailers could face escalating penalties for failing to check IDs, including possible license revocation for repeated underage sales. Stores would also have to be at least 1,000 feet from schools, hospitals, playgrounds and drug treatment facilities, while the CCA could maintain a public licensee registry, create a tip line and audit ownership and financial relationships.
“The cannabis license application cycle goes through peaks and valleys,” said Justin Singer, a partner at Feuerstein Kulick LLP and chair of the firm’s Regulatory Compliance and Licensing practice via phone interview. “We have been in an extended valley for sought-after licenses for some time, and as a result we have seen a tremendous amount of interest in this upcoming application process.”
Put together, the framework signals that Virginia is trying to do more than open stores. It is trying to correct the imbalance created in 2021: legal adults, legal possession, legal home cultivation—but no legal commercial channel for most consumers.
The challenge now is execution.
Cannabis regulators across the country have learned that legal markets do not automatically beat illicit ones. Taxes that are too high, licensing that is too slow, limited access, lack of capital and burdensome rules can all keep consumers in the unregulated market. Virginia’s relatively modest starting excise tax may help. So could the 350-store cap, if the state issues licenses in a way that creates real geographic coverage.
But questions remain. How quickly will cultivation and manufacturing licenses be processed? How much room will there be for independent operators? Will microbusinesses and impact applicants have meaningful access to banking and capital? Will existing medical operators have a first-mover advantage? And can the state build a market that is regulated enough to protect consumers without being so expensive and slow that it recreates the same illicit-market incentives legalization was supposed to solve?
For companies like Old Dominion Cannabis, the answer will determine whether Virginia becomes a real opportunity or simply another tightly controlled market dominated by the best-capitalized players.
Still, after five years of waiting, the significance of this moment is hard to ignore. Virginia is no longer debating whether adults should be allowed to possess cannabis. That question was answered in 2021. The question now is whether the Commonwealth can build a functioning legal industry around that decision.
The budget compromise does not end the work. It starts it.
For operators, the next several months will be about applications, compliance, capital and partnerships. For regulators, it will be about writing rules that can survive contact with the market. For consumers, it could mean finally having a legal way to purchase tested cannabis products in the first Southern state to legalize adult use.
Virginia took the symbolic step five years ago. Now it may finally be taking the commercial one.
RICHMOND, Va. — Jerrod Buford first picked up a paintbrush as a kid, never imagining that same creative outlet would carry him through his darkest days in prison.
Buford, who grew up in Williamsburg, was convicted and arrested as a young man and spent almost a decade behind bars. During that time, he struggled deeply.
“Turning to drugs and alcohol to kind of shadow over emotions,” Buford said. “Looking for acceptance, approval. Not just from my parents, but from friends, from, you name it. I mean, I tried to commit suicide, I don’t even know how many times,” Buford said.
WTVR
It was inside prison walls that art became more than a hobby.
“Throughout my prison time, I learned, the freedom that I desired, I’ve always had it. I got, I found it, in a box,” Buford said.
More than three years after his release, Buford continues to advocate for art as a tool for healing. He describes his work as a gift he feels called to share.
“I received a blessing from God that just allowed me to display what he’s given me,” Buford said.
For Buford, creating art is also a way of processing his past.
“That’s what art has done for me. It’s given me the ability to look at parts of my life, all parts of my life, and find the good and the negative, learn from the negative,” Buford said.
He shares his story and artwork with a wide audience through social media, including live sessions on TikTok, and holds art classes with new communities.
The Story Cafe
Buford said his mission is to help others find their own path toward healing — whatever form that takes.
“What I strive to do is guide this person to just create, man. Don’t care what people think about your creation, you just need to get it out,” Buford said. “Whether it’s with art, addressing your mental health, getting your life right — just do it.”
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This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy. To learn more about how we use AI in our newsroom, click here.
Lovingston, VA (7News) — Good Morning Washington interviews Amanda Beckwith of Virginia Distillery Company- one of the contributing distilleries to the Virginia Spirits Board’s 250th Celebration Trio Pack, a special, exclusive release created to commemorate America’s upcoming 250th anniversary. This limited-edition package features a curated collection of a rum, a gin, and a whiskey, all crafted from scratch by distillers in Virginia to celebrate the rich history and current state of distilling within the Commonwealth.
Beckwith elaborates on VA Distillery Company’s role in the project, noting her focus on Virginia-grown grain to make the bottle of unique whiskey that is included in the Trio Pack. It is also worth noting that the Trio Packs themselves were bottled and produced right here at Virginia Distilling Company!
American single malts are the newest official category of American whiskey, distilled from one grain and from a single distillery. Virginia Distillery Co specializes in this new category of whiskey and crafted their contribution to the Trio Pack with this very specialty. Given the limited remaining availability of the Trio Pack, its historical value and collectible nature, the message it loud and clear encouraging viewers to grab a pack before they are all gone!
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21+ Please drink responsibly, this content is sponsored by Virginia Distillery Company.
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