Take Action: Urge your elected representatives in the Virginia General Assembly to Support HB 961
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 2/3/22) – The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today expressed support for a bill in the Virginia General Assembly that would help protect historic African-American and Native American cemeteries.
Act Now: Click here to urge your elected representatives to support HB 961
https://action.cair.com/a/urge-your-elected-representatives-virginia-general-assembly-support-hb-961
Introduced by House Delegate Danica A. Roem (D), HB 961 (Cemeteries; registration, publication prior to sale), would tighten requirements for notification of heirs before the sale of property containing graves. The House Counties, Cities and Towns Sub-Committee will hold a hearing tomorrow to consider the legislative measure.
HB 961 requires “every locality to adopt an ordinance setting forth a register of identified cemeteries, graveyards, or other places of burial located on private property not belonging to any memorial or monumental association.”
It also provides “that the governing body shall publish a notice in a newspaper having general circulation in the locality at least two weeks prior to the sale of any property on such registry, or as soon thereafter as possible, and shall also publish the notice on the locality’s website, if one exists.”
“We encourage state and local governments to do all they can to protect historic gravesites and cemeteries that are often threatened by development or sale without the knowledge of the descendants of those buried on the properties,” said CAIR Director of Government Affairs Department Robert S. McCaw.
McCaw noted that last year, CAIR welcomed a vote by Virginia’s Prince William Board of County Supervisors to purchase land in the Thoroughfare, Va., community on which historic African-American and Native American cemeteries are located.
Those cemeteries are the final resting places of at least 300 enslaved people, freedmen/freedwomen and Native-Americans.
Video: CAIR Welcomes Vote to Preserve Land with Historic African-American, Native American Cemeteries
SEE: Coalition to Save Historic Thoroughfare (CSHT)
https://www.facebook.com/Coalition-To-Save-Historic-Thoroughfare-A-Town-Under-Siege-104115108438832/
He added that CAIR has joined calls for a stay on development activity in the historic area and has supported the preservation of such sites nationwide.
SEE: CAIR Welcomes Temporary Halt to Sale of Historic African-American Burial Ground in Maryland
CAIR Supports N. Va. Coalition Demand for Stay of Development Activity within Historic Virginia African-American and Native American Community
Video: CAIR Supports Protection for Historic Va. African-American, Native American Cemeteries
CAIR is America’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
La misión de CAIR es proteger las libertades civiles, mejorar la comprensión del Islam, promover la justicia, y empoderar a los musulmanes en los Estados Unidos.
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CONTACT: CAIR Director of Government Affairs Department Robert S. McCaw at 202-999-8292, [email protected]; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, [email protected]