Former Virginia Governor Douglas Wilder (D), who was elected as the country’s first black governor more than 30 years ago, said the Virginia Library discriminates against him by failing to release his mandate records as they have for governors who have followed him.
Wilder, who took office in January 1990 and ended his term four years later, he told the Richmond Times-Dispatch that he does not understand how later, the white governors of the state have processed his documents before him.
“Why isn’t it racism?” Wilder asked, adding that he decided to go public with the dispute on Friday because “I thought Virginia taxpayers need to know this.”
“Negligence and obfuscation convey the handling of your administration’s governor’s documents as current examples of racism and are not well reflected in the state of Virginia,” Wilder’s assistant Angelica Bega told state archivist Michael Strom in a email message on Friday morning, according to the Times-Dispatch.
State librarian Sandra Gioia Treadway admitted to the newspaper on Friday that Wilder’s records had “fallen off the radar,” unlike the full records of the three white governors who succeeded him.
Treadway said the situation is “devastating to me, but we are addressing it.” She said budget cuts during the big recession led to fewer staff keeping records, though it’s not clear why Wilder’s are specifically missing.
State lawmakers have proposed legislation to ensure the proper filing of governor’s records, but efforts have failed in the past. Governor Ralph Northam (D) plans to call the assembly for a special session later this year to review the two-year budget.
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