Feb 7, 2020 - Politics & Policy

Virginia to abolish state holiday honoring Confederate generals

A statue of Confederate Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson in Richmond, Va. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Virginia's House of Delegates voted Thursday to eliminate a state holiday that honors two Confederate generals and replace it with Election Day instead.

Why it matters: The bill is among a slate of sweeping legislation passed by the state's General Assembly, which Democrats gained full control of last November.

Virginia also became the first southern state to pass a broad set of anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people earlier this week, per the Virginia Mercury.

The state of play: Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam will sign the legislation to eliminate Lee-Jackson Day, which honors Confederate Gens. Robert E. Lee and Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, from the list of state holidays.

Democrats have argued that making Election Day a state holiday in its stead will help to increase voter access.

Go deeper: Virginia Democrats seek to remove Lee statue from U.S. Capitol

Go deeper

Rashaan Ayesh, Sarah Grillo

8 mins ago - Politics & Policy

In photos: We've seen images like the protests in Minneapolis before

Photo: Kerem Yucel/AFP/MPI/Getty Images

The photos of protests around the country following the death of George Floyd during an encounter with Minneapolis police are hauntingly familiar. We’ve seen them many times before, going back decades.

Why it matters: "What is also unmistakable in the bitter protests in Minneapolis and around the country is the sense that the state is either complicit or incapable of effecting substantive change," Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, an assistant professor of African-American studies at Princeton University writes in the New York Times. The images that follow make all too clear how little has changed since the modern Civil Rights Movement began in the 1950s.

Go deeper (1 min. read)

Axios

Updated 9 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

Global: Total confirmed cases as of 11 a.m. ET: 5,968,693— Total deaths: 365,796 — Total recoveries — 2,520,587 — Map.
U.S.: Total confirmed cases as of 11 a.m. ET: 1,749,846 — Total deaths: 102,900 — Total recoveries: 406,446 — Total tested: 16,099,515 — Map.
Economy: The future of mobility in the post-pandemic world — George Floyd's killing and economic calamity are both part of America's unfinished business.
Supreme Court: Chief Justice Roberts sides with liberals in denying challenge to California's pandemic worship rules.
Public health: Hydroxychloroquine prescription fills exploded in March.
2020: North Carolina asks RNC if convention will honor Trump's wish for no masks or social distancing.
Business: Fed chair Powell says coronavirus is "great increaser" of income inequality.

Other resources (<1 min. read)

Axios

18 mins ago - Politics & Policy

The aftermath of George Floyd's death: Everything you need to know

A mural outside Cup Foods in Minneapolis, near where George Floyd was killed in an encouner with police. Photo: Steel Brooks/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin is in jail under $500,000 bail on charges of third-degree murder and manslaughter after a video of him kneeling on George Floyd's neck for more than eight minutes and Floyd's death catapulted the country's major cities into a state of protest.

The big picture: Floyd's fatal run-in with police is the latest reminder of the disparities between black and white communities in the U.S. and comes as African Americans grapple with higher death rates from the coronavirus and higher unemployment from trying to stem its spread.

Go deeper (2 min. read)