Opinion: Youngkin’s Vision for Virginia
Election Day this year in Virginia sparked national attention as the state voted for governor. After a close race, Republican candidate Glenn Youngkin won the election with a 50.8% majority, according to the Virginia Department of Elections.
Terry McAuliffe ran against Youngkin as the Democratic Party’s candidate, ultimately losing the election by a 48.4% minority.
According to his campaign website, Youngkin ran for governor because of his values.
“I’m not a politician. I’m a homegrown Virginian and I’ve spent the last 30 years raising my family, serving in our church, building business and creating jobs,” a section on the website reads. “I’m guided by my faith, values, and an unshakeable belief that Virginia should be the best.”
Along the campaign trail, Youngkin has constantly pushed for policies he wants to implement and changes he wants to make. Two of his larger goals include bringing more jobs to the state and bringing his vision for schools to fruition — including banning critical race theory.
Virginia has had a Democratic governor since 2014, so any major changes will mean changing the status quo from more left-leaning ideals.
Out of the mentioned goals of Youngkin’s governorship, creating more jobs is the most likely to create positive change. In fact, jobs are currently on the rise, and data suggests they will continue to do so regardless of who is governor.
The Virginia Employment Commission released statistics in October showing the rise in employment levels. September 2021 saw a rise in nearly 3,000 jobs overall in only one month. In the past year the state’s employment rose to over 70,000 jobs.
Glenn Youngkin says his plan will create 400,000 jobs in Virginia. Youngkin’s goal to make so many jobs is bold at best and will be a challenge to accomplish.
Brittanica defines critical race theory as an “intellectual and social movement and loosely organized framework of legal analysis based on the premise that race is not a natural, biologically grounded feature of physically distinct subgroups of human beings but a socially constructed (culturally invented) category that is used to oppress and exploit people of colour.”
Critical race theorists argue that knowledge of racial issues is vital to a schoolchild’s education in America.
According to Education Week, the concept of critical race theory is that “race is a social construct, and that racism is not merely the product of individual bias or prejudice, but also something embedded in legal systems and policies.”
Youngkin’s views of critical race theory differ from what its supporters offer. In a broadcast interview with Fox News, he explained his view on the subject.
“It teaches children to see everything through a lens of race and then to divide them into buckets, and then have children that are called privileged and others that are victims, and it’s just wrong,” Youngkin said.
With a state nearly divided against him, only time will tell what the response to Youngkin’s efforts will be, and if his policies and values truly bring positive change to Virginia.
Locklear is an opinion writer. Follow him on Twitter.