About 20 citizens representing various organizations protested the paving of a parking lot this morning, saying it is desecrating a historic black burial ground.
The group gathered near the parking lot, owned by Virginia Commonwealth University, at 15th and Broad streets downtown.
Resurfacing of the parking lot began yesterday and continued this morning.
"Now, without regard to the sacredness of the Africans buried there, VCU will pave the site and utilize it for parking. No sane or rational people would allow this without a fight," King Salim Khalfani, executive director of the state NAACP, said in a statement.
Before this morning's news conference, a vigil was held by the Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality at the historical marker along East Broad Street commemorating the slave rebellion leader, Gabriel, who was executed nearby on Oct. 10, 1800.
People attending the vigil held a banner saying, "VCU: Stop Repaving Richmond's Burial Ground for Negroes" and fliers saying, "Richmond Is United Against Racism."
Some drivers honked their horns as they passed by the vigil.
A state archaeologist concluded in a report last year that most of the Richmond Burial Ground for Negroes was covered by I-95 but that a portion extended about 50 feet to the east, under the parking lot.
Last year, in a joint statement by the Richmond Slave Trail and Commission and VCU, the university agreed to forgo use of a portion of the parking lot along Interstate 95 in downtown Richmond so a burial ground for slaves and free blacks can be memorialized.
"We're not paving over anything that wasn't already paved; we've taken great lengths to make sure that we're not digging anywhere," VCU spokeswoman Pam Lepley said. "The group, obviously, takes issue with us repaving the part of the property that according to the report was probably not involved in the burial grounds."
Last September, the Slave Trail Commission held a public forum, attended by 30 people, about how the burial ground should be memorialized.
-- Jeremy Slayton
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