When I was at Penn State, explaining where I was from was tricky. If I said Virginia, even Northern Virginia, I was usually greeted informed that I was often mocked by Pennsylvaninans* for being from the South. Um, not really, because as a former co-worker from Central Virginia via Texas told me, “you are way too sarcastic to be Southern.” If I responded, “Washington” I got two words: Marion Barry. The third option, the great state of New Jersey, which I left before I turned 2 wasn’t helping matters either.

Anyway, this week I got another reminder of why I never claim to be Virginian:

Va. teacher holds mock slave auction – The Post
“Trying to bring a Civil War history lesson to life, teacher Jessica Boyle turned her fourth grade Norfolk classroom into a slave auction: She ordered black and mixed race students to one side of the classroom. Then, the white students took turns buying them.”

Really.

Quite a way to get the sesquicentennial of The War of Southern Aggression (okay, the Civil War) started.

Can NoVa become the 51st state right now, please? Until then, I’m calling myself a Washingtonian.

Tying the whole Northern Virginia as its own entity is the new Post blog called The State of NoVa by Tom Jackman. I am eager to follow along, he chatted today as well. The topic of Northern Virginia carrying the water for the rest of the commonwealth is brought up a lot. I still want a concrete answer of how much tax money we get back from Richmond.

*I see more Confederate battle flags driving through rural Pennsylvania than I ever did in Fairfax County and it isn’t even close.