On August 12th, Governor Terry McAuliffe (D) of Virginia delivered a widely praised denouncement of the white supremacist rally that occurred in Charlottesville, Virginia. During the widely viewed press conference, McAuliffe proclaimed, “I have a message to all the white supremacists and the Nazis who came into Charlottesville today. Our message is plain and simple, go home. You are not wanted in this great commonwealth. Shame on you. You pretend you’re patriots, but you are anything but a patriot. You wanna talk about patriots, talk about Thomas Jefferson, George Washington who brought our country together…” and so on and so forth. I, however, cautiously held my applause until further investigation; partly because Virginia refers to itself as a “Commonwealth” and I am usually slightly aghast by governments who declare moral concern for the “common good” while systematically denying black people inalienable rights.

Then, on Sunday, August 13th, Governor McAuliffe spoke at the Mt. Zion African Baptist Church in Charlottesville. During his remarks in front of a crowd of enthusiastic black church folk, McAuliffe continued in his denunciation of the white supremacist riot that occurred the day before. He began, “I was invited today to go on a lot of TV shows. I turned them all down because I needed to be where I should be; here in this beautiful church, and that’s where I want to give my message today.” He then went on to request a moment of silence for Heather Heyer the civilian run down by an enraged 20 year old terrorist who does not deserve to be mentioned by name; and Jay Cullen and Burke Bates the two Virginia State Police Officers who died in a helicopter crash linked to the unrest. Then, he proceeded to ask the congregation to put aside their anger. He wrapped up his remarks with a list of his accomplishments in criminal justice reform.

According to the National Institute of Corrections, and the latest data on crime and incarceration for the State of Virginia, the crime rate in Virginia is an estimated 27 percent lower than the national average. However, Virginia’s incarceration rate is an estimated 19 percent higher than the national average. And yes, as you may have guessed, black people make up more than half of the prison population in Virginia.

We can not blame McAuliffe entirely for the demographic of Virginia State Prisons and past crime policies. He took the oath of office in 2014. We can however hold him accountable for his track record thus far, offering criticism and support where it is due.

Before we all jump up with shouts of admiration, here are my two cents.

Number one: Governor McAuliffe should not have been at a black church.

He should have been at a white church giving his spiel about putting aside anger in exchange for love and so forth. Black people do not need a lesson in forgiveness. If we did not make a conscious effort to put aside anger and forgive on a daily basis, we would all be collectively admitted to the nearest mental institution. Furthermore, white people should be asked to give a moment of silence, not us. We did not kill those people, white people and their bullsh*t did. Furthermore, I did not hear any specific mention of the black and brown people that white supremacist and Nazi groups target in McAuliffe’s public press conference. Black people deserve more than private courtships. In the words of Destiny’s Child, “say my name, say my name.”

Number two: Before McAuliffe refers to the “great” Commonwealth of Virginia, and instructs white supremacist and Nazis to go home, he should wonder why they chose the “great” Commonwealth of Virginia.

Virginia has a reputation for handing out harsh sentences. The number one advice given to me, before crossing the Virginia border in the DMV, is to smoke all the weed before you get there, because if you go to jail in Virginia, you are not coming home. Obviously, their disproportionate crime to incarceration ratio validates those claims.

Number three: McAuliffe deserves some credit for his efforts in criminal justice reform.

In January of this year, the Governor introduced a legislative package of commonsense criminal justice reforms for the 2017 General Assembly session. These suggested reforms included eliminating the suspension of driver licenses due to the inability to pay court costs, eliminating illogical, unnecessary, barriers to prove innocence based on new or untested human biological evidence and raising Virginia’s felony larceny threshold to $500.

So, yes, Governor Terry McAuliffe is attempting to walk the talk, however, he should do most of his talking to white people, not us.