Mathews native Roz White of Washington, D.C., and Gwynn spent most of her adult life in Atlanta, Georgia, moving there when her late husband, Jeff White, also a Mathews native, accepted a position that would help his career.
But the couple always maintained a presence in Mathews as property owners, close friends of county residents, and philanthropists who donated to various county enterprises. Among the recipients of their numerous, varied, and substantial contributions were the Mathews Boys and Girls Club, the Bay School Community Arts Center, the Mathews County Visitor and Information Center, the Mathews Land Conservancy, Mathews County Public Schools, and the Mathews Community Foundation.
So it was with great dismay and no small amount of indignation that White opened her Gazette-Journal last week to discover that she had been misquoted in an article about the public hearing on transferring the Confederate monument and the land it occupies on the Court Green to a private entity.
White wrote carefully-worded comments that were read by another person, sharing information about her family’s long lineage in the county, including her birth 97 years ago in her great-grandmother’s house on Potato Neck Road. She then shared comments from other people all across Virginia, who have said such things as “We have a list of places to visit along the coast. Mathews is now crossed off the list” and “Thanks for letting us know where not to go and spend money” and “Oh Mathews, you are on the wrong side of history here … I know Mathews can do better.”
White ended her written comments with, “On behalf of all the generations of my family, I ask Mathews to do better.”
The article incorrectly attributed all of the comments to White herself.
In a telephone conversation, White said she didn’t understand how anyone would think that she would ever “cross Mathews off my list,” as she was incorrectly quoted as having said in the article. “I have loved Mathews County and have tried to demonstrate my love for it and its well-being,” she said. “It’s my home and my people.”
White did, however, re-emphasize the crux of the message she wanted to convey in her written comments, sternly criticizing the board of supervisors for its proposal to give away a portion of the court green to a private entity.
“People are doing things to hurt Mathews County,” she said, adding that the Mathews community “needs to rise up” against those efforts.