‘Do Not Want Someone Like Her’: White Virginia Councilmembers Accused of Plotting to Oust Black Official for Not ‘Looking Like’ a City Manager, Sparks Explosive Council Meeting

‘Do Not Want Someone Like Her’: White Virginia Councilmembers Accused of Plotting to Oust Black Official for Not ‘Looking Like’ a City Manager, Sparks Explosive Council Meeting

The former city manager of Hopewell, Virginia, has filed a multi-million-dollar lawsuit and is demanding her job back after accusing white city council members of racism and wrongful termination. Concetta Manker made history in 2023 when she became the city’s first woman and first Black city manager. “Two years later, however, the City made a different kind of history — a historical act of illegal and unlawful behavior,” according to a federal l…