Talk:History of Virginia Beach, Virginia

hello all. I know this history needs to be improved, but it was vandalized out of va beach article and i put it here. please work on it. It also needs links to it so it is not isolated. BrandlandUSA 22:40, 17 January 2007 (UTC)

With the length of the Greekfest section, I believe it should itself be made into an article, with something of a blurb kept on this page. It seems to all but overwhelm the rest of the material. DMLaenker 11:49, 27 March 2007 (UTC)


 * came here for something else entirely, but I think that's a good idea Some jerk on the Internet (talk) 22:09, 30 March 2009 (UTC)


 * merger took place due to racism

Greekfest Riots citations
I added two citations about the Greekfest riots, and rewrote the line they refer to read "Students and community leaders claimed..." I think I've made a rather shaky assertion based on a really small number of quoted individuals, so in the spirit of honesty, here are are the quotes I'm referring to in the articles I cited:

from "All's Quiet on Virginia's Eastern Front; 2 Years After Greekfest Violence, a Typical Labor Day Weekend Comes to Virginia Beach": "Black students, who used to flock annually to Virginia Beach for an informal street party, came in smaller numbers. Greekfest, as the bash was called, just isn't the same, they said."

"City officials 'ruined it,' said Eric Sharpe, 23, a graduate of William Paterson College in New Jersey. 'A lot of people aren't going to come down here and pay that kind of money when they can't even enjoy themselves.'"

From "All Sides See Greekfest as Holiday Non-Event": "Some officials and students interviewed suggested that Greekfest ran its course and disintegrated when it became too big and too structured. 'The students never wanted a major event,' said Mary Redd, of the Hampton Roads area Urban League. 'They wanted a place to chill out.'"

if anyone has a better way of handling the issue, I wholeheartedly encourage them to do so. Some jerk on the Internet (talk) 22:09, 30 March 2009 (UTC)

This whole section on the 1989 Greekfest is shoddy. It reads more like an op-ed than a stating of facts. As just one example, this part is extremely problematic: "two facts: 1) Beach locals and students alike will testify that most, if not all of the rioters, were not actually college students..." Really?  Where is that testimony? And wouldn't that testimony be hearsay even if was documented here, which it is not?  Very troubling to read something such as this describing itself as "facts" on wikipedia.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.36.227.178 (talk) 04:46, 1 September 2013 (UTC)

Excess material on riots
Guys, isn't there clearly an excessive amount of text here describing the riot? I mean, it's only one part of our history. It's excessively long, and excessively detailed - more than is required by the general reader. Lesswealth (talk) 23:19, 17 July 2010 (UTC) I took out some of the citationless passages; at least this cuts it down a bit. Lesswealth (talk) 01:41, 23 July 2010 (UTC)
 * I agree. Too much weight is given to the Greekfest riots. That was a small part of Virginia Beach history that is now a historic footnote. Entertainment Buff 22:55, 27 August 2018 (UTC)

1989 Greekfest Riot
This section doesn't do justice to the fact that police were indiscriminately beating and harassing everyone they came in contact with, including news reporters and journalists. They exacerbated the riot and the reason the National Guard was called in was done in part to control the local police reaction to the situation. I was a child when this happened, and there are many many news articles, reports, videos, and personal accounts documenting what actually happened. I've also noted on the Police Riot talk page that this event be added, due to the police actually being a major cause of the full scale riot that broke out due to their actions. 2600:8805:2007:6300:3169:6C25:59A4:72C (talk) 19:12, 7 December 2022 (UTC)