We would never put up a monument to SLAVERY, but rather to its ending, and, in fact, we already have one such, one of the most famous monuments in the world: the Statue of Liberty, built in 1875 just ten years after the war. The original inspiration for it came from Edouard Rene de Laboulaye in 1865, a French supporter of the Union during the Civil War. It was designed by Frederic Bartholdi - and constructed largely by Gustave Eiffel (yes, THAT Eiffel). They considered making her an African-American, holding a broken chain, but felt it would be too divisive in a time when there was still so much healing to be done, so they placed the broken chain in the form of a manacle at her feet, where it cannot be seen except from the air, and modeled her on the Roman goddess Libertas, who was a favorite of the slaves, as she was known for freeing them in ancient times, and gave her a tablet to hold bearing the date July IV MDCCLXXVI (1776) using the date of the Declaration of Independence as a reminder of the freedom this country was founded upon.
8
We need monuments because they concretize belief and make visible history. The example that I always use with my students is the Creation Museum and the Adam and Eve mannequins who frolic along with dinosaurs in the Garden of Eden. Since science is effectively closed to folks who believe that the earth is only 6000 years old, such installations help to keep creationist belief real.
Concomitantly I would argue that we do need a monument to enslavement--not slavery. And we need a federal monument in DC. The attempts to ensure that the Civil War "was not fought over slavery" began with Lincoln himself who refused to arm black men; it was codified by photographers and artists who depicted black men in menial positions during the war on both sides of the struggle. It was made official as veterans of the Union army ceremoniously returned the battle flags of Confederate traitors while deliberately excluding the black veterans from those ceremonies. It was made into celluloid history as DW Griffiths styled Lincoln as "the Great Heart" and necessary sacrifice in the war that sparks the rise of the KKK. Some of my students still hear this in classes today. Up until now, enslavement has been effectively marginalized and rewritten so that the origin of this country as a super power and the reason for the Civil War has been rendered invisible as the slave power has won the cultural war. White supremacy and white brotherhood has been the overarching narrative for both sides.
Concomitantly I would argue that we do need a monument to enslavement--not slavery. And we need a federal monument in DC. The attempts to ensure that the Civil War "was not fought over slavery" began with Lincoln himself who refused to arm black men; it was codified by photographers and artists who depicted black men in menial positions during the war on both sides of the struggle. It was made official as veterans of the Union army ceremoniously returned the battle flags of Confederate traitors while deliberately excluding the black veterans from those ceremonies. It was made into celluloid history as DW Griffiths styled Lincoln as "the Great Heart" and necessary sacrifice in the war that sparks the rise of the KKK. Some of my students still hear this in classes today. Up until now, enslavement has been effectively marginalized and rewritten so that the origin of this country as a super power and the reason for the Civil War has been rendered invisible as the slave power has won the cultural war. White supremacy and white brotherhood has been the overarching narrative for both sides.
2
The Architecture School at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte hosted a competition in 2009 for a national memorial to slavery. The aim was to launch and sustain a discourse on American slavery through memorial art and architecture. The ideas, details and architectural renderings entered in the competition may be found at http://www.asmcompetition.com.
6
The book "The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism", by Edward E. Baptist should be required reading by our high school students. The reading list should also include books on the Texas war for independence, which was fought after the government of Mexico banned slavery. Another area of history that should not be missed are the Seminole Wars in Florida, fought by the U.S. Army for the plantation owners trying to recover run away slaves that went to live with the various tribes that went to Florida to escape wars that were basically to move more white folks into places like Alabama. The U.S. has a rich history of "Manifest Destiny" for the benefit of the white and rich.
And a National Slavery Monument is long overdue, as is taking down the insulting statues that were erected to memorialize all the traitors for the Confederate cause. Washington D.C. would be a great place for a slavery monument, as would Charleston, S.C. where so many of these people were brought to America. Just don't hide it where only those on a mission to find it might see it.
And a National Slavery Monument is long overdue, as is taking down the insulting statues that were erected to memorialize all the traitors for the Confederate cause. Washington D.C. would be a great place for a slavery monument, as would Charleston, S.C. where so many of these people were brought to America. Just don't hide it where only those on a mission to find it might see it.
25
And let's change 'Thanksgiving' to 'Native American Day' while we're at it.
If you're going to steal people's land and wipe out their civilization, is it too much to ask for a small acknowledgment ?
If you're going to steal people's land and wipe out their civilization, is it too much to ask for a small acknowledgment ?
58
Their will never be a "Monument to Slavery". The current politics in Congress make it totally impossible now and in the foreseeable future. Your terminology was a mistake. The term itself is paradoxical. The Monument is redundant The Smithsonian Museum will be an absolute penultimate repository for African American History and Culture and will certainly expose slavery in all its insidious reality, and devastating legacies.My suggestion would be not to waste your time on an idea that is dead in the water. Concentrate your energies and expertise on adding anything you find lacking in the Smithsonian Museum.
7
I want to thank Professors Blain Roberts and Ethan J. Kytle for not only pointed out the obvious but, for speaking the truth to falsehoods and restating our ancestors and their prodigy's financial gains at the expense of other human beings.
9
Original sin. as long as the memorial also notes that Africans largely stocked the slaver's markets by raiding other African settlements, that many free blacks also held slaves, I MIGHT be in favor. But to rewrite history to pretend the "inconvenient truths" of slavery are glossed over to present a one sided view is typical for our modern "everyone is a victim" society.
15
If the descendants of slaves want to put up a monument to their ancestors that's fine by me. I am from a part of the USA that was conquered by another part of the USA. WEB DuBose reminds us that the institution os Slavery was destroyed but very little was done to help the former slaves compete with skilled craftsmen. Someone should have helped usher these folks into the free economy world, but whose job was it? The Federal government that freed them? The abolitionist who caused the war? The former slave owners who now had nothing?
4
We also have to change the way we interpret American History in museums...
I used to work in a small local history museum and often heard from visitors who wanted to tell me the Civil War was not about slavery. We are teaching history all wrong...
http://rurallibrarianwv.blogspot.com/2015/08/reframing-civil-war-it-was-...
I used to work in a small local history museum and often heard from visitors who wanted to tell me the Civil War was not about slavery. We are teaching history all wrong...
http://rurallibrarianwv.blogspot.com/2015/08/reframing-civil-war-it-was-...
15
In Washington, D.C., we have museums of African art and African-American art and culture. In New York City, we have the Schomburg collection, an invaluable resource. Clamoring for a statue depicting slavery is understandable. But all of us actually going to museums, and reading and learning, would do us good.
By the way, last year there appeared an article in The New York Times, which I here excerpt:
"On Dec. 7, the Whitney Plantation, in the town of Wallace, 35 miles west of New Orleans, celebrated its opening, and it was clear, based on the crowd entering the freshly painted gates, that the plantation intended to provide a different experience from those of its neighbors. Roughly half of the visitors were black, for starters, an anomaly on plantation tours in the Deep South. And while there were plenty of genteel New Orleanians eager for a peek at the antiques inside the property’s Creole mansion, they were outnumbered by professors, historians, preservationists, artists, graduate students, gospel singers and men and women from Senegal dressed in traditional West African garb: flowing boubous of intricate embroidery and bright, saturated colors. If opinions on the restoration varied, visitors were in agreement that they had never seen anything quite like it. Built largely in secret and under decidedly unorthodox circumstances, the Whitney had been turned into a museum dedicated to telling the story of slavery — the first of its kind in the United States."
By the way, last year there appeared an article in The New York Times, which I here excerpt:
"On Dec. 7, the Whitney Plantation, in the town of Wallace, 35 miles west of New Orleans, celebrated its opening, and it was clear, based on the crowd entering the freshly painted gates, that the plantation intended to provide a different experience from those of its neighbors. Roughly half of the visitors were black, for starters, an anomaly on plantation tours in the Deep South. And while there were plenty of genteel New Orleanians eager for a peek at the antiques inside the property’s Creole mansion, they were outnumbered by professors, historians, preservationists, artists, graduate students, gospel singers and men and women from Senegal dressed in traditional West African garb: flowing boubous of intricate embroidery and bright, saturated colors. If opinions on the restoration varied, visitors were in agreement that they had never seen anything quite like it. Built largely in secret and under decidedly unorthodox circumstances, the Whitney had been turned into a museum dedicated to telling the story of slavery — the first of its kind in the United States."
4
American prisons are the living monumental legacy "honoring" the enslavement of Africans in America. Although they constitute only 13.2 % of Americans, those Americans colored by historical "one-drop" African descent are 40% of the record 25% of imprisoned persons on Earth. And they are subject to the carefully carved exception to the !3th Amendment's abolition of "slavery and involuntary servitude". Enslavement and mass incarceration is what happened to and is happening to African Americans. But they were and are not slaves nor prisoners.
7
You don't see Russia building a monument to serfdom even though the serfs were freed about the same time as slaves in the U.S. Smart nations move on and put their past behind them. The best example is Germany, which has not let their Nazi past hold them back. In contrast there are countries like Israel/Palestine where they constantly argue about who settled the region first and who gets to build homes where. The same is true of places like Serbia/Bosnia or Northern Ireland, where battles from the 1300s or 1400s are still argued about. If the U.S. wants to "long endure" as Lincoln put it, we need to view ourselves as Americans and not separate ethnic tribes.
5
As an African American, I believe that the most important contribution to
making amends for the injustices of slavery is for this country's Congress to
pass the Congressional Proposal to Study Reparations for African Americans
Act (H.R. (Bill) 40). It is an abomination that this nation refuses to answer for
such a horrendous crime against humanity. I don't want to see another memorial
of any kind; I want to see justice in my life time as this nation assisted the Jews in receiving from Germany, and similar to reparations given to the American Indian tribes; and the reparations should last for a minimum of
200 years!!!
making amends for the injustices of slavery is for this country's Congress to
pass the Congressional Proposal to Study Reparations for African Americans
Act (H.R. (Bill) 40). It is an abomination that this nation refuses to answer for
such a horrendous crime against humanity. I don't want to see another memorial
of any kind; I want to see justice in my life time as this nation assisted the Jews in receiving from Germany, and similar to reparations given to the American Indian tribes; and the reparations should last for a minimum of
200 years!!!
6
Rather than a monument, the first step should be one which can serve as a test of the willingness of southern political elite to meet the challenge of history. For example, the bridge connecting Savannah to South Carolina is named after Eugene Talmadge, four times the governor of Georgia and someone whose racist politics scarred his administration. The bridge was built with federal funds which means that the taxes of both whites and blacks funded the structure. The test is simple: Why not rename the bridge for Fredrick Douglass a former slave, confidant of Lincoln and a champion of liberty for all. There are many in Georgia whose memory of the Talmadge regime must be relatively fresh and who would welcome a resetting of the scale of justice.
4
Why is our original national "sin" slavery, and not the theft of the very lands on which Africans were enslaved? The unique and terrible system of intergenerational, skin color-based slavery that developed in what is now the US emerged because of the theft of American Indian lands, and the desire to extract as much profit from it as possible for the benefit of its European colonists. It's a process that, like the theft of Black labor, continues to this day, and is definitional to the existence of the US. Without colonialism, there is no slavery in the United States. Isn't the theft of the continent, and the ethnic cleansing of hundreds of its nations, a more foundational "sin"?
6
Ahhh, yes...the undeniable Liberal impulse--never missing an opportunity to poke one's own country in the eye--with a sharp stick--and then rub salt in it.
Perhaps, next to the slave monument, we can build one for Native Americans, to memorialize their abuse at the hands of the White Devil--then one for women who experienced unspeakable abuse in their campaign for suffrage? Then, we'll need one for the Japanese interned during WWIl--and for Chinese laborers who suffered unspeakable privations building our western railroads.
Or we could build one single, giant monument--right in the middle of Central Park. We could memorialize every victim this country has created--perhaps naming it, "Victims of White Men, Memorial Park"--or perhaps, "White Privilege Park"? We could even include a section--depicting the Middle Class, under the boot heel of evil oligarchs and call it "Plutocrat Park"...or better yet, "One-Percent Park". Indeed, let's rub our own noses deeply as possible into our own shameful history. After all, we certainly deserve it.
This distasteful Liberal impulse--which turns its back on all of the progress we have made, taking no pride in the prosperous, just society we have built--wallowing in the worst part of our sordid past, leads to no positive outcome.
How about this: we create a monument called "Progressive Park" to memorialize victims of Liberalism--the millions of dependents, trapped in poverty by well-meaning social welfare schemes?
Perhaps, next to the slave monument, we can build one for Native Americans, to memorialize their abuse at the hands of the White Devil--then one for women who experienced unspeakable abuse in their campaign for suffrage? Then, we'll need one for the Japanese interned during WWIl--and for Chinese laborers who suffered unspeakable privations building our western railroads.
Or we could build one single, giant monument--right in the middle of Central Park. We could memorialize every victim this country has created--perhaps naming it, "Victims of White Men, Memorial Park"--or perhaps, "White Privilege Park"? We could even include a section--depicting the Middle Class, under the boot heel of evil oligarchs and call it "Plutocrat Park"...or better yet, "One-Percent Park". Indeed, let's rub our own noses deeply as possible into our own shameful history. After all, we certainly deserve it.
This distasteful Liberal impulse--which turns its back on all of the progress we have made, taking no pride in the prosperous, just society we have built--wallowing in the worst part of our sordid past, leads to no positive outcome.
How about this: we create a monument called "Progressive Park" to memorialize victims of Liberalism--the millions of dependents, trapped in poverty by well-meaning social welfare schemes?
7
Monuments, monuments, memorials, memorials, for Slavery, Native Americans, Holocaust, Irish, Veterans, on and on. How about spending the money on homeless, addiction and many other present needs. Or spend the money on education which is the best "memorial"?
6
Almost every country on earth has enslaved people at one time or another. Some countries still do. England, and then America, could never have succeeded in their slave trade without the help of Africans who had been for their entire existence enslaving rival tribes.
Right? No. Done with? Well, perhaps not for the millions of Muslim women who are still enslaved, whose genitals are still being mutilated; nor for the little boys and girls raped by older men who believe it's their due.
You want a statue? Go ahead. Better, though, to save our horror for what is appalling now and not just say, with that liberal wriggle, "Well, it's their tradition."
Right? No. Done with? Well, perhaps not for the millions of Muslim women who are still enslaved, whose genitals are still being mutilated; nor for the little boys and girls raped by older men who believe it's their due.
You want a statue? Go ahead. Better, though, to save our horror for what is appalling now and not just say, with that liberal wriggle, "Well, it's their tradition."
5
You missed the reality that in an equal number of courts house lawns, parks, and battlefields we have monuments to ending slavery.
The next time you write on the subject be sure to tell the whole story.
If you want a National Slave Monument, build one. Use donations. Not taxes. Don't be surpised if very few people donate to your nonexistent original sin monument.
The next time you write on the subject be sure to tell the whole story.
If you want a National Slave Monument, build one. Use donations. Not taxes. Don't be surpised if very few people donate to your nonexistent original sin monument.
8
I think Congo Square in New Orleans would be a good site for a national slavery museum. Today, it’s just an open space in the Tremé neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana, just across Rampart Street north of the French Quarter. But in the 1700s and 1800s, thousands of New Orleans slaves congregated to celebrate their Sundays off with music and dancing. But there also should be regional slavery museums. For example, New England needs a slavery museum to remind Americans that New England supplied the slave traders and slave ships that brought African slaves to America. Oklahoma needs a slaver memorial to remind Americans that slaves owned by the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek and Seminoles accompanied their owners on the Trail of Tears.
3
Although a physical monument would be appropriate it would be limited in impact. One possibility would be to build on Beenie Sanders' idea of automatically enrolling all 18 year olds by making Election Day a national holiday named Emancipation Day in recognition of the nations dedication to equality.
4
After reading through this editorial and all the comments, I have several thoughts.
1. Is this a memorial to people or an idea?
2. Is this a memorial to the institution of slavery or the contributions from slavery?
3. Is this to honor former slaves or to honor those that overturned slavery?
After witnessing the initial outcry about the design of the Vietnam memorial, I would suggest that the first step would be to convene a committee of slave descendants who could wrestle with these questions. The committee should be as representative of the diversity of American experiences as possible.
This committee could tackle both these questions, as well as the choice of memorial - statue/monument/historical site.
1. Is this a memorial to people or an idea?
2. Is this a memorial to the institution of slavery or the contributions from slavery?
3. Is this to honor former slaves or to honor those that overturned slavery?
After witnessing the initial outcry about the design of the Vietnam memorial, I would suggest that the first step would be to convene a committee of slave descendants who could wrestle with these questions. The committee should be as representative of the diversity of American experiences as possible.
This committee could tackle both these questions, as well as the choice of memorial - statue/monument/historical site.
I've often wondered that the American mythos centers on the lone ranger type hero who saves the struggling social network depicted as the wagon train. I'd like to see us develop a much more inclusive mythic view of ourselves, and I think the cooperative efforts of blacks and whites, the social network of the underground railroad would be a place to start. Real bravery against a real evil (not native Americans) would help us understand what real heroes do. Enhanced monuments along freedom trails would help, but let's be sure to rewrite the textbooks, too, so that our children know something good about what was done in the face of evil. A few movies would help too.
The authors are probably right, but do also remember one key reason why we do not have such a monument. The decades after the Civil War were the time of the first peak of American faith in the efficacy of monuments. The Washington Monument on the Mall was finally completed, and almost every courthouse square north and south got a memorial to the local men who had fought in the Civil War. But by the time that American attitudes towards slavery had really changed, say in the 1960s, that faith in public monuments was almost entirely gone. The end of World War II was marked by the construction of highways and community centres, not conventional monuments. Only the erection of Maya Lin's Vietnam War Memorial began to change this, but almost all the effective monuments that have been built since commemorate events from the Holocaust to more recent times for which their abstraction has appeared particularly appropriate as in keeping with the spirit of the times. More recently, we have continued to believe that monuments matter, but lost our touch in consistently commissioning good ones. Just building something expresses concern, but does not necessarily do more, as the large, expensive, but otherwise banal Holocaust Memorial in Berlin demonstrates.
What about a museum on the mall in DC next to the Native American Museum?
Perhaps, now is the time. But for years even some black southerners resisted such memorials because they wanted their children to start with a "clean slate" and not be burdened by the shame of slavery or the ugliness they endured during the civil rights movement. When, in 2002, after a 10-year debate, Savannah erected on its waterfront a bronze African American family with broken chains at its feet (done by a white sculptor Dorothy Spradley), Maya Angelou was forced at the last minute to modify her inscription, by adding a last optimistic line: "We were stolen, sold and bought together from the African continent. We got on the slave ships together. We lay back to belly in the holds of the slave ships in each others excrement and urine together, sometimes died together, and our lifeless bodies thrown overboard together. Today, we are standing up together, with faith and even some joy."
1
America should acknowledge both slavery and the genocide of Native Americans, not just in Washington DC, but with plaques, statues and memorials on street corners, in parks and along highways in every town and city.
1
I think America's original sin is the genocide of the Native Americans. And on top of that came the horror of slavery. These twins of evil brought great riches to the white man. The only reason our country is so rich today is because it was built on the backs of slaves and great amounts of wealth were amassed that are still helping those white folk. And we're still slaughtering black people and still destroying the native culture.
Ah, America. You've been so good to white people, haven't you?
I don't think a national memorial will help racist Americans get over their hatred of black people. But I do think it's a right thing to do. And how about one for natives? We have those four white men carved in their mountain. We have a memorial to Custer. But we have nothing for those who were and are the victims of the white man with his guns.
Ah, America. You've been so good to white people, haven't you?
I don't think a national memorial will help racist Americans get over their hatred of black people. But I do think it's a right thing to do. And how about one for natives? We have those four white men carved in their mountain. We have a memorial to Custer. But we have nothing for those who were and are the victims of the white man with his guns.
5
Monuments are history made visible, and true art touches our soul.
There is much to be gained from quality renditions of the people and the forces that brought us to where we are. Monuments are teachers and reminders. Suffering and injustice can be portrayed with dignity and honor.
It's time that we demonstrate forcefully and honestly the basic truths of the inhumanity of slavery, the courage and fortitude of those who suffered, and the vast extent of the contributions of our brothers and sisters of color to the society we have today.
I don't believe we lack artists who are up to the task. Do we as a nation have the conscience and the resolve to do it?
There is much to be gained from quality renditions of the people and the forces that brought us to where we are. Monuments are teachers and reminders. Suffering and injustice can be portrayed with dignity and honor.
It's time that we demonstrate forcefully and honestly the basic truths of the inhumanity of slavery, the courage and fortitude of those who suffered, and the vast extent of the contributions of our brothers and sisters of color to the society we have today.
I don't believe we lack artists who are up to the task. Do we as a nation have the conscience and the resolve to do it?
2
2018 - African-American Museum will open in Charleston, SC. THANK YOU Mayir Joe Riley !
1
The best revenge is to live well, but who can deny the need for a public reminder of the expiation needed? The reasons I hesitate are that it is not my horror to express, and that I have seen a nation of clashing monuments, each telling a fragment of history and often partisan "history" at that.
Yes, by all means, let's dwell in the past, pity ourselves and blame others some more. And have a monument to do it by. Much better than moving forward.
4
A MONUMENT TO SLAVERY? We've had many of them since the end of the Civil War 150 years ago. They are and were the Union Jacks that people displayed on their homes, trucks and elsewhere; they also were placed on government property, flown beside the State and US flags. They expressed a wish for the return of slavery as recompense for having lost the Civil war. The Union Jack is, arguably, a monument to oppression, exploitation, greed and ignorance.
While I think it's a fine idea to honor the memory of those who were enslaved, I think that it is more healing to honor them as revered ancestors who were invaluable in the building of our nation. Without them, there would have been no way to grow and harvest the cash crops, mainly cotton and tobacco, that generated income so the newborn nation could survive. Without the backbreaking word of many slaves, our country would have been bankrupted and perhaps reverted to colonies of England.
So I say, Let's build a monument to celebrate the forgotten builders of America who were vital to the survival and growth of our nation, from the beginning. I'm not sure that I know how to dignify those who worked as slaves. But I know that I would consult with African American leaders descended from slaves to find out how they would like the memories of their ancestors to be honored by a grateful nation. Imposing the name of a Slavery Monument, in my opinion, represents yet another form of enslavement to the wishes of others.
While I think it's a fine idea to honor the memory of those who were enslaved, I think that it is more healing to honor them as revered ancestors who were invaluable in the building of our nation. Without them, there would have been no way to grow and harvest the cash crops, mainly cotton and tobacco, that generated income so the newborn nation could survive. Without the backbreaking word of many slaves, our country would have been bankrupted and perhaps reverted to colonies of England.
So I say, Let's build a monument to celebrate the forgotten builders of America who were vital to the survival and growth of our nation, from the beginning. I'm not sure that I know how to dignify those who worked as slaves. But I know that I would consult with African American leaders descended from slaves to find out how they would like the memories of their ancestors to be honored by a grateful nation. Imposing the name of a Slavery Monument, in my opinion, represents yet another form of enslavement to the wishes of others.
Most monuments fade over time and our forgotten by contemporary
society. BUT how about we put Frederick Bailey(aka Douglass)
or Harriet Tubman on our currency. Here in America money is
forever.
society. BUT how about we put Frederick Bailey(aka Douglass)
or Harriet Tubman on our currency. Here in America money is
forever.
In our nation's capital we have dedicated an entire museum to remembering the Holocaust perpetrated by Nazi Germany, yet we have not one national monument our nation's crimes against humanity.
2
It is unbelievable on a day when even the President recognizes that he has been blind to the overweaning problem facing the country, Islamic terrorism, this is published, right up there with the oped on white guilt. Don't these authors have anything better to do?
2
Slavery is not uniquely American. It's been around for thousands of years and persists in parts of the world to this day - but no in America.
We need to stop the trend of American apologies for what went on over a hundred years ago. What happened in past times is judged by the norms of those times, not by today's standards.
Our obsession with the past is blocking our future. The economy, our debt, the racial and class divide brought about by our politics - these are the barriers we face today.
Together was can overcome them. That's where our energy should go.
We need to stop the trend of American apologies for what went on over a hundred years ago. What happened in past times is judged by the norms of those times, not by today's standards.
Our obsession with the past is blocking our future. The economy, our debt, the racial and class divide brought about by our politics - these are the barriers we face today.
Together was can overcome them. That's where our energy should go.
3
We can not go forward as a country unless we acknowledge the truths of slavery. No more whitewashing.
We must acknowledge the past before we can move forward.
I hope the monument strives to also memorialize the Civil War. So many northern white boys (from MA) died trying to rid the country of this inhumane practice. One local family lost three sons in battle.
Let's not forget their sacrifice.
Let's not forget their sacrifice.
1
Putting aside that Lincoln specifically said this was not a war aim, and that few in the Union Army fought for Negro equality, (the greatest level of desertion the US army ever faced was after the Emancipation Proclamation), you have to love the hypocrisy of the north: fight for freedom for Blacks in the South while passing exclusionary laws to prevent free blacks from entering your states.
Other countries address their past atrocities in a healthy way. (Germany, South Africa, England) Why can't USA do the same?
2
The Lincoln Memorial is monument enough.
1
Of course a national slavery monument would be a worthy project.
But, something the article omits is that there are many monuments to the Union soldiers all over the northern states. Approximately 3 million men enlisted. Over 300,000 of those suffered war related deaths (in battle and from disease) fighting for the end of slavery,
There are even two Union soldier memorials down in Texas honoring a few of the many men from Texas who volunteered and fought (and died) for the Union Army.
Most people are unaware that our national Memorial Day holiday was originally established at the urging of an organization of Union veterans (called the GAR or Grand Army of the Republic) to honor Union army veterans. And there is an active group today known as the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, dedicated to cataloging and preserving monuments and memorials all over the country honoring the memory of the Union soldier.
Confederate monuments and vestiges of the Confederacy (like the flag) get a lot press mention, but seldom does the role and sacrifice of the Union soldier get mentioned.
Slavery is a horrible disgrace that the country endures (and that proposed memorial is a wonderful project), but we shouldn't forget to honor those brave Union soldiers who fought (and the many who died) in the war to end slavery.
But, something the article omits is that there are many monuments to the Union soldiers all over the northern states. Approximately 3 million men enlisted. Over 300,000 of those suffered war related deaths (in battle and from disease) fighting for the end of slavery,
There are even two Union soldier memorials down in Texas honoring a few of the many men from Texas who volunteered and fought (and died) for the Union Army.
Most people are unaware that our national Memorial Day holiday was originally established at the urging of an organization of Union veterans (called the GAR or Grand Army of the Republic) to honor Union army veterans. And there is an active group today known as the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, dedicated to cataloging and preserving monuments and memorials all over the country honoring the memory of the Union soldier.
Confederate monuments and vestiges of the Confederacy (like the flag) get a lot press mention, but seldom does the role and sacrifice of the Union soldier get mentioned.
Slavery is a horrible disgrace that the country endures (and that proposed memorial is a wonderful project), but we shouldn't forget to honor those brave Union soldiers who fought (and the many who died) in the war to end slavery.
2
I've imagined this memorial ever since I arrived in the United States in 1975. It would stand close to another national memorial for the indigenous peoples whose land we stole and whose culture we destroyed.
In addition to monuments add museums, historic sites, military memorials and restoration villages.
It's pretty hard to go to Germany without confronting the holocaust; it's everywhere, in some form of public monument, museum, or concentration camp. This is how Germany heals and moves on. On the other hand, it's pretty hard to find recognition of American slavery anywhere in America. We have not dealt with slavery yet and so we are still in the throes of it.
It's pretty hard to go to Germany without confronting the holocaust; it's everywhere, in some form of public monument, museum, or concentration camp. This is how Germany heals and moves on. On the other hand, it's pretty hard to find recognition of American slavery anywhere in America. We have not dealt with slavery yet and so we are still in the throes of it.
1
This is absurd! This is not a country full of memorials to slavery and the confederacy! There is a section of the US, in the South and border states, that put up memorials to the war dead, and yes, in some cases to the Confederacy. But that is not a country full of them. And I cannot imagine a memorial celebrating slavery having been put up in the US in the last 150 years. The town I grew up in, Hollis NH, and almost every town in the North that I know of has a monument to the huge numbers of white Americans who died to end slavery and end the Confederacy. Their blood I think more than washes away that "Original sin". And implications inherent in the line that "White Americans have long used monuments to propagate a flawed understanding of slavery.." is absurd. Some white Americans in the past did this, but my grandparents came to the US from Ireland and Italy in the 1900's and I do not carry any 'racial guilt' for slavery, any more than I think Jews carry blood guilt, or German teens carry guilt for Nazism. It is time to move beyond this intellectually weak racial polarization and deal with the real crises that we face.
4
We have a holocaust museum on the national mall. An event that did not happen in this country. Why don't we have a slavery museum on the national mall? An event that shaped the conscience of this country more than any other.
6
Good luck with that. A major political party right now is about to nominate an avowed racist to be the nominee to be President of these United States.
The United States built on the backs of the enslaved.
It raises an interesting question. How do you atone for privilege falsely earned?
How do you compensate for a 400 year head start?
A monument is cute I guess, policy is better.
The United States built on the backs of the enslaved.
It raises an interesting question. How do you atone for privilege falsely earned?
How do you compensate for a 400 year head start?
A monument is cute I guess, policy is better.
2
How about a monument for each Native America tribe that we ousted and basically committed genocide against? And I'm sure those tribes probably displaced someone else before then and did some bad things to people. In fact, we all probably need our own personal monuments in order to memorialize all the humiliations each and everyone one of us has felt over our lives and our ancestors' lives.
2
Where were these guys when Douglas Wilder, former governor of Virginia, tried to establish a National Slavery Museum in Fredericksburg, VA? The effort failed due to lack of funds, and interest, even though it was widely publicized. The honorable former governor is still trying to get something going, but seems to have been a lonely voice crying in the wilderness. Maybe that will change.
I live in the south. North Central Florida is nothing at all like south Florida. Since the removal of the Confederate flag in South Carolina , we have seen an explosion of Confederate flags in yards, on trucks and in front of a few businesses. These, and people of that mindset, are the likely opponents of a slavery memorial or monument. I understand they view it as heritage, a states rights issue and such. I don't. I see it as treasonous. A monument is appropriate. We owe to every African American from colonial times 'til now.
The only obstacle to such an endeavor would be smoldering resentment, and of course, Congress.
The only obstacle to such an endeavor would be smoldering resentment, and of course, Congress.
1
We already have dozens of magisterial -- yet easily accessible and even portable -- national monuments to slavery. They come in the form of great works of literature and history.
Your editor´s short lead to the article in the online version speaks for "the case for a memorial to our original sin". But slavery of Africans was not the "original sin", which was carried out against the native population on this continent, is not less -- and perhaps even more -- deserving of a national museum, and not only memorial or monument -- a point well made by others here. Such a museum should also not focus on slavery alone, but rather on the contributions of these slaves and their descendants. And also in line with other comments, the last part of such an exhibition, which visitors encounter leaving the site, is to show the current discriminatory policies and practices and ask the visitors to think about what they could do to improve the situation -- for all discriminated groups and individuals!
1
On the Mall in Washington a Museum of Black History is being built. A building separate from the National History Museum.
In the Capitol a statue of Martin Luther King mingles with Presidents, even though Dr. King never ran or served in any office.
The shakedown continues. How will this new monument pervert history.
In the Capitol a statue of Martin Luther King mingles with Presidents, even though Dr. King never ran or served in any office.
The shakedown continues. How will this new monument pervert history.
Actually, what would be much better than a monument to slavery would be an accurate and mandatory history of slavery and Jim Crow taught in grades 7-12. When the Texas "educators" approve textbooks that describes slaves as "workers," you know we live in an Orwellian age. First things first.
7
How can we memorialize- give concrete artistic expression- to a societal reality that was rooted in denial, in greed, and in our incomprehensible willingness to believe and fall into line with whatever argument that fits within our narrow misunderstandings of true self-interest?
The twisting of public opinion into a form that serves the wealthy and powerful, while debasing the lives of others, is still functioning in the here and now of today.
Maybe something like the Wall Street bull standing over the bodies of several dead and wounded- with an agonized innocent impaled upon it's horns- would capture the essence of our self enslavement.
The twisting of public opinion into a form that serves the wealthy and powerful, while debasing the lives of others, is still functioning in the here and now of today.
Maybe something like the Wall Street bull standing over the bodies of several dead and wounded- with an agonized innocent impaled upon it's horns- would capture the essence of our self enslavement.
2
Absolutely needed--another step in the process of repentance for the sin that was enshrined in our Constitution and has caused so much havoc since. I would like the memorial to be similar to the Vietnam memorial, inscribed with the names of as many slaves as it was possible to recover and it should be placed in DC near the Lincoln Memorial....
1
America may Need a National Slavery Monument....but the big question is: do we really want one. I think not. The timing for this is wrong. We have a lot more important issues that must be addressed first,
A monument to the persons as slaves as opposed to a monument to "Slavery" would in my opinion de-politicize what is a fantastic and as well a proper idea. The suffering, the loss of home and finally the endurance should and could prove a worthy subject to our artistic community. If we allow our creative community to champion the cause, we might more easily move beyond the narrow politics of the present, enhance our collective historic memories and leave a fitting as well as beautiful artistic tribute to the those that suffered so much for so long. As Teddy Roosevelt might say, BULLY!
People usually make memorials to things that they believe are over and done with. (It is said that Stalin went to the Lenin memorial... to guarantee that he was dead). Yet slavery and its legacy in the US is a far from resolved issue. Perhaps it would be better to make a statue of Nat Turner, who is one of the greatest figures who fought for emancipation. The spirit of Nat Turner needs to be revived today. His adversaries -- and not just Donald Trump -- still control US politics today.
2
For a monument to have impact it must be visited and seen by the maximum number of people possible, which would argue for putting it in Times Square or perhaps on the Mall in Washington, DC.
Much more appropriate than a monument would be a museum in a high-traffic area or dedication of a portion of the new African American Museum on the D.C. Mall to the story of slavery. After all, slavery is how most, though not all, African Americans got here in the first place. Further, through its educational, outreach and on-line programs a museum could convey its message to millions of people, not just those who were able to visit a relatively mute monument. An excellent model for such an effort is the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC, whose story is repeated by smaller holocaust museums in many states and many countries.
However, even a monument would be better than the growing efforts to degrade and demonize people like Woodrow Wilson and others who were in some ways racist or supported some racist policies. We must recall that George Washington and all or most of the founding fathers were slave-holders; does that mean we should take down or rename the Washington Monument and remove his image from the dollar bill, and find other ways to shame the founding fathers? Of course not, that would be profoundly stupid.
Let us instead broaden our teaching and dissemination of the terrible story of slavery via monuments, museums and textbooks.
Much more appropriate than a monument would be a museum in a high-traffic area or dedication of a portion of the new African American Museum on the D.C. Mall to the story of slavery. After all, slavery is how most, though not all, African Americans got here in the first place. Further, through its educational, outreach and on-line programs a museum could convey its message to millions of people, not just those who were able to visit a relatively mute monument. An excellent model for such an effort is the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC, whose story is repeated by smaller holocaust museums in many states and many countries.
However, even a monument would be better than the growing efforts to degrade and demonize people like Woodrow Wilson and others who were in some ways racist or supported some racist policies. We must recall that George Washington and all or most of the founding fathers were slave-holders; does that mean we should take down or rename the Washington Monument and remove his image from the dollar bill, and find other ways to shame the founding fathers? Of course not, that would be profoundly stupid.
Let us instead broaden our teaching and dissemination of the terrible story of slavery via monuments, museums and textbooks.
Ridiculous idea.
One builds monuments to great men or women or to achievements.
One writer below reminded us that Germany faced its Nazi past. Sure, but Germany never built a monument to the Nazis.
Now matter how well intentioned this is, it will still be a monument to "shame."
Build a monument to what African Americans accomplished.
One builds monuments to great men or women or to achievements.
One writer below reminded us that Germany faced its Nazi past. Sure, but Germany never built a monument to the Nazis.
Now matter how well intentioned this is, it will still be a monument to "shame."
Build a monument to what African Americans accomplished.
This post is entirely uninformed.
The Germans have most certainly built major monuments to remember the horrors of the Nazi period, including the monumental memorial to the "Murdered Jews of Europe" in the very heart of Berlin, just near the Brandenburg Gate, dedicated in 2003.
The Germans have most certainly built major monuments to remember the horrors of the Nazi period, including the monumental memorial to the "Murdered Jews of Europe" in the very heart of Berlin, just near the Brandenburg Gate, dedicated in 2003.
2
In which California city would these gentlemen like the monument?
Do we need more historical monuments or more study of history? Monuments are mute and have a limited audience. Monuments stimulate emotions, and that is sometimes needed to jolt us into thinking. But that will go nowhere if we don't understand the monument or understand the history behind it.
We need more and better history education, one that includes reflection on how we construct historical understanding out of the remnants of our past, the product of past historians, as well as examples of the evidence they used.
Such a history of slavery, for example, would include the changing views within our religions about kidnapping and enslaving other humans (something some Americans -- read the documents of secession by the Confederate states -- agreed with ISIS on, using Christianity to justify this practice), the economic uses of slavery, the human toll on the slaves, the politics of slavery, the nature of life in the U.S. at the time of slavery -- how could we call ourselves a democracy when the majority of the population was disenfranchised?, the nature of the world -- heading into depressions and eventual 30 years of world wars destroying over 50 million lives, the worst tragedy the world has known -- hardly great models for others.
We deceive ourselves so easily about the past, justifying what we want, only because most of us are so uninformed, uneducated about it.
More (and fewer) monuments may be in order, but they will only be a band-aide on a deeper problem.
We need more and better history education, one that includes reflection on how we construct historical understanding out of the remnants of our past, the product of past historians, as well as examples of the evidence they used.
Such a history of slavery, for example, would include the changing views within our religions about kidnapping and enslaving other humans (something some Americans -- read the documents of secession by the Confederate states -- agreed with ISIS on, using Christianity to justify this practice), the economic uses of slavery, the human toll on the slaves, the politics of slavery, the nature of life in the U.S. at the time of slavery -- how could we call ourselves a democracy when the majority of the population was disenfranchised?, the nature of the world -- heading into depressions and eventual 30 years of world wars destroying over 50 million lives, the worst tragedy the world has known -- hardly great models for others.
We deceive ourselves so easily about the past, justifying what we want, only because most of us are so uninformed, uneducated about it.
More (and fewer) monuments may be in order, but they will only be a band-aide on a deeper problem.
2
The white supremacy movement made huge inroads into our way of thinking and ahve been very successful, just as the conservative movement has been for the last 40 years or so.
2
This is completely true. There is NO valid reason for slavery. NONE. And it was done in the USofA in not only the monuments but the history text books that are fed to impressionable kids in schools that are filled with this foolishness and lies and distortions. I know that as I grew up (in DC of all places) that slavery was a very big part of America. And as a young child I instinctively knew this was wrong. "...Bowdoin, Princeton and other schools have pushed their institutions to rethink the honors they have bestowed upon prominent racists..." There is no hiding quarter for racism and it is disgraceful under any circumstance. Taking down statues and commemorations are just the start.
Let the great Frederick Douglass be the sculptor's subject--fugitive then abolitionist then civil rights leader from Emancipation Proclamation to the end of his life in 1895, and let's accompany the monument with a national holiday, a Douglass Day that will give us annual occasion to reflect on the suffering and loss of millions of enslaved Americans. David Blight, a renowned Douglass, scholar, made a moving case for a Douglass Day on NPR three years ago. I'm sure he's reading this article. Perhaps he'll join these comments.
While full of pandering impulses, a national slavery monument seems to me the exactly wrong thing. Remembering slavery is important. Memorializing it is ridiculous.
The Germans would disagree. They have numerous monuments warning of past follies, and even have a special word for it, the "Mahnmal," or warning monument, as opposed to the "Denkmal," or "remembrance monument."
3
I was stunned, on a visit to Philadelphia, to see a modest monument to: Austin, Paris, Hercules, Christopher Sheels, Richmond, Giles, Oney Judge, Moll, and Joe. Sic. What can this mean, I thought? I went closer: this monument is in memory of George Washington's enslaved people that George took with him to Philadelphia to create freedom for us all - except of course for them.
2
It should stand in Washington and reflect the length, breadth, and impact slavery had on this country, and capture the soul stolen from slaves....and the hole it has left in this country.
I agree with the principle that we should have monuments to commemorate people and events related to American slavery. Remembering the past is the point of memorials and it is certainly important that each generation understand its heritage.
But that's precisely why I disagree with the tone of this commentary and the suggestions that "flawed" memorials should be torn down. It is not up to each generation to decide which memorials are acceptable. We do not need a sanitized version of history designed to inspire all and teach nothing.
The memorial to John Calhoun is important precisely because it encourages us not only to consider the man, but also the motivations of those who erected the statue. Consideration of this monument alone would teach us about the politics of the first half of the 19th century and about the society of South Carolina at the turn of the 20th.
Whether we believe the individual remembered or those who erected the memorial were "right" is irrelevant. The act of remembering in and of itself is a part of our history and should not be destroyed. Indeed, if these monuments had been melted down fifty years ago, this opinion piece would not have been written and we would not be discussing the merits of Calhoun or Woodrow Wilson at all. So let's add monuments that tell a fuller story, but let's not destroy the past in doing so.
But that's precisely why I disagree with the tone of this commentary and the suggestions that "flawed" memorials should be torn down. It is not up to each generation to decide which memorials are acceptable. We do not need a sanitized version of history designed to inspire all and teach nothing.
The memorial to John Calhoun is important precisely because it encourages us not only to consider the man, but also the motivations of those who erected the statue. Consideration of this monument alone would teach us about the politics of the first half of the 19th century and about the society of South Carolina at the turn of the 20th.
Whether we believe the individual remembered or those who erected the memorial were "right" is irrelevant. The act of remembering in and of itself is a part of our history and should not be destroyed. Indeed, if these monuments had been melted down fifty years ago, this opinion piece would not have been written and we would not be discussing the merits of Calhoun or Woodrow Wilson at all. So let's add monuments that tell a fuller story, but let's not destroy the past in doing so.
How about something in the style of that monument in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix? You know, the one in the Ministry of Magic, with the master race wizards standing on top of a crushed pile of muggles, giants, centaurs and other impure races? Above all, identifiable faces for the oppressors, so everyone can remember who they were - Jefferson, Lee, Davis, Calhoun, etc.
1
US History is a potpourri of dirty half-truths. It's time for the whole truth and nothing but the truth be told.
1
Would that help put slavery behind us, or would it just help people continue to wallow in it?
"Wallow in it"? What does that mean?
2
Gettysburg - If you have toured Civil War Battlefields, you see an astounding number of monuments. The Second Fire Zouaves (New York); Battery A, Fourth Artillery, Second Corps, Army of the Potomac; 72nd Pennsylvania Infantry; 42nd New York Infantry, Tammany Regiment; and one pathetic wooden memorial to "The Angle," the High Mark of the Confederacy.
With the exception of the last, every one of those is a tribute to anti-slavery. Hundreds of thousands of lives lost, to free the slaves, and maintain the Union. Frankly, very few slaves escaped to freedom. Heading to the Union lines, as the armies advanced, is not exactly 'escaping.' We spent as much fighting the Civil War as the value of all the slaves in 1850 dollars. If slavery was the United States 'original sin,' (and that's a strange way to look at our country) we made amends for that sin during the Civil War.
The National Museum of African American History and Culture, is a 400 million dollar effort, is nearing completion on the National Mall. There is a museum for Native Americans, there are no Smithsonian museums for white people, or European people. And if you say that all the other Smithsonians are devoted just to Europeans, you haven't visited them.
There are lots of memorials to Confederates in the South, there are essentially none in the North, or in the West. I would say that the NMAAHC is the most fitting monument a descendant of long-ago slavery could want.
I'm just not feeling guilty.
With the exception of the last, every one of those is a tribute to anti-slavery. Hundreds of thousands of lives lost, to free the slaves, and maintain the Union. Frankly, very few slaves escaped to freedom. Heading to the Union lines, as the armies advanced, is not exactly 'escaping.' We spent as much fighting the Civil War as the value of all the slaves in 1850 dollars. If slavery was the United States 'original sin,' (and that's a strange way to look at our country) we made amends for that sin during the Civil War.
The National Museum of African American History and Culture, is a 400 million dollar effort, is nearing completion on the National Mall. There is a museum for Native Americans, there are no Smithsonian museums for white people, or European people. And if you say that all the other Smithsonians are devoted just to Europeans, you haven't visited them.
There are lots of memorials to Confederates in the South, there are essentially none in the North, or in the West. I would say that the NMAAHC is the most fitting monument a descendant of long-ago slavery could want.
I'm just not feeling guilty.
8
Perhaps a statue of Anthony Johnson (b. c. 1600 – d. 1670) would reflect the complexity of American history. Johnson was "an Angolan who achieved freedom in the early 17th-century Colony of Virginia, where he became one of the first African American property owners and slaveholders."
Read more here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Johnson_(colonist)
And here:
http://testaae.greenwood.com/doc_print.aspx?fileID=GR7529&chapterID=...
Read more here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Johnson_(colonist)
And here:
http://testaae.greenwood.com/doc_print.aspx?fileID=GR7529&chapterID=...
1
Why no mention of the museum of slavery at Whitney Plantation near Edgard, LA, which was featured last year in the Sunday NY Times magazine?
Give me a break. History is riddled with injustice.
1
So America needs a bronze statue and memorial to "tell the truth" about historical events and practices. That would be a monumental feat...an accurate history lesson. Where to start?
I would propose that schools teach a couple of semesters of black history. It should be mandatory in high school and college. All monuments to the Confederacy should be moved to safe place and they should become targets for those that want to take target practice. Stone Mountain, GA should serve as a target for artillery or tank practice.
No it doesn't need a national slavery monument. We have become a nation of grievances not solutions. We scrabble over words and forget the substance of our problems. We dance around issues and allow the fanatics to fill the air ways with meaningless angst. What we need is a country that works for everyone. What we need is a commitment to spend money or say I say invest money in humans not corporations. Let's get to work fixing our roads, bridges and public transport. It's amazing what one can do with commitment to a clean and efficiently running subway and train system even with a diverse population. Let's not let the grievance mongers take our way our energy to get our country fixed. Let's not let them divide us over wedge issues and grievances. Let's tell the money men (and women if there are any involved) that we won't allow them to distract us from the real issues. Please, this is important.
The best monument we can have to the abolition of slavery is a country that works for all races and creeds. One in which we are free from the fear of gun violence and bankruptcy; one in which workers have a stable and fair income and billionaires pay their taxes instead of hiding their money in private foundations. It's time.
The best monument we can have to the abolition of slavery is a country that works for all races and creeds. One in which we are free from the fear of gun violence and bankruptcy; one in which workers have a stable and fair income and billionaires pay their taxes instead of hiding their money in private foundations. It's time.
Yes, we need all the infrastructure and jobs that come from it; but that in itself does not preclude the need for social justice. The demographic changes in this country means that the voices of the historically dis-empowered (i.e. African American descendants of American slavery, Native Americans) are somewhat ascendant and thus it is RIGHT and JUST that some reparations (i.e. powerful symbolic monuments) are PAST DUE. This is relevant otherwise, white supremacists would never have enshrined themselves as they have. Victors determine the history until they are countermanded by their EQUALS.
The writers refer to slavery as "America’s original sin." That alone throws their understanding of history in doubt, for the original sins were theft of native American land, their displacement, and murder, beginning before the importation of slaves from Africa. Their use of that phrase reveals a lack of seriousness about language, also evident in their use of "commemorative" and "monuments," with their connonations of praise. Just one such momument would be insufficient, because it would be historically incomplete. It should have two large, multi-figured sculptures: one showing African natives after a village raid, leading men and women away in horrible, especially painful arm/head restraints in columns, the other showing them trading their captives for European goods and money. There is a caveat, however: all the talk about slavery and the "debt" all Americans owe to all black Americans has encouraged and fostered a sociopathic feeling of antagonism and resentment among a large number of young black men and women, which actually began before the Black Power movement. Such a "monument" will serve to increase the feeling among some African Americans of being "owed" by people who never had anything to do with slavery and never profited from it even derivitavely. In other words, this and the Black Power movement's sequelae will only serve to increase the racial divide in this country.
1
I was recently in Tuskegee, Alabama of Tuskegee airmen fame and the syphilis expedient infamy.
In a county that is close to 85% African heritage, I was absolutely shocked that in the Tuskegee main town square there is a 12 foot tall statue dedicated to the forefathers of European ancestry who fought in the Civil War.
Makes no sense. If anywhere, Tuskegee which is surrounded by dozens of former plantations should have a statue of freed slaves.
In a county that is close to 85% African heritage, I was absolutely shocked that in the Tuskegee main town square there is a 12 foot tall statue dedicated to the forefathers of European ancestry who fought in the Civil War.
Makes no sense. If anywhere, Tuskegee which is surrounded by dozens of former plantations should have a statue of freed slaves.
2
The Original Sin was the genocide committed against the native peoples of this continent. We live on their land, which drips with their blood. All Europeans, Asians and Africans (including the descendants of slaves and more recent immigrants from Africa) are living in occupied territory, hidden by our hypocritical denunciations of the actions of other nations. But don't worry; might makes right and justice for the original occupants of our lands will never occur. Enjoy The New York Times with your coffee. Just do everyone a favor and shut up about the actions of other nations which "occupy" other people's lands.
4
Brown University dedicated a Slavery Memorial on September 27, 2014 that was placed on its main campus. It was designed by Martin Puryear. It shows a dark iron sphere emerging from the earth with a giant, broken chain attached, the top links capped with silver reflecting the sky. The memorial grew out of Brown's determination to confront its troubled past connection with slavery. At the dedication Professor Anthony Bogues, Director of Brown's Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice, evoked the sad words of Frederick Douglass who spoke of the "children of sorrow" who should never be forgotten. In their important article Blain Roberts and Ethan Kytle also do not want us to forget these children.
2
It's mind boggling to consider that no such monument exists but when you examine the struggle surrounding such a monument you understand the battle for narratives that still shape this country and why the USA, like Shakespeare's King Lear, so often and in so many ways, has "never but slenderly known itself."
2
"America's original sin"?
Slavery was well established in all Thirteen Colonies, well before "America" came into being. [We also had such sins as witch trial executions.]
The barbaric catastrophe of slavery in the Thirteen Colonies and the United States accounted for less than 5% of the twelve million enslaved people brought to the Americas from Africa, the great majority of enslaved Africans being transported to sugar colonies in the Caribbean and to Brazil.
Slavery was well established in all Thirteen Colonies, well before "America" came into being. [We also had such sins as witch trial executions.]
The barbaric catastrophe of slavery in the Thirteen Colonies and the United States accounted for less than 5% of the twelve million enslaved people brought to the Americas from Africa, the great majority of enslaved Africans being transported to sugar colonies in the Caribbean and to Brazil.
2
What's your point?
I agree with 99% of what you’ve published here, however A. Lincoln did not acknowledge any war or hostilities until the Confederacy fired on Fort Sumter.
For the first two years of the war Mr. Lincoln was only concerned about keeping the Union in tack. Later slavery joined his reasons to fight the South.
As for original sin I believe the Union Army’s destruction of the indigenous peoples who occupied the North American Continent may be an even more heinous act committed by the American people. I wonder if there are any statistics representative of their suffering and death.
In my opinion the Native Americans are deserving of a monument as well.
For the first two years of the war Mr. Lincoln was only concerned about keeping the Union in tack. Later slavery joined his reasons to fight the South.
As for original sin I believe the Union Army’s destruction of the indigenous peoples who occupied the North American Continent may be an even more heinous act committed by the American people. I wonder if there are any statistics representative of their suffering and death.
In my opinion the Native Americans are deserving of a monument as well.
3
A slavery monument may indeed be a good idea. But all this recent revision of flags, statues, memorials and reputations should stop. We are the result of where we have been, the good and the bad.
The strenghth of the US to date has been to recognize its errors and grow in a unified way for the common good.
Recently, this forward thinking has failed us. Unless we reapply the basic tenets of the American Confederation and once again become a melting pot for immigrants where everyone who works at it can succeed, we are destined to morph into an entity that no American could or would want to recognize.
English is our language.
Capitalism fuels our economy.
We have a history and it needs to be taught.
The strenghth of the US to date has been to recognize its errors and grow in a unified way for the common good.
Recently, this forward thinking has failed us. Unless we reapply the basic tenets of the American Confederation and once again become a melting pot for immigrants where everyone who works at it can succeed, we are destined to morph into an entity that no American could or would want to recognize.
English is our language.
Capitalism fuels our economy.
We have a history and it needs to be taught.
2
I do not fully agree. Some vestiges of "white power" apartheid need to be abolished and changed. Just because white supremacists had full hegemony back in the day does not mean we today must continue to enshrine what they did when we had no power to stop them. It's a matter of balance. These issues are far from "settled" history, not by a long shot.
1
Years ago I spent time in Germany, mostly in Berlin, Hamburg, and Freiburg. Seeing its monuments and talking with the German people, I learned that they have come to grips with their war crimes in a way that America has yet to even attempt. Many concentration camps are often-visited memorials. Set in the sidewalks are stolpersteins (stumbling blocks) detailing who was abducted from which house on which date, where they were sent, and when they were murdered. The specificity is arresting, sobering – and tells the visitor that the memorials are not pro forma, but a serious way for Germany to come to grips with its criminal, barbaric past.
Every plantation, slave market, and port where slaves disembarked ought to have a plaque marked with the Confederate flag – this is its true, infamous legacy, after all: let it stand now for what it stood for then – and as much information as is available on who the Americans were who enslaved their fellow humans, including infants, in order to make money ("slaveholders" is such a euphemism compared to an honest description of their crimes); where the slaves came from; how many were murdered there, and more.
This is our truth and our national shame. Facing it is our only path to repentance and to the kind of sober maturity that one can see in the German people today.
Perhaps, if we can come to grips with this national madness, we could find the courage to also repent of our past genocide and present oppression of Native Americans.
Every plantation, slave market, and port where slaves disembarked ought to have a plaque marked with the Confederate flag – this is its true, infamous legacy, after all: let it stand now for what it stood for then – and as much information as is available on who the Americans were who enslaved their fellow humans, including infants, in order to make money ("slaveholders" is such a euphemism compared to an honest description of their crimes); where the slaves came from; how many were murdered there, and more.
This is our truth and our national shame. Facing it is our only path to repentance and to the kind of sober maturity that one can see in the German people today.
Perhaps, if we can come to grips with this national madness, we could find the courage to also repent of our past genocide and present oppression of Native Americans.
37
In a trail, stands of surviving cabins and early freedom dwellings and schools would become nodes tied a network of branching sites. These sites would have a platform and stimulus to share unique, local themes: their industry, cooking, arts, faith, speech, customs, cultural sites.
This way, the nation would preserve important history sites and save many deteriorating badly and collapsing. It also preserves the authentic social features of an amazingly varied experience uniquely shaped by locals. The best way to see slavery's common threads is through local experience.
A trail fits with the Park Service mission of developing historic corridors, and with the USDA Forestry Department's goal of creating new urban and rural trails celebrating culture, heritage and eco-tourism.
Dusting off history's footprints, I offer as my gift to all Times readers this season, from the Library of Congress archives of the WPA slave narratives. this funny story from Edisto Island, SC, an allegory and faith adventure about "Old John," and his community.
The story's free pdf also has a photo of Barack visiting Cape Coast. It has rare cover art--engraved images of oils and watercolors of signares (African women) at an annual ball dance in St. Louis, Senegal; images of the Wolof; circa 1840-60s, first printed in 1890. [http://bit.ly/1OHPGr1].]
Slavery is a national story! But see why I think it should be decentralized, and broadened, as an economic model?
This way, the nation would preserve important history sites and save many deteriorating badly and collapsing. It also preserves the authentic social features of an amazingly varied experience uniquely shaped by locals. The best way to see slavery's common threads is through local experience.
A trail fits with the Park Service mission of developing historic corridors, and with the USDA Forestry Department's goal of creating new urban and rural trails celebrating culture, heritage and eco-tourism.
Dusting off history's footprints, I offer as my gift to all Times readers this season, from the Library of Congress archives of the WPA slave narratives. this funny story from Edisto Island, SC, an allegory and faith adventure about "Old John," and his community.
The story's free pdf also has a photo of Barack visiting Cape Coast. It has rare cover art--engraved images of oils and watercolors of signares (African women) at an annual ball dance in St. Louis, Senegal; images of the Wolof; circa 1840-60s, first printed in 1890. [http://bit.ly/1OHPGr1].]
Slavery is a national story! But see why I think it should be decentralized, and broadened, as an economic model?
5
Those of us in the game, as guides, performers, history tellers, reenactors, event planners, writers, travel directors, site mangers know what happens when a big history story is centralized. The non-profit corporate big box attracts attention by size and budget and may snuff growth.
Maine minimizes corporate dominance (both profit and non-profit) by using local facilities as a tourist model. It provides greater opportunities for new experiences.
In fact, put every Confederate monument on the trail; interpret their stories: Wade Hampton, SC's largest property holder, stopped SC twice from seceding and received wide black support when he ran for governor, a Southern man totally different than fellow governors "Pitchfork" Ben Tillman or Coleman Blease who advocated lynching and violence and offered blacks no protections or rights. See Strom Thurmond's bi-racial daughter's name with his family's on his official state monument, a place to talk about race, secrecy and power.
Confederates created disenfranchising constitutions and a feudal system (sharecropping) after the war, they should not be left out! (In the 1930s, Dorothea Lange photographed former slaves in their eighties who had worked for shares their whole lives.)
Maine minimizes corporate dominance (both profit and non-profit) by using local facilities as a tourist model. It provides greater opportunities for new experiences.
In fact, put every Confederate monument on the trail; interpret their stories: Wade Hampton, SC's largest property holder, stopped SC twice from seceding and received wide black support when he ran for governor, a Southern man totally different than fellow governors "Pitchfork" Ben Tillman or Coleman Blease who advocated lynching and violence and offered blacks no protections or rights. See Strom Thurmond's bi-racial daughter's name with his family's on his official state monument, a place to talk about race, secrecy and power.
Confederates created disenfranchising constitutions and a feudal system (sharecropping) after the war, they should not be left out! (In the 1930s, Dorothea Lange photographed former slaves in their eighties who had worked for shares their whole lives.)
2
I totally agree with the argument of this article. But how would you do a statue about slavery??? This would be a challenge....African American heroes during the time of slavery are obvious candidates such as Frederick Douglass or Harriet Tubman....but how to portray the condition of slavery in a way that does not disrespect the enslaved person or invoke emotions a slave would have despised? It is so disgusting to drive past the Civil War "hero" statues on Monument Avenue in Richmond (for example) all of which fought to preserve slavery. They are an insult to millions who lived and died in slavery and to any American with a moral conscience about it. It would have been interesting to see how Auguste Rodin would have done a statue about slavery. Someone needs to "channel" him.
10
Maybe you should read up on Virginia's history in that war. You would learn that VA voted twice NOT to secede even while being pressured by the 7 Cotton States. It was not until Lincoln demanded VA send troops into the South and force those sovereign states back into the Union did VA vote to secede. That war was a bit more complicated that many here wish to admit. Your take on the Monument Ave in Richmond is way off.
"a serious memorial to America’s original sin."
Since 1776 the US has seized 1.5 billion acres from Native Americans. US intent was clear in the Declaration of Independence, which accused King George of too much concern with “merciless Indian Savages”.
America's original sin is the ethnic cleansing without which it could not exist.
Since 1776 the US has seized 1.5 billion acres from Native Americans. US intent was clear in the Declaration of Independence, which accused King George of too much concern with “merciless Indian Savages”.
America's original sin is the ethnic cleansing without which it could not exist.
41
Val in Brooklyn, NY
You describe John C. Calhoun's words re: slavery, "a positive good" as "famous." Famous, according to the OED online, means "well known." That being said, considering the point of this opinion piece, perhaps "infamous" would have been a better--and more sensitive--choice.
Submitted 12/6/15@1:25 a.m. est
You describe John C. Calhoun's words re: slavery, "a positive good" as "famous." Famous, according to the OED online, means "well known." That being said, considering the point of this opinion piece, perhaps "infamous" would have been a better--and more sensitive--choice.
Submitted 12/6/15@1:25 a.m. est
4
I agree -- I'd certainly contribute to it. Frankly, I think it should be situated in Charleston, just to speak truth to so much remaining hatred, but the more appropriate positioning of such a monument to American slavery would be D.C., on the Mall. Better place to protect it, too.
3
I have lived in the footprints of the enslaved, recovered their words, songs and ideas, bowed in their churches, prayed in their sleeping quarters, sang sea island burial and field spirituals and angry paeans ("Lay Down Body," "Lord, Lent Me Your Walking Shoe," "Why Me Here, Lord?") on village grounds. As one whose daughter at a Tuck's classmate's wedding in Accra returned from Ghana's Cape Coast Castle to say the anger felt in the air is deep and undisturbed--as one who reaches back into history's wisdom for its inner experience to bring it into sight, I say no. It's a great idea. It needs to go one more step!
Cabins and dreams were smells in the air and laughs now gathering dust in the archives, beauty and abundance flowed from the very institution appointed to stop all human progress. Preserve these cabins sites with a trail.
Individuals, families, and communities will share, visit. and contribute along unique journeys of discovery. Meeting others and sharing knowledge is original to the enslaved community. The newly arrived encountered a culture who informed, welcomed, and shared. A trail focuses on experience through people interaction.
A decentralized trail multiples stakeholders, with easy entry and easily transmits engagement, exchanges and encounters; it spreads economic benefits to a vast network of locals. The trail would an intentional home for safe conversations and rest. South Carolina has the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor (shared with NC,GA, FL).
Cabins and dreams were smells in the air and laughs now gathering dust in the archives, beauty and abundance flowed from the very institution appointed to stop all human progress. Preserve these cabins sites with a trail.
Individuals, families, and communities will share, visit. and contribute along unique journeys of discovery. Meeting others and sharing knowledge is original to the enslaved community. The newly arrived encountered a culture who informed, welcomed, and shared. A trail focuses on experience through people interaction.
A decentralized trail multiples stakeholders, with easy entry and easily transmits engagement, exchanges and encounters; it spreads economic benefits to a vast network of locals. The trail would an intentional home for safe conversations and rest. South Carolina has the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor (shared with NC,GA, FL).
17
Excellent idea, a trail that illustrates and conveys so much more insight and meaning than a statue. I've found living history museums much more informative than staring at a statue and reading a dozen or two words on a plaque.
2
A National Slavery monument is long overdue. But can anyone imagine congress approving such a monument even if paid for by private funds?
14
Thank you both for pulling the conversation past the pools of denial that so often bubble up when anything to do with the formerly enslaved is mentioned. And we should honor the truth of their lives, their heroism and their strength. We should also have clear conversations about the East St. Louis race riots of 1917, the bloody summers of 1916, 17, 18, and 19; the bombing of black Tulsa in 1921; and the truth about lynching, this country's long involvement in domestic terrorism. The truth can set us all free.
45
We the people need to recognize how much the institution of slavery contributed to the development of the west. In today's context the slave owners of colonial America are denounced. Why are slaves as individuals not a part of history? The fruits of slavery were distributed world wide. Where is the recognition for the slaves' labor, lifetime torture all while imprisoned. Who writes history, who decides what is taught, what is published?
What has humanity to gain from re-evaluating history?
What has humanity to gain from re-evaluating history?
5
These people are NOT revisionists.''...What has humanity to gain from re-evaluating history?,,," And remember, since it's quite true, that those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.
1
The sharply differing opinions of supporters of Confederate monuments, schools, highways and its Battle Flag, and those who see them as symbols of almost unimaginable cruelty, bring to mind a response to the equestrian statue of Confederate General P. G. T. Beauregard in New Orleans.
Supporters of the statue extol Beauregard as a refined Southern gentleman, a skilled engineer, former superintendent of West Point and the commanding victor at the First Battle of Bull Run. On the other hand, descendants of persons enslaved by plantation owner Beauregard and others like him who fought under the Confederate Battle Flag hold a very different view.
A slavery monument is long overdue and my words below to an admirer of Beauregard are part of the reason why:
“You salute him as the distinguished General BEAUregard;
I scorn him as a slaveholder with NO regard for the humanity of Black people!!”
Supporters of the statue extol Beauregard as a refined Southern gentleman, a skilled engineer, former superintendent of West Point and the commanding victor at the First Battle of Bull Run. On the other hand, descendants of persons enslaved by plantation owner Beauregard and others like him who fought under the Confederate Battle Flag hold a very different view.
A slavery monument is long overdue and my words below to an admirer of Beauregard are part of the reason why:
“You salute him as the distinguished General BEAUregard;
I scorn him as a slaveholder with NO regard for the humanity of Black people!!”
30
Yes, I rather agree. A national slave monument would be quite dope.
1
The discussion of slavery is best fostered through museums, not monuments to a flaw in the nation's history. The way to a better future is by focusing on the positive, not wringing our hands over collective guilt and the past. Personally, I accept zero responsibility for slavery, being a first generation American and all.
9
As was said to the lady above (Stephanie) those who forget the past are doomed to relive it. Handwringing. Indeed.
1
How is a monument asking you to accept responsibility? I am a third generation American. Does that mean I should ignore all American history that happened before 1900, around the time my grandparents came here? None of my ancestors were around for the Revolution or Civil War, after all, so why should I care? Here's why: as an American citizen, I should know the history of my country. History is what made the USA what it is, and understanding that makes us better citizens. The first Africans were forced here and enslaved in the 1600's--this tragedy is woven into American history.
2
It's not necessary for you to accept responsibility. But, just know that the nation you now call your home, was built on the backs of slaves.
2
America's racial problem today is not how slavery is remembered. Rather, it is how various racial and ethnic groups are now treated by each other. Yes, more accuracy on the past would not only be just but helpful. However, a bunch of privileged Princeton kids of whatever race doing a smack down, drag out fight about Woodrow Wilson's image on campus pales in comparison to the violence done to Black communities by gangs, unemployment, family disintegration, poor police training, and hostility to and from other groups.
Would an appropriately curated museum of slavery be a good idea? Sure, especially if curated by qualified, professional curators, not advocates of a narrow agenda. However, while history and symbolism are important, current material conditions and communal dysfunction are for more important issues. Good policies will aid the Black community more than a museum, more than a skilled pediatric neurosurgeon, more than dominance of the N.B.A.
The column speaks about the many memorials in Washington. They are good and help create a narrative for our most unusual -- arguably unique -- country, where political principles of diversity, freedom, and heterogeneity, no matter how far we are from perfection, are what bind us together, not a thousand years of ethnically homogeneous but multi-forms of government states. While the Viet Nam Memorial is entirely appropriate and powerful, what our fighting men and women need are good policies in the present. Same for Blacks.
Would an appropriately curated museum of slavery be a good idea? Sure, especially if curated by qualified, professional curators, not advocates of a narrow agenda. However, while history and symbolism are important, current material conditions and communal dysfunction are for more important issues. Good policies will aid the Black community more than a museum, more than a skilled pediatric neurosurgeon, more than dominance of the N.B.A.
The column speaks about the many memorials in Washington. They are good and help create a narrative for our most unusual -- arguably unique -- country, where political principles of diversity, freedom, and heterogeneity, no matter how far we are from perfection, are what bind us together, not a thousand years of ethnically homogeneous but multi-forms of government states. While the Viet Nam Memorial is entirely appropriate and powerful, what our fighting men and women need are good policies in the present. Same for Blacks.
18
Your comment is good. I lived in DC for over 40 years and I saw Dr. King give his famous speech. Yes, the Viet Nam Memorial is entirely appropriate and it is powerful. But I have to disagree with you on a count: your comment that "... a thousand years of ethnically homogeneous but multi-forms of government states..." is not only racist but it's revisionist, too. Is it somehow better to be white? Should we forget about the Nazis who were "white" (aryan)? And yes, there are many memorials in DC. They have it both ways as the city does, too: on the one hand the monuments are (mostly) racist and on the other DC is famed for being "... in the middle..." It's neither the North nor the South. Hah.
Policies and memorials are not mutually exclusive. We can afford both.
What we need, what we truly need need right now, beyond any kind of memorial, is a Truth and Reconciliation Commission. There will be no way forward until we dive deep into what happened. This is clear to me now.
What happened, who did it, when, where, how? Bring all the evidence forward. Let it take a year, two years, five years, as long as it takes. Bring everybody in. Til we all know, for real, and there's a record of everything, specific as can be. And, then, maybe, maybe, just maybe we can try to move forward.
What happened, who did it, when, where, how? Bring all the evidence forward. Let it take a year, two years, five years, as long as it takes. Bring everybody in. Til we all know, for real, and there's a record of everything, specific as can be. And, then, maybe, maybe, just maybe we can try to move forward.
5
Unlike South Africa there isn't anybody left alive. I agree in principle but in reality this probably isn't very effective without actual human witnesses.
1
We should absolutely have a national slave memorial. But we already had a truth and reconciliation commission. It did a lot of work between 1861-65 and this nation, under God, had a new birth of freedom and the government of the people, by the people, for the people, did not perish from the earth.
1
What a stupid idea.
9
What a stupid comment.
18
Henry Louis Gates, Jr., in "Ending the Slavery Blame-Game" (New York Times, Op-Ed, Apr. 23, 2010) reported that "90 percent of those shipped to the New World were enslaved by Africans and then sold to European traders." Moreover, neither Moses nor Jesus nor the Ten Commandments prohibited slavery. Slavery was a sin, but it was not original.
12
The 13th amendment prohibits slavery as does common modern morality. As far as Jesus is concerned how many slaves did Jesus own?
Comments like this one expose the need for all of us to learn more about the history of slavery in the United States. Subtle defenses of slavery like this one should be offensive to all.
Comments like this one expose the need for all of us to learn more about the history of slavery in the United States. Subtle defenses of slavery like this one should be offensive to all.
2
Those Africans would not have been enslaved and sold, if there weren't white buyers. Don't forget the trans-Atlantic slave trade was started by Christopher Columbus.
2
As an American that can trace my African heritage on both maternal and paternal lines to the earliest origins of this country, I disagree with the two academics that call for a slave monument. This endless focus on the slave institution has made nearly invisible the very humanity of the African person who contributed greatly to the building of America. As my maternal grandmother would remind me as a youth, "Slavery is how we got here, but it tells you little to who we are as a people." Let's have a monument celebrating the lives and contributions of the African heritage people.
51
It needn't be either/or; it should be both. Your grandmother had a good point. But an equally good point is that coming generations of Americans should be in no doubt as to who African-Americans WERE as a people.
Well said Keith. Continuously going back to an era in our country when things and people were so different just feeds racism. Our country was founded by many races but it was over 150 years ago. Why can't we let go?
I absolutely do NOT agree with you. I too am African American and have long hoped for such a monument in the nation's capitol - not unlike the magnificent Holocaust Museum that I've visited and have been educated and moved by. Yes, a monument/statute is not a museum but the point is made.
Well written and timely. Certainly, a memorial that specifically makes reference to the great wrong (slavery) done to our African-American brothers and sisters is long overdue in our nation's capital. The same holds true for the indigenous people of America, whose way of life was shattered by the colonization of North America by European settlers. It had always puzzled me that a memorial to the victims of the Nazi Holocaust would precede one to Africans or Native Americans in Washington, DC. Perhaps that is because it is psychologically easier to build a memorial if one does not feel complicit in the crimes that is the basis for the remembrance.
56
But the US is complicit in the Nazi crimes, as it did little at the time to recognize the atrocities and rescue those at risk. One might argue that this is indirect complicity, but complicity none the less.
An excellent suggestion. But the battle in Charleston over the Vesey statue should serve as a warning that the approval process may not go smoothly. Some opponents or skeptics may raise budgetary concerns to scuttle the project or at least to reduce the grandeur of the monument. Location of the memorial will also stimulate controversy. Some people, in and out of Congress, will challenge the idea that this tribute to an exploited people who played a critical role in the early development of our economy should share prominence with the important statesmen of our past. Americans committed to the myth of their country's exceptionalism will regard a slave statue as a reminder of the less savory features of our national character.
Few politicians, in this day and time, will overtly oppose a monument to commemorate our slave ancestors. But a frontal assault is only one manner of derailing a project like this one. Politicians excel at delaying tactics, which could draw out the approval process interminably. The price of a favorable vote might be a more modest memorial or one located away from the areas that attract heavy tourist traffic.
Such a travesty is not inevitable, but it would be a mistake to dismiss the possibility.
Few politicians, in this day and time, will overtly oppose a monument to commemorate our slave ancestors. But a frontal assault is only one manner of derailing a project like this one. Politicians excel at delaying tactics, which could draw out the approval process interminably. The price of a favorable vote might be a more modest memorial or one located away from the areas that attract heavy tourist traffic.
Such a travesty is not inevitable, but it would be a mistake to dismiss the possibility.
2
Hopefully the new African American museum being constructed in front of the Washington Monument in WashDC will help educate Americans and the World as to the cold truth about slavery in the history of the US. For example, few Americans know or are taught about the slavery "trail of tears" in the first half of the 19th century when slave families were torn apart and forced marched from Virginia and Maryland to the lower South. Cold hearted slave owners sold away second or third generation slaves to benefit from the cotton boom. I fear that a new slave memorial, if it doesn't educate, will do nothing to right the centuries old false history being promoted.
4
Edward Baptist's recent book was very helpful in illuminating this episode. It makes the idea of a national slavery trail advanced elsewhere in these comments (perhaps retracing in part the routes of the coffles) a very compelling proposal.
1
A National Slavery Monument is long overdue.
A country is its history, and some Americans love to take a whitewashed short cut through American history, focusing blindly on the highlights, skipping through the tragedies as though they were minor episodes, all part of a popular, stunted and childish view of America as a shining city on a hill.
America is many great things...and many wretched things.
But people and societies don't move forward well when they don't fully reconcile themselves to truth and history, and a National Slavery Monument would help put part of America's sordid history where it can be discussed honestly, in the front row of our nation's capital where a little sunlight will also do some good at wilting America's backward whitewashing streak.
The world and our country suffers from too many revisionist historians and plain deniers of history.
Museums help restate the plain horrible truth about human history and they serve a spectacular purpose in shedding fresh light about the forgotten horrors forced upon one human by another.
America's slavery should never be forgotten for a second by any American - it doesn't matter that you or I 'weren't there'.
The fact that Confederate flags still fly in this nation is proof that its citizens have not reconciled themselves to the painful history of America.
America was founded on the very fire of slavery and still suffers from its burning embers.
How could we possibly not have a National Slavery Monument ?
A country is its history, and some Americans love to take a whitewashed short cut through American history, focusing blindly on the highlights, skipping through the tragedies as though they were minor episodes, all part of a popular, stunted and childish view of America as a shining city on a hill.
America is many great things...and many wretched things.
But people and societies don't move forward well when they don't fully reconcile themselves to truth and history, and a National Slavery Monument would help put part of America's sordid history where it can be discussed honestly, in the front row of our nation's capital where a little sunlight will also do some good at wilting America's backward whitewashing streak.
The world and our country suffers from too many revisionist historians and plain deniers of history.
Museums help restate the plain horrible truth about human history and they serve a spectacular purpose in shedding fresh light about the forgotten horrors forced upon one human by another.
America's slavery should never be forgotten for a second by any American - it doesn't matter that you or I 'weren't there'.
The fact that Confederate flags still fly in this nation is proof that its citizens have not reconciled themselves to the painful history of America.
America was founded on the very fire of slavery and still suffers from its burning embers.
How could we possibly not have a National Slavery Monument ?
28
If you aren't already reconciled to the ills of slavery, then a monument isn't going to help you.
It sounds like he's reconciled his views but you certainly haven't. There has been a drive to obscure the sins of our slavery and Texas is example #1. They want to teach their children that the war was only tangentially about slavery when in fact, it was THE cause of the civil war. Southerners were baffled as to why a symbol of the hatred of whites towards blacks, otherwise known as the confederate flag, would be so offensive to those whose own personal history was the direct result of that repression. This doesn't sound like a population that understands the true history of slavery. It sounds like a group of people that are still litigating the Civil War.
2
Liberals these days are promoting a view of themselves as the good guys and the heroes of every dispute. From the Civil War to gun control to abortion to health care, the simple truth they promote is that they are right. They will have us build a monument to every one of their causes. Build museums where understanding is promoted. Monuments to the liberal view are like gold stars for kindergartners.
4
I did not know that being against slavery or building a monument to honor slaves on whose backs this country was built was a liberal " cause".
2
There you go again, bemoaning reality's well-known liberal bias.
2
I agree.
Even the Germans have faced their Nazi past.
America is dedicated to never face its past.
Even the Germans have faced their Nazi past.
America is dedicated to never face its past.
19
Really? I find this hard to believe. I think America is rather critical of itself and through that, finds its strength.
Yea sure, wallow in past misery. That always works so well.
B,
Those who forget their history are bound to repeat it.
Those who forget their history are bound to repeat it.
I could not agree more. And, given state efforts like that of Texas, which has edited slavery out of its school textbooks as the cause of the civil war, we as a nation need to remember our past--the good, the bad, and the ugly. We owe it to our brother- and sister-citizens who have been marginalized for far too long.
13
Not sure we need a "monument" to slavery, though as a whiter person I wold respectfully support whatever is decided upon. What I would like to see in any museum or display on this subject is an acknowledgement of the amazing patriotism of black people throughout American history-- often something the nation truly did not deserve. Every war, every political victory, every national celebration-- has always been central to who these people (our fellow citizens) are, and their behavior has been something all of us can aspire to.
3
Slavery monuments might make more sense to shoolchildren who have been presented with historically accurate information in school.
7
Consider the work of Ed Hamilton of Louisville, KY, a sculptor and an African-American, whose statue of Lincoln which is accompanied by several friezes depicting the lives of slaves overlooks the Ohio River and is one of the main attractions along the waterfront.
2
Pigs will fly and there will be peace in Syria and the Middle East before this Congress or any other will erect a national monument to the fights against slavery.
1
The problem with this idea is that a substantial portion of the population thinks that slavery was mostly just fine, and they would reinstitute it if they had a chance.
3
A monument to slavery moves our minds and emotions to our country's greatest sin and failure of the past. I believe we would benefit more at this moment in time by public-art-depictions of our current national failures like unemployment, drug use, gun murders and gang violence to help maintain attention on the problems now facing us.
3
"What the United States needs is a national memorial that tells the truth about slavery and its victims." Fort Monroe National Monument, a park added to the NPS in 2011 by President Obama, is just such a memorial, and more. The Virginia peninsula it occupies is where the first captured Africans were introduced into the English colonies in 1619. Its early 19th century stone moated fortress was built partly with slave labor, perhaps under the supervision of Lt. Robert E. Lee. And in 1861, its Union commander granted three enslaved men sanctuary, and ten-thousand enslaved Americans followed them, creating the first mass exodus to freedom in the Civil War. Moreover, the Union commander's rationale for sanctuary--that the three men were "contraband of war"--led to the Confiscation Acts, the first legal steps on the path to the Emancipation Proclamation and the 13th Amendment. All of African American history--which is at the core of American history--is represented at this beautiful site on the Chesapeake Bay, from the centuries of enslavement to self-emancipating escape to the creation of a new life. One of the ironies of our history is that a fort built by slaves came to be known by their descendants as "the freedom fort." And fittingly, Jefferson Davis, the Confederate President, was incarcerated there after the war. Fort Monroe National Monument is one our most significant national treasures. Spread the word.
9
Val in Brooklyn, NY to H. Scott Butler
You said spread the word. I took you literally and did just that, but not probably not in the way you intended or that I expected. I stumbled into an opinion page in the NYT written 08/18/11 about Fort Monroe National Monument. The comments section seems, still to be open! So, I did my thing and mentioned you, among others, and said I'd return, full circle, here, to report on it. Wow! I'm officially in the twilight zone now! It'll be interesting to see if it's really still open & if my comment's accepted.
What's puzzling is these two well meaning authors seem unaware of what President Obama has done.I didn't know, but I'm not a journalist. Having said that, they must be credited with stimulating and/or continuing such an important conversation, that can hopefully lead to action.
Part of the problem is, as others here have stated, we need more: monuments to Black soldiers, etc., a designated trail of the slave cabins and so forth. And, of course, more monuments and recognition of my Native Ancestors, not just my Black enslaved ancestors. What happened, and is still happening to them really was this nation's original sin.
M. Scott Butler, you said spread the word. I will. I'll bring it up at my local library, the Central Library of Brooklyn Public Library. Black History Month is just around the corner.
I can't thank you, some of my fellow readers or the NYT writers--past and present--enough.
Submitted 12/6/15@9:51 a.m. est
You said spread the word. I took you literally and did just that, but not probably not in the way you intended or that I expected. I stumbled into an opinion page in the NYT written 08/18/11 about Fort Monroe National Monument. The comments section seems, still to be open! So, I did my thing and mentioned you, among others, and said I'd return, full circle, here, to report on it. Wow! I'm officially in the twilight zone now! It'll be interesting to see if it's really still open & if my comment's accepted.
What's puzzling is these two well meaning authors seem unaware of what President Obama has done.I didn't know, but I'm not a journalist. Having said that, they must be credited with stimulating and/or continuing such an important conversation, that can hopefully lead to action.
Part of the problem is, as others here have stated, we need more: monuments to Black soldiers, etc., a designated trail of the slave cabins and so forth. And, of course, more monuments and recognition of my Native Ancestors, not just my Black enslaved ancestors. What happened, and is still happening to them really was this nation's original sin.
M. Scott Butler, you said spread the word. I will. I'll bring it up at my local library, the Central Library of Brooklyn Public Library. Black History Month is just around the corner.
I can't thank you, some of my fellow readers or the NYT writers--past and present--enough.
Submitted 12/6/15@9:51 a.m. est
1
There should be monuments in the South to black soldiers who died fighting for their freedom and Southern whites who fought for the Union. There should also be monuments to religious communities that settled in the South and then resettled in nonslave areas because as Christians they were troubled by slavery; these monuments should be located where the communities originally settled.
These monuments should be placed in proximity to existing monuments to Confederates rather than in Washington, which has enough monuments already. The Confederate propaganda machine allowed the South to snatch a considerable victory from total defeat; this victory should not stand. We have a long and ugly tradition in this country to move on rather than dwelling on our mistakes and misdeeds until some wisdom is extracted from them. So we have large numbers of people who think we could have won in Vietnam and that invading Iraq the second time was a good idea and that it was only because of outside agitators that Southern blacks turned against segregation.
These monuments should be placed in proximity to existing monuments to Confederates rather than in Washington, which has enough monuments already. The Confederate propaganda machine allowed the South to snatch a considerable victory from total defeat; this victory should not stand. We have a long and ugly tradition in this country to move on rather than dwelling on our mistakes and misdeeds until some wisdom is extracted from them. So we have large numbers of people who think we could have won in Vietnam and that invading Iraq the second time was a good idea and that it was only because of outside agitators that Southern blacks turned against segregation.
18
We should also have monuments erected to all the monument makers and erect them in close proximity to every existing monument to non-monument makers, aka historical figures, so that the monuments themselves are fully contextualized within their historical framework. Ideally we could also have safe spaces near these monuments for harboring our more emotional compatriots as well as trigger warnings every 50 feet upon approach --- so that highly sensitive viewers might steel themselves in advance of the actual visual inspection of said reliquary. Perhaps the successful viewers might also be granted a trophy upon their successful viewing, and if the budget allows, cupcakes.
1
A monument (and museum) is an important step in telling the truth. And truth-telling and seeing is needed so that we can mourn this painful past, make amends and reparations, and free ourselves from the traumatic grip that still stunts our country today. Then maybe true healing and reconciliation will happen and we can grow up express our finest possibilities.
1
When - not if - a national slavery monument is constructed, my hope is that the bronze used to build the many Confederate statues scattered all over this nation would be melted down to build the slavery monument.
The tree of American liberty was not only watered with the blood of patriots - it was watered with the blood, sweat and tears of slaves.
The tree of American liberty was not only watered with the blood of patriots - it was watered with the blood, sweat and tears of slaves.
39
Sculpture: an outstretched hand on a broken-manacled arm, thrusting up from the Earth into the sky, perhaps?
3
On target, on target no doubt,
And time that we brought it about,
Add one if you can,
Native American,
Whose abuse to this day we flout.
And time that we brought it about,
Add one if you can,
Native American,
Whose abuse to this day we flout.
49
Amen to that.
1