“Remembering Slavery, Resistance, and Freedom Project is a partnership between the College of William and Mary, the Martin Luther King Memorial Commission of the Virginia General Assembly, and the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities that seeks to develop events and exhibits to commemorate the Sesquicentennial of the Emancipation Proclamation by revealing the enormous influence free and enslaved Africans and African-Americans have had on Virginia. While sites related to African-American labor, life, struggle, and resilience are numerous in Virginia, many state residents and visitors are unaware of these sites and the history they represent.”
On November 6, 2014, the College of William and Mary held a full day event consisting of multiple presentations and discussion panels entitled ‘Created Equal: America’s Civil Rights Struggle’. Although I was unable to attend the afternoon session due to restricted space, the morning consisted of a presentation and discussion of the film Slavery By Another Name, the 2012 film based on Douglas A. Blackmon’s Pultizer Prize winning book of the same name, published in 2008. The event, hosted by the Remembering Slavery, Resistance, and Freedom Project, whose description from their Facebook page is provided above, sought to prompt discussion about our remembrance and understanding of the re-enslavement of Black people in America following the Civil War, and how instances of white supremacy and oppression of African Americans still impact on the societal and economic structure of America today.
The PBS documentary film was extremely educational and insightful in teaching me about many aspects of African American history that I was simply unaware of. The book, and subsequent film, set to correct the historical assumption that slavery ended in 1863 with the Emancipation Proclamation; in fact, Blackmon demonstrates how forced labor of African Americans continued until the beginning of the Second World War. Although the educational system in this country may be improving in teaching the institution of slavery pre-Civil War, America still has a problem of omitting aspects of their history that they do not feel comfortable discussing, and this period of ‘neo-slavery’ is one of them.
The audience consisted of a mix of ethnic backgrounds, and so the discussion prompted input from both white and black Americans, but the overwhelming sentiment from everyone was consistent; we need to do better to improve America’s problem with racism. Some people shared stories of their efforts to help by volunteering in the local prison, where they unforunately recognized the undeniable black majority incarcerated. Others shared their fears regarding their own African American sons being simply in the wrong place at the wrong time and ending up in jail, or worse, simply because of their race and gender.
One of the most interesting discussions was about the media representations of race relations. A mass communications major highlighted the problems of the media coverage of the Ray Rice case, and how in following it so intently and reporting on it so negatively, an impression has been made about all African American men. The woman in the discussion poignantly said, don’t let your children think this is normal; make sure they are aware that this is a minority case and that, despite the overwhelming media attention, and that obviously Ray Rice’s behavior was wrong, he is not representative of all black men in America. Conversely, another man raised the example of Ferguson, highlighting that despite it being an on-going and prevalent issue, it is not being covered in mainstream media. In order to find out what is going on in Ferguson, with Ferguson October, and the movement that has begun there, you have to actively seek out the information yourself. In this way, the problem of police brutality and systematic violence towards African Americans is swept under the carpet, while a single example of a black man who commited domestic violent is held in the spotlight.
The most important thing I took from today’s discussion was that we need to learn to talk about race and the real history of all Americans comfortably and with compassion. We should be starting conversations that others may not want to have. We should be asking questions and raising awareness and seeking the truth.
For more information on what is really happening in Ferguson, please visit http://fergusonoctober.com/