Althouse: "Two years ago, Richmond, Va., installed 17 markers delineating a slave trail, running past the sites of slave markets and a slave jail."

December 14, 2013

"Two years ago, Richmond, Va., installed 17 markers delineating a slave trail, running past the sites of slave markets and a slave jail."

"A national slavery museum is being planned, said Delores McQuinn, a state legislator, who has led the slave trail project. Charleston, S.C., has moved away from its traditionally genteel approach to antebellum history to one that acknowledges the central role of slavery in the city’s development. An International African-American Museum is planned there as well and is seen as good business."

"Tourism audiences are changing," said Mary Battle, a public historian with the Avery Research Center for African-American History and Culture at the College of Charleston.

32 comments:

Anonymous said...: The 'Slave-foe-a-Day' Tourism Experience.

Pay Your Entrance Money, then Have Your Belongings Stripped from You. You Stand Naked on a Platform While Others Evaluate You, Prod You, Look at Your Teeth: Hold Your Tongue.

You are Unceremoniously Sold to the Slave Holder in the Straw Hat.You Now Have a New Name. Do NOT make Eye Contact. Spend the Day Laboring in the Field. No Water. The Occasional Whipping.

In the Late Afternoon You Retire to the Bunk House Amongst the Other Tourist Slaves and Whisper of Your Experiences, but you Have Whispered Too Loud: Another Whipping.

Food is the Slave Holder's Afterthought.

In the Morning You Are Awakened By the Crack of a Whip, then Leave the 'Slave-foe-a-Day' Tourism Experience. Bumper Sticker available in the Lobby; Bumper Sticker Now on the Prius.; 12/14/13, 8:53 AM
rhhardin said...: Black people are objects of reverence to the left, says Derbyshire this week, explaining the Mandela funeral and the Obama peace prize.; 12/14/13, 9:06 AM
rhhardin said...: A Tom Swifty in the etymology

This sense development arose in the consequence of the wars waged by Otto the Great and his successors against the Slavs, a great number of whom they took captive and sold into slavery.; 12/14/13, 9:08 AM
rhhardin said...: Who among us is not whipped by habit in the morning?; 12/14/13, 9:09 AM
Shouting Thomas said...: Head over to Crack's house for All Slavery All the Time.

Crack has promised to hold his breath until black receive reparations for slavery.

Everything is Slavery! Slavery is everything!; 12/14/13, 9:22 AM
David Davenport said...: You are Unceremoniously Sold to the Slave Holder in the Straw Hat.You Now Have a New Name. Do NOT make Eye Contact. Spend the Day Laboring in the Field. No Water. The Occasional Whipping.

In the Late Afternoon You Retire to the Bunk House Amongst the Other Tourist Slaves and Whisper of Your Experiences, but you Have Whispered Too Loud: Another Whipping. ...

In other words, an S&M sex fantasy.

Very titillating for overcivilized Weissvolk.; 12/14/13, 9:25 AM
Ann Althouse said...: What does it do to people's minds to live in a place with markers like that all over the place? I understand preserving memories and saying "never forget" (AKA "never again"), but to demand that other people always keep great ugliness in the front of their heads is possibly demoralizing or depressing. It could function to preserve present feelings of subordination. Has anyone seriously studied the effect on citizens to have their city transformed into a historical monument about slavery?; 12/14/13, 9:34 AM
rhhardin said...: Markers memorializing bad habits would be welcome.; 12/14/13, 9:41 AM
Dr Weevil said...: Reminders of historical horrors are effective even when they're not foregrounded. I had dinner at a Uighur fast-food place in Munich on Wednesday night. (I asked the counter guy, and it's pronounced 'wee-gur' or maybe a little more like French 'oui' + 'gur'.) I figured that was a cuisine I wouldn't get another chance to try any time soon.

Anyway, I didn't notice until I looked at their card back at my hotel that the address is Dachauer Strasse = Dachau Street = the road that leads NW from Munich to Dachau. Was glad to see the locals haven't changed the name of the street to avoid creeping people out.; 12/14/13, 9:52 AM
Rusty said...: , but to demand that other people always keep great ugliness in the front of their heads is possibly demoralizing or depressing. It could function to preserve present feelings of subordination. Has anyone seriously studied the effect on citizens to have their city transformed into a historical monument about slavery?

You could ask Jesse jackson, Al Sharpton et al. They've become large plantation owners by playing on slavery.; 12/14/13, 9:55 AM
Wince said...: When will they have an historic "trail" dedicated to the sorry legacy that has caused of the greater destruction of the black family: the Great Society.

Economist Thomas Sowell argues that the Great Society programs only contributed to the destruction of African American families, saying "the black family, which had survived centuries of slavery and discrimination, began rapidly disintegrating in the liberal welfare state that subsidized unwed pregnancy and changed welfare from an emergency rescue to a way of life."; 12/14/13, 10:00 AM
Anonymous said...: Dachau is an interesting case. Established in 1933, perhaps 60 days after Hitler took over, it first housed Communists, Union types, and Clergy (mostly Catholic, which is interesting in that it sits in the heart of Bavaria). Next came an influx of Jews and common criminals. For the first ten years it was really a labor camp. What the Soviet's would call, "a Camp of the Hard Regime". In '43, it became a small scale death camp, with throughput taking precedence over labor output.; 12/14/13, 10:06 AM
Anonymous said...: This is the NYT, so they don't talk about slave markets in NYC, or Baltimore, or the fact that most of those slave ships sailed out of New England, financed with NYC money.; 12/14/13, 10:19 AM
Oso Negro said...: Blogger Ann Althouse said...
What does it do to people's minds to live in a place with markers like that all over the place? I understand preserving memories and saying "never forget" (AKA "never again"), but to demand that other people always keep great ugliness in the front of their heads is possibly demoralizing or depressing. It could function to preserve present feelings of subordination. Has anyone seriously studied the effect on citizens to have their city transformed into a historical monument about slavery?

Perhaps you are thinking about this all wrong. What happened in the United States was a LUCKY thing for the blacks who were sold into slavery. Please remember, their ancestors were the LOSERS of Africa, sold into bondage by the smarter, more organizen, more aggressive Africans. The slave population of the United States increased its numbers through reproduction, unlike those of, say, Brazil, who were continually dying off and being replaced by fresh captives. Here is a quick test - can you name a SINGLE sub-Saharan African country where the local black population is doing better economically that the descendants of slaves in the U.S.? I can't. Further, think of the cultural achievements we would have been denied without African slavery. No reason to deny the past, but high time to quit bitching about it.; 12/14/13, 10:22 AM
Tank said...: Oso is right LOL. I've made this kind of argument to various people who, invariably, cannot seem to even process the idea.

Hey, why don't we put up these types of markers at each Polar Bear Hunting location? That would be more timely and relevant than something that happened 20 years ago.; 12/14/13, 10:33 AM
Heartless Aztec said...: St. Augustine, Fl still has it's slave market as a central part of it's city park/square. Here's a page of images. http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=st+augustine+slave+market&FORM=HDRSC2; 12/14/13, 10:37 AM
n.n said...: Will we remember the white slaves? The Indian slaves of competing empires, nations, and tribes? We should properly characterize slavery, where both slavers and slaves had a diverse composition.; 12/14/13, 10:41 AM
Sam L. said...: I think it's a worthwhile project. Let's give it a try, and see if it makes money.; 12/14/13, 11:19 AM
Anonymous said...: n.n said...
Will we remember the white slaves?

LOL, I saw the Movie :)

Captain Blood: Errol Flynn; 12/14/13, 11:34 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: n.n,

Will we remember the white slaves? The Indian slaves of competing empires, nations, and tribes? We should properly characterize slavery, where both slavers and slaves had a diverse composition.

In 1860, 90% of all slaves in America were black.

Nice try, though.

Man, you guys will say anything to change the subject.

Even changing history itself,...; 12/14/13, 11:47 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: n.n,

Will we remember the white slaves? The Indian slaves of competing empires, nations, and tribes? We should properly characterize slavery, where both slavers and slaves had a diverse composition.

In 1860, 90% of all slaves in America were black.

Yes, I'm sure, that's highly diverse to white people,...; 12/14/13, 11:49 AM
damikesc said...: What does it do to people's minds to live in a place with markers like that all over the place? I understand preserving memories and saying "never forget" (AKA "never again"), but to demand that other people always keep great ugliness in the front of their heads is possibly demoralizing or depressing. It could function to preserve present feelings of subordination. Has anyone seriously studied the effect on citizens to have their city transformed into a historical monument about slavery?

People wonder why the South has become less willing to give a shit over slavery over the years.

Shit like this is why.

Charleston is becoming left-wing because, like ALL left-wing cities, the only citizens are the psychotically wealthy or dirt poor.; 12/14/13, 11:59 AM
n.n said...: The Crack Emcee:

In that time, in that place, it was. That should be remembered in context. The issue is slavery, right? The issue is also a persistent and disproportionate enslavement of people with black-colored skin.; 12/14/13, 2:06 PM
n.n said...: The Drill SGT:

Whites were held as slaves by some Indian empires, nations, and tribes. As were blacks by the same. They were also held as slaves by Mexicans. There are two issues that need to be addressed: slavery generally and the disproportionate enslavement of people with black-colored skin.; 12/14/13, 2:10 PM
Paul said...: And meanwhile in Africa REAL slavery among the blacks and Muslims persist.

But there is no money in it for such as Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpston to say anything.; 12/14/13, 3:12 PM
dwick said...: "An International African-American Museum is planned there as well and is seen as good business."

Oh ya... like Cincinnati's 9 year old 'Freedom Center' National Underground Railroad Museum that loses ~$1.5M a year in attracting about 1/3 the number of visitors originally forecast (a lot of those local public school students on forced-march field trips paying $6 for admission vs the regular $12 fare) - rumored to be on the brink of closing a couple years ago. The full-time work force has been sliced from 120 to 34. Such a great business opportunity that the founders' plan all along was to get the federal government to pick up the annual ~$3.5M in operating costs.; 12/14/13, 3:23 PM
David said...: The lady is raising the right issue but I question her solution.

Slavery was not just an element of Southern society before the Civil War. It was the society. Black African slaves were the basis for the economy of the South. Slavery also defined the social order and dominated the politics.

Places like Charleston now make a living selling history. My own own of Beaufort SC is trying to do a little of the same. And if you are going to tell the history of places like Charleston or Beaufort, a big part of the focus has to be slavery. Presently the slave system is barely mentioned. When it is mentioned, the focus is almost entirely on emancipation.

I am not quite sure what a "slave trail" of markers is like, or why a "trail" is a particularly good way to tell the story. If the purpose is to induce guilt or saturate the minds of observers with this issue to the exclusion of all others, it ceases to be history and becomes vengeance or poetical commentary.

One of the most interesting stories of the slave times is the inventiveness and resilience that the slaves showed in creating their own societies, in the midst of the intense pressure of slavery. I do not see how a "slave trail" could tell that very remarkable part of the tale.; 12/14/13, 3:45 PM
David said...: dwick--Richmond now has a Museum of the Confederacy. It's a wonderful museum, and while it does not ignore slavery, it's about the Confederacy, not the south. The story of slavery is much larger than just the four years of the Confederacy.

The presence of the Museum of the Confederacy makes Richmond a perfect location for a really first rate telling of the story of slavery. It could be a flop if badly done, but if done well it could be a terrific attraction and a great educational tool.; 12/14/13, 3:55 PM
dwick said...: David - I didn't say Cincinnati's Freedom Center wasn't well done... it has won national and international acclaim for creating the first permanent, museum-quality exhibit examining contemporary slavery. And it on average draws ~30000 more people annually than the median attendance for museums across the country. I don't doubt what you say about Richmond's Museum of the Confederacy is true - I'm a history buff myself. But whether the Museum of the Confederacy, the Freedom Center or any other similar type projects are 'good business' are entirely different matters. The fact is the drawing power and economic impact to communities are more often than not significantly over-sold for these types of projects to secure public $ and support - at least some of that public $/support playing upon political-correctness, 'white guilt', etc. The Freedom Center building is HUGE sitting relatively empty most of the year occupying 3X the justifiable amount of extremely valuable and highly desirable downtown riverfront property adjacent to the Bengals and Reds stadiums. I'm just saying 'Caveat Emptor' to communties being wooed by the 'good business' siren song attached to proposals for projects of this type.; 12/14/13, 5:18 PM
ken in tx said...: Here are some things you might not know. There were over 200 black slave owners in the 1860 census in South Carolina—that is to say blacks who owned slaves. There were black plantation owners in Louisiana, whose wives were raped and plantations burned because Union soldiers could not believe that blacks would be allowed to own such property. Mennonite and Amish families lived throughout North and South Carolina in the 1850s. They did not support slavery or the Confederacy, yet their farms were burned and their cattle killed by the Union army. They have only recently started coming back home. The Cherokee nation sided with the Confederacy because they had always held slaves, even before Europeans came to America. They lost part of their territory in Oklahoma to provide '40 acres and a mule' to freed slaves, as a result. There are some 100% black towns in Oklahoma today because of this.

This has been your History Moment provided by your retired history teacher.; 12/14/13, 5:34 PM
William said...: I've read that slavery was not abolished in Indian lands until the 1880's.........The history of slavery is not an edifying story. In this country, whites are the most guilty party, but they can claim some credit for having fought a bloody war--the bloodiest in our history--to eradicate it....A lot of white people hated slavery, not because they loved Africans but because they feared that there might be a twist of the knife and they could end up sold into slavery. My immediate ancestors were far more likely to be indentured servants than slave owners. I've got no reason to feel guilty about slavery, but the subject makes me uncomfortable...... In any event the abolitionist movement did not start among Africans in Africa. Black people should also feel a certain amount of unease when the subject of slavery is raised.; 12/14/13, 10:26 PM
Rusty said...: In 1860, 90% of all slaves in America were black.

Yep, and there was a time in North America when the majority of slaves were indentured white men.
The first black slaves were brought here by the early french explorers.; 12/15/13, 8:12 AM