Should African-Americans Celebrate the Sesquicentennial? (1118 hits)

Should African-Americans Celebrate the Sesquicentennial?


In many local communities around the country, civic groups, historical societies, museums and local governmental agencies are gearing up to 'celebrate' The Sesquicentennial - The 150 year Anniversary of The Civil War.
That's right pilgrims, our country is celebrating one of the most divisive and darkest periods in our nations history. On the one hand, I am all for celebrating the triumph of freedom over slavery. But in Richmond, leaders have seemingly elected to revise history to read the action of the secessionist states as noble and somehow worthy of special recognition and celebration. With this, I have a problem.
It is one thing to recount the events leading to the war in some sterile way. It's quite another to glorify, qualify or objectify the actions of those who chose and died for the proposition of slavery over nationalism.
A recent example is a rather lengthy article in The Richmond Times Dispatch (January 3, 2011) which sought to explain why we should celebrate the civil war era.
The basic premise of the article suggested that the State of Virginia was less pro-slavery that more southern states like Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee. The evidence used to demonstrate Virginia’s less virile form of anti-black sentiment was its late adoption of secession legislation.
The article went to great lengths to outline the difficulty our state fathers had in deciding whether to secede or not.
For me, the article was misleading and failed to denounce Virginia's tragic decision to ultimately side with the secessionists and engage in a war against freedom.
The article was instructive in one way, though. It showed me that there are still elements out there who are convinced that the action of the pro-slavery southern states was just and actionable.
Here we are in the first year of the second decade of the 21st century and still we can't discern the meaning of the most defining event in our nation's history.
Dr. Benjamin E. Mays once said that the question of race is the greatest social issue that our country will ever face. He further opined that the manner in which America chooses to address this challenge will ultimately determine its destiny.
I agree with Dr. Mays assessment and am saddened that Richmonder’s/Virginians have not acknowledged the inhumanity of slavery and made overtures to reconcile with those who continue to be affected by its disastrous effects. Until this process takes place real harmony cannot prevail.
What's your opinion?

Posted By: Rudolph Hickman
Tuesday, January 18th 2011 at 12:08PM
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