The Great Erasure

I saw the following last week but failed to comment on it:

A nearly two-centuries-old Virginia landmark denoting the location where slaves were once sold as property prior to the Civil War has finally been removed.

The 176-year-old auction block — recently defaced at least twice in the wake of worldwide police brutality and Black Lives Matters demonstrations — was yanked from its Fredericksburg site on June 5 in the wake of worldwide civil rights protests, reported Washington TV station WRC.

Formerly situated on a street corner in the middle of the city, the knee-high stone monument — which the local chapter of the NAACP deemed a relic from a "time of hatred and degradation " — had been a simmering contention point for years.

Before I comment on this directly I want to share a bit of my life with you. Many years ago I read a few books on Denmark Vesey. I learned many things including his proper name: Telemaque and decided that since I couldn't find a documentary on him, I would make one. So one hot summer day, I packed my clothes, video cameras and tape (yes, tape) into my car and drove to Charleston SC. For the next week I walked the entirety of downtown Charleston as well as a side trip to the Santee river. Let me tell you that it was the most emotional thing I had ever done and I hadn't cried more times since my first viewing of Rosewood.

It was extremely difficult to locate historically important areas at that time (I cannot say how it is now) as nothing was marked. So in order to find things I had to go to the Charleston library and get into what I believe was the Carolina room (you can e-mail and correct me if I have it wrong). There I had to correlate the books I read with the current map of Charleston as well as pre-fire Charleston. As a result I was able to find where Denmark Vesey lived. Not a marker in sight. I found an auction house which had been converted into a jewelry store if memory serves (it's been a long time). I think there may have been a marker but I don't think so.

And that's a part of why I am strenuously opposed to the removal of such artifacts as they are. They are SUPPOSED to remind us of painful and bad times so that we don't repeat them (or too repeat them when they are acts or events worthy of repeating).

Anyway. I found my way to the Santee river where innumerate Africans used as a guide to freedom and where Telemaque gave speeches to convince enslaved Africans to rise up. I cannot describe how it felt to be standing where some of my ancestors had actually attempted to "get free". Where some had paid the ultimate price. Those were heavy days.

I also located the "Work House" where Telemaque and his compatriots were held prior to being executed. It was reported that they sang hymns the entire night and when they were executed not a one of them showed fear. Speaking of hanged, I found where most of the hangings happened. No markers.

Two nights before I left I went to the shore (where the canons face the sea) and retraced the route the Africans took that fateful night. Up Meeting street and King street. Past Market street.

Let me tell you that it was an impactful night. To be where black men and women risked everything to not be victims of their circumstances (and some to give up quite comfortable livings) to be free people. So you'll excuse me if I'm not on board with people complaining about their "hurt feelings" over a block of concrete marking a historical event. You'll excuse me if I'm not sympathetic to people who think they are oppressed due to "micro-aggressions" and other assorted Bull. Shit.

This is why I'm against the removal of monuments. The monuments are opportunities to ponder who, what, where, when, how and why. The answers are usually not neat. Such is life. Personally I'm for more monuments that tell more of the stories. So no, this removal is not good. All it does is erase history. And shame on the NAACP for advocating for its removal.