Posted: 17 August 2020 at 1:32pm | IP Logged | 2
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JB wrote:
I was surprised by how many of my American friends were completely unaware of the horrors in Tulsa. |
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Man, but our American education on the history of race in this country is DEEPLY FUCKED. It's a combination of deliberate whitewashing and unconscious support. Even super-benign and positive shit gets left out.
Speaking of "where we learn," the town I live in - Tappan, NY - goes waaay back, and our Town Historical Society put out a coffee-table book celebrating the 300th anniversary back in the 80's, focusing on all the usual things; Major Andre was tried and executed here, George Washington slept here, we have the oldest still-in-use tavern in the U.S., etc.
Years later, I got a bug up my ass to read local history, and I was gobsmacked to read in a more thorough and scholarly book on the history of the Hudson River Valley that the town was actually founded by (quoting, here, from the original land patent with the spelling as I remember it): "five white men and three free negroews from Greenuich Village." It's unclear whether these were former slaves, indentured servants, or freemen.*
How is it that I got to be an adult in my small town without anyone ever having mentioned that fact? I think that's the meaning of the title "The Invisible Man" - not only does America forgive itself and ignore its past sins with regard to race, we also casually elide any presence of African-Americans throughout our history. Which was foundational, in this case. 1680 is long enough ago that it's a fair bet that almost no-one on this board could claim to an American lineage that goes back as far.
*In what I hope is a sign of progress, the town historical society has corrected that info on their website.
Edited by Dave Kopperman on 17 August 2020 at 1:33pm
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