I distinctly remember the first time I saw a Confederate States of America (CSA) Monument. It was March 2005 and it was my first road trip down South. I was visiting an old college friend who was living in Auburn, AL and receiving medical care in Tuskegee through the Veterans Administration (VA). After dropping her off for an appointment, a trip to the Tuskegee Post Office brought me downtown and there it was. Smack dab in the middle of the town square. I remember admiring the surrounding greenery, as Minnesota in March is usually wet and mucky. I had already noted the proximity of the Post Office and Macon County Courthouse and as an avowed City Slicker my first thought was “How quaint, an old fashioned town square.” As I walked up to inspect the statue, my mind could envision a once bustling place even though at the time the surrounding buildings were somewhat derelict and the area appeared desolate.
As I was reading the inscription a ringing started in my head to be replaced by a banging. I had to shake my head and blink my eyes to ascertain I was reading correctly. “1861-1865, Erected by the Daughters of the Confederacy. To the Confederate Soldiers of Macon County” I had read correctly. My next thought was “You’ve got to be kidding me?” To be followed by “Who has allowed this statue to continue to stand!?” and “Why is it still here?!” The black in me was offended. Quaintness my ass! I was livid with my rage and realized that then and there I had the potential to be a vandal. Then the voice of reason took over…. “You’re in the Deep South and this is a monument honoring its past – It’s not about you!” As I told myself “Get over it!” I had an “ah ha” moment.
The Civil War had ended more than a hundred years before I was born, anti-miscegenation laws were struck down by the Supreme Court the year I was born, but we as a society haven’t been able to “get over it!” Why? The effects of Slavery and its aftermath on our society are being swept under the rug utilizing those three words. Americans have long viewed race relations under a “that was then, this is now” type of microscope. The passage of the Civil Rights Act and The Voting Rights Act along with the desegregation of public schools and spaces were viewed as proof positive that we’re moving towards a post racial society. Modernity has shown us otherwise when we look at the disparities between whites and people of color with regards to education, employment and incarceration levels. I believe these disparities are the side effects of racism and will continue until the sickness of racism is cured. I call this sickness a form of stupidity and America has long been “Stuck on Stupid.”
A few days later while visiting the Capitol building in Montgomery I saw some more CSA monuments. I also saw the Confederate Flag atop a flagpole on the grounds. At the time the flag burning debate was occurring and included in the peripheral discussion about flags and their meaning was the Confederate Flag. While inside the Capitol I was reminded that the Articles of Confederation were signed there. Instead of being offended and angry, as I had initially been in Tuskegee, I was awestruck to be standing in a place that figured so significantly in our National history. To me, the building and grounds of the Alabama Capitol, as well as other recognized National Historic Landmarks and Sites are hallowed and should be treated as such. To erase them and not show honor because they are associated with an unsavory past is another form of stupidity.
We ALL need to acknowledge that slavery was something bad that happened and in some ways its oppression is still happening. The only way to “get over it” was to address the lasting effects that it has had and find ways to transcend our past. For me, one way to do this meant keeping the artifacts from this period as a reminder of where we were so we can be reminded of where we want to go – my version of “if you forget the past you are doomed to repeat it.” I have since learned that the Confederate flags are gone, but their historical markers remain and for that I am both saddened and elated. The cause for elation is because the state of Alabama has finally acknowledged that they are symbols that do not represent Southern Pride for everyone. Another voice, albeit a controversial one, has been silenced by its removal and whose lost story is cause for sadness.
Within walking distance of the Alabama Capitol are the National Civil Rights Memorial and the Civil Rights Memorial Center. The Rosa Parks Library & Museum in addition to the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. Places I encourage every visitor to Montgomery to visit to learn more about the Civil Rights Era and African American History in Alabama. If Bryan Stevenson has his way a national memorial to the victims of lynching will join those Landmarks. He is a Lawyer by profession and an ally of #BlackLivesMatter who asserts that “it’s a direct line from slavery to the treatment of black suspects today, and we need to acknowledge the shamefulness of that history.” I think his planned memorial will be a good start as a catalyst for the long overdue conversation about racism and its effect on America. It will help to make the connection from Slavery to Lynching to Mass Incarceration, while at the same time confronting the legacy slavery left behind. I too, like Bryan Stevenson, believe that Americans are not completely free and that we are living with shadows that follow us. One of those shadows is lynching and a combined museum and memorial will bring it out of the shadows so that America can really begin to learn and heal from its trauma.
