I visited several old plantation homes today. Definitely have mixed feelings about them, given the slavery history. Half of me believes that all of them deserve to be burned down and the other half of me finds them worthy of preservation. We can not pick and chose our history.....
This is the view from a balcony. That white oak is 250 years old. It used to have a companion tree on the other side of the path but it died a few years ago according to the owners.
i can understand your feelings, but it was the times, and we supposedly learned from it, at least in that location, so its a bit like war memorials, a reminder lest we forget perhaps.
@kali66 I would like to think that were the case, but for the South, the war never ends. The economy is crap, poverty is evident, and there still exists a divide between the white elite and the black underclass. I wish that there was a solution to all of this and I have been racking my brain for days now. I have many ideas but no one to tell them to that would make a damn difference.
to see but not be able to do seems to be our lot at this stage... hard!! the latest analogy i have had is being in a bowl of soup, doesnt matter if you make your way to the top and get your head above water, you are still in the midst of soup!
My mother always said - change starts at home. But sometimes I think its good to write a letter to the paper or magazine to provide a different perspective to people's usual thinking. Its not the houses that are bad - it was the law of the land that was bad.
It is an interesting ambivalence of which you write. Obviously, you have strong feelings on the subject. If you can try to capture them in concise form, you should send them to the op/ed section of your local newspaper. You might get them published and widen the reach of your own voice. In any event, its a very nice photo and I'm sure that every time that you view it, it will summon back the feelings you had the day you took it.
Is it possible to see them as monuments of their history, if burned down will not the evidence disappear with them?
I get the ambivalence, however I think if you want to really get the sense of the wrong doings of the concentration camps in Europe or the horrors of D-day ... when you go to the actual places of the events you have to be touched by feelings.
I understand your feelings. Here in the UK there is a move from certain quarters to change the names of roads, streets, buildings, schools and colleges where there is any reference to the slave trade or colonialism. I earnestly believe we need these symbols to remind us of an unsavoury past and to, hopefully, ensure these things never happen again. As @Claes says there are historical buildings and artefacts around Europe that remind us of the horrors of two world wars and the holocaust. It is sad that there is still a feeling of second class citizen among the black community. I have always adopted the principle that it is not the colour of a person's skin that matters but the colour of their soul. Anyway it's a great picture - well done for posting it and your feelings.
From this great distance, I should not get involved in the discussion on the present of your (part of the) country. You're right, we can not choose our history, but we should not try to erase tracks that are displeasing. Preservation is important to keep memories alive.
Some of the most magnificent things in the world were possible only because of slavery: the Pyramids, the Ishtar Gate, Ancient Rome... Would we burn them down? I think that knowing the truth is the only way and those things witness the truth.
@runner365@davemockford@wenser@domenicododaro thank you all for participating in this contentious topic. The whole world shares a common history in that we never fail to treat every person with equal amount of respect.
I appreciated your analysis of the tour and mansions. In terms of the image, I think I prefer the non-blurry one, though that one reflects the difficulty of decisions regarding whether they should survive or not.
April 9th, 2017
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I get the ambivalence, however I think if you want to really get the sense of the wrong doings of the concentration camps in Europe or the horrors of D-day ... when you go to the actual places of the events you have to be touched by feelings.