I found our discussion on Thurs about the slave trade very disturbing and while reading the articles it really opened my eyes as to the way things were. That basically follows along the same line of how we said we only get the watered down version of history. I mean I know that things were bad back then but it was very heart wrenching to read how these families were separated and torn apart by this horrible even in history. I honestly felt my heart go out to mother Eliza when she was getting upset about her son leaving, it is just so sad just to think about how many families were broken up and lost.
The same goes for the way that these slaves were brought in lined up and examined like horses. These were not animals but actual people being treated by nothing less than dirt. It's crazy to think about how far we have come today from where we were at. But have we really come that far I mean although it may not be African Americans, we still have a tendency to treat minorities the same while we don't have slave trades other things still exist.
5 comments:
I agree. Its very hard to even imagaine if my family was involved back in those days. Personally, having children of my own, really changed my perspective on things. I couldn't imagine having my girls taking away from me, like when the government took Indian children away from their parents and sent them to boarding school to become 'civilized'. Haskell here in Lawrence used be, just that...a boarding school.It opened in 1884. Named after the first governor of Oklahoma (not a nice guy). FYI, When you go over the bridge(looking south) on 23rd st. just passing Haskell, you'll notice a walking/running path . That used to be railroad tracks for the trains that would drop off the children. Parents often followed thier children to these 'boarding schools'and camped outside even in harsh winter conditions often dying just so they could be near thier children. My grandfather who is 1/2 Cherokee went to Chilocco boarding school and made it to the 11th grade. When he went, it wasn't that type of school, like it was back in the late 1800's.
Yeah, this whole era is pretty frightening. If I were a historian, this isn't really something I would want to research more deeply because I would probably lose my sanity. It's amazing that things like this can happen on such a large scale...like slavery, forced Native American Migration, the Holocaust. How can so many let these institutions stand?
This is why history is important. If we want to change, we have to study and understand our previous mistakes. However, if you want to see how far we have really progressed in the record (on the world scale), look at the Sudan, and Rwanda ten years ago.
I didnt know that about Native American children, that is just as awful and I completely agree with rachel having a child of my own also changes my perspectives on a lot of things and you learn to look at life a lot differently
Great post and comments. Destruction to families was one of the most horrific aspects of American slavery. Rachael makes an excellent point about forced boarding school attendance for Native children - which took place right here in Lawrence.
Although these are certainly depressing topics, as Corban mentioned, what are the dangers of "watering down" the reality of such events?
I totally agree with your idea that we get a watered down version of history. While I understand that things of very violent nature should not be taught to young children, I think we just skim over the topics that are unsettling. I also think that we very rarely get first hand perspectives of history, because they don't always coincide with how the teacher is teaching the class. Only until I reached college did my teachers start making use of primary documents.
Post a Comment