Arlyn Danielson wrote:
>
> I agree with this approach to telling history like it was- the good, the
> bad, and the ugly.  I have two observations:  Generally, most Jewish folks
> don't shy away from the harsh realities of what happened in the Holocaust.
>  They insist on being brutally honest and forthright in conveying the
> history of this time period.  On the other hand, I have observed that some
> (many?) African Americans are reluctant to have the history of slavery in
> US history conveyed in an open and frank manner.  It was undeniably
> horrible.  Yet it seems to be too much, too horrible to contemplate and
> teach in a realistic way- in terms of living history interpretations.  I
> remember a group of African Americans (and others) objecting to the
> portrayal of a realistic slave auction at Colonial Williamsburg a year or
> two ago.  Why is this?  Having said this, I can't imagine anyone willingly
> taking on the interpretive job of being a slave who is to be whipped or
> beaten for some infraction on a living history plantation museum or
> whatever.
>
> I don't think I would go that far.  As I have indicated, we are at a conceptual stage and these exchanges have caused me to think about some aspects that had not presented themselves previously.  If indeed, we were to present slavery as it really was--as in re-enact--we should show all the bad stuff.  But we can't.  So, maybe my sugar plantation, with a working mill, should only include African Americans presenting verbal accounts of what conditions were like.

At AASLH last fall, I attended a session where two guys from Little Rock
did their interpretive routine.  They were very good and painted a good
composite picture of slave life at that particular time and in that
particular environment.  They were not, however, gang slaves.  They were
store slaves (what some in this exchange have called "servants.")  Big
difference.

I will continue to think this one through very thoroughly.
> >

--
Bob Handy, Director
Brazoria County Historical Museum
100 East Cedar
Angleton, Texas 77515
(409) 864-1208
(409) 864-1217 (Fax)
http://www.bchm.org