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America, the House That Slavery Built [PSMag.com]

 

When Michelle Obama said in her speech at the Democratic National Convention, “I wake up every morning in a house that was built by slaves,” she no doubt meant to inspire and unify the audience by emphasizing the progress the nation has made.

And, judging by social media and the DNC crowd reaction, it did. But there was also a visceral response voiced by many others. Some people, like media personality Bill O’Reilly, rushed to deny or downplay the role of slavery in the White House’s construction and the level of brutality and exploitation involved in forced labor. The facts, substantiated by the National Archives, speak for themselves. But the real puzzle is why the First Lady’s herald of the contributions of enslaved people sent so many people reeling one way or the other at all. And, more importantly, why was there even a need to fact check something that we should already know: Through forced labor and their very existence, generations of enslaved Africans played an integral part in building the land of freedom and opportunity.

Chattel slavery is such a painful part of American history that we have yet to give the subject proper airtime in our national conversations and classrooms. Some of us would rather forgo authentic discussions and suppress scholarship about the sins of our forefathers to avoid inciting feelings of guilt and obligation. There are other folks who claim there is a finite breach between that woeful 250-year expanse in our nation’s childhood and a period that forged a global role model for democracy and economic growth. Silence and half-truths work to protect a national secret and a false image. And, like all horrible secrets, the power to perpetuate shame and guilt is diminished with release of the truth.



[For more of this story, written by Tasha Williams, go to https://psmag.com/america-the-...77010d94c#.bargvy9dk]

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