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| Slave Cabin on Andrew Jackson's "Hermitage" Plantation |
Andrew Jackson champion of the slave economy, father of “The Trail of Tears”.
Freedom for those like you, slavery for those who are different. The fanatic belief that you are inherently superior to those who are different.
Prejudice!
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| Hermitage Mansion |
Before we smugly condemn the prejudices of the past, we should consider the present inherited political religious fanatic beliefs the afflict us today. They are the bane of the 21st Century and will determine what our children will inherit, just as, today, we have inherited the benefits of “Jacksonian Democracy” and the shame of “The Trail of Tears”.
From my tub to yours –
Carpe Diem
Carl
Posts
SO DIFFERENT, YET SO SAME
ReplyDeleteThere's something about order and cleanliness at Andrew Jackson's slave cabins and the restored Dachau Concentration Camp prisoner-block foundations that haunts me.
I visited Dachau; I have not visited Andrew Jackson's plantation.
Walking through Dachau's memorial restoration leaves out the cold, the hunger, the sadness, the sicknesses, the loss of hope that is no longer easily visible.
I walked Dachau's grounds pretty much by myself for about half a day. I only recall seeing about three other individuals, whose visits were shorter than mine.
I stood alone in the crematorium and looked over the burial grounds. I walked through the three religious chapels. I sat on the crisply clean foundations, filled with small stones. I felt the sacredness of being present. I wanted to talk with those who had been there.
Not knowing why, I picked up a stone and carried it in my hand for several hours, as I walked around, finally placing it on a marker, with many others already there...again, not knowing why. I just felt impressed to do so.
Later I learned that such a stone placement is to let others know that you were there, you were present, and you cared.
The feeling that grew, during the time I observed and reflected, stays with me and I feel it now, as I write these words.
It's the same feeling that fills me every time that I look at the photograph of the slave quarters on Andrew Jackson's plantation.
It's just that the photograph of the clean slave quarters fills me with the feelings and impressions I experienced at Dachau.
I'm not suggesting that the occupants of the two locations are the same or that their experiences and sufferings are exactly similar; I'm only suggesting that I sensed and still sense a tiny affinity with those who lived under such circumstance, and those who live similarly today.
The memorials look so clean, covering the pain and shame....