No question: my Virginia town's 'slave block' should be removed from our sight

[Judi Lynn]

Mia Mullane
In Fredericksburg, Virginia, there sits a pre-civil war slave auction block. It’s upsetting to black and white residents – and it should be in a museum

Saturday 9 September 2017 08.00 EDT

As hurricanes ravage large parts of the US, another kind of tempest continues in my hometown of Fredericksburg, Virginia, over whether to move a pre-civil war slave auction block from a prominent historic district corner to be housed at the local museum.

I signed the petition to remove the now infamous slave auction block and was surprised to see the local political controversy elevated to the world stage in last week’s article, penned by fellow Fredericksburg native David Caprara. To put it frankly, I believe Caprara buried the lede.

The crux of this issue is that tourists perform mock slave auctions atop this block, or otherwise disrespect it by sitting on it, standing on it, and taking smiling pictures of their family with it. It’s upsetting – to black and white residents alike. In the words of Chuck Frye Jr, Fredericksburg’s only black city councilman and a strong proponent of the auction block’s removal: “If it weren’t there, this wouldn’t be happening. It’s that simple.”

One solution might be to cordon off the block to visitors while providing more contextual signage – the current sign says nothing of the slave families who were brutally ripped apart there. However, it’s the block’s location – mock auctions or not – that many find distressing. Several friends have told me they’d like to feel free to take their families out for pizza, or just go for a walk to the corner coffee shop, without being confronted with a visual reminder of the atrocities committed against their ancestors. At a recent city council meeting, Faith Childress said she has friends who avoid William Street altogether.

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/sep/09/fredericksburg-virginia-slave-block-city-museum

[Girard442]

1. Deeply mixed feelings here.

On one hand, tucking it away out of sight and out of mind in a remote place seems like handing the "slavery wasn't so bad" crowd an undeserved victory. On the other hand, mock auctions? Are you f***ing kidding me?! What's next? A picnic at Jeffrey Dahmer's grave site? Reenacting a child rape in your local Catholic cathedral? Enjoying grape Kool-Aid at a Jim Jones memorial?

[hlthe2b]

2. I came close to erupting at some people ahead of me in the DC Holocaust Museum--

laughing and being about as irreverent as you can be throughout the self-guided tour.

I don't know how to explain such people.

[hurple]

3. The statues of Confederate "Heroes"

sould come down. After all, they're celebrating traitors and raising them to honor.

However, that does not mean we should erase slavery from the past. Those that do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. And, hiding the past away will mean less people will learn from it. The block, slave quarters on plantations, all of that should remain (IMO) and should be fully contextualized and explained in detail with plaques and documentation on-site. The horror should be explicit!

And, of course, this is all just my opinion.

[Nitram]

4. Don't remove it. We must preserve it just as the Holocaust Museum preserves artifacts from Nazi

Germany's horrific past. We need to be reminded of our own past. Provide context and rules to prevent abuse, but keep it in sight and in mind.