Tomcat is slowwwwwwly recuperating back home after his long stint in the New Orleans hospital, and I really miss him at times like these; he stays very calm while I get wound up. Obviously, I had to simmer down before I talked to Peanut about Guide.
note: I'm adopting the "black and white" verbiage because it's how things are presented to us here as we tour around.
Peanut and I stepped aside and looked at the Frogmore Plantation buildings. I asked several simple questions so that she could assess the situation for herself:
1. Who lived in those houses? Slaves. Where did they work? Picking cotton or in the white people's house. How many people lived in one of those 2 room shacks? 5 or so. What did they do at night after work? Sewed, cooked dinner, went to bed.
2. Where did the white people live? In the house like where we stayed last night. (see A Night in Southern Comfort post.) Where did they work? The women stayed at home and the men went to their offices. How many people lived in the Longhorn House we toured? She had 8 kids and Frederick, the slave. What did they do at night after work? Smoked pipes, lounged around, played piano, played with their kids. Did they do their own laundry or cook their own food? No. (I skipped whether or not they even managed to nurse their own babies.)
Then I explained to her that while the plantation owner's wife may have worked hard at some things, it can't be compared to how the slaves worked. We also talked about the struggles newly freed slaves had: no money, no possessions, no skills, no confidence.
3. Should we have kept them as slaves, especially since some owners were very, very kind, like Julia Nutt? No, because the slave children got skills and they could experience freedom better.
I ended with the fact that this is one of the precise reasons we make "travel" a family priority. Tomcat and I want them to understand these things with all of their senses so they can more accurately draw their conclusions.
Wow I find this so completely fascinating. So much for Southern hospitality here huh? When I went to Canada and took a western culture class this subject came up in depth, they wanted to know from a Texan how it all played out. The Canadians wanted to try and group everything together like one big bad story. But if genealogy means anything it's that everyone has their own story. The bottom line is the Civil War is still the most talked about war in our history. The lines are fuzzy, feelings have been passed down for generations. What's cool about taking your kids to see our country so young is that they get to experience that everyone has their own perception. People are not black or white and right or wrong. Most people are their own version of black or white and right or wrong. I think this trip is probably the most special for Peanut because she is right at that age where she is consciously making choices of what kind of person she wants to be. Sometimes she is seeing examples she doesn't like and yet she's embracing the kind of people that are her version of right. It's just crazy to think that in one country views are still so divided. Space can do that. And no matter what anyone says, Lincoln is stellar because we wouldn't have our country if it weren't for him, someone had to take the first step!
ReplyDelete