The podcast and reading for Tuesday were both really interesting and definitely gave me a lot to think about. I have learned last semester a lot about ‘real’ history and the ordinary people who actually made revolutions happen. I also leaned a lot about the importance that Richmond has to U.S. history and present and how lucky we are to live in a city of such historical importance. However, the history is also dark and complicated, plagued with hardship, redlining, and suppression of minority individuals. It made me learn that history is just as relevant as the present and you can not separate history from current events. For example, in Dr. Hayter’s Justice and Civil Society class last semester, he pulled up a map of Richmond and asked us to point out random parts of the city. We would click on a random part of the city and every time, if it was a previously redlined district, then that district would be exponentially hotter than other areas of the city that were not redlined. This held for every part of the city. It was unbelievable to see and it really showed that America’s dark history is unfortunately still relevant and important today. It is even resulting in unintended consequences, like climate change.
Learning about this was really upsetting because as Bezio says in the podcast, “This is not ancient history, it is lived history.” This statement is so true because history books make it seem like the Civil Rights movement happened so many years ago when it is not that far in the past. This deliberate, false distancing from history needs to be stopped and we need to realize that these actions and ideologies are still relevant. This reminds me of the movie Just Mercy because it takes place in the 1980s, 20 years after the Civil Rights movement yet the racist ideologies were so overwhelming and stopping justice.
I had not made the connection to Just Mercy but I think that is a really clear and interesting link. The nature of the Lawsuits described in Dr. Hayter’s article reminds me of ht unfair legal climate that was present in Just Mercy.
I agree with what you said about history being just as important as the present, especially in Richmond’s case. I think it’s especially crazy when you think about Richmond being the capital of the Confederacy not too long ago, but just days ago they passed legislation to make voting easier for people of every color. I definitely think that coming to terms with the history of the city propelled that decision, and now people of color will reap the benefits.
I really like the point you make about both lived history and how the history is inextricably linked to our present. Those who cannot remember history might be doomed to repeat it, but those who do not know their history are also unable to see it as it continues under their nose. I’ve been thinking a lot about the temporality of history, and complicating our relation with linear time, and so I appreciate this application to the Richmond Heat maps being reflections of Richmond’s redlining which is a reflection of even earlier institutionalized prejudices, so that the past is the present.
I had the exact same thought about the redlining/heat map in Richmond while I was reading Hayter’s article. Although the black population in Richmond was able to overcome the unfair voting practices (after 7 years), there is still significant inequality in the city of Richmond as shown by the redlined neighborhoods having poorer health outcomes, higher temperatures in the summer, and greater minority populations.